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Jadav "Molai" Payeng: A man who planted a forest now bigger than New York’s Central Park.
Living on Majuli Island in a remote area of northeast India, home to 150,000 people, Molai saw his island disappearing from erosion.
He decided to do something about it.
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Starting in 1979 at just 16-years of age, Molai went to a desolate part of Majuli, and planted one tiny tree.
As time passed, he planted another and another, and over the years, those trees formed a forest, even as he kept planting more trees.
Today, he takes tree seeds from his forest and plants new trees, as his forest grows ever bigger.
The result is that he has created a beautiful sanctuary for people and also for endangered elephants, tigers, rhinos and other animals.
His trees provide a canopied ground cover that resists soil erosion, and the chirp of many a bird species now greets visitors.
In India, he is called "The Forest Man" and has won numerous awards for his work.
Yet he remains a modest man, free of most possessions, and has found happiness as he devotes himself to his family, his forest, and his environmental principles.
This is but a single example of the difference one person can make.
Success Tip of the Week:
Wherever you live, where there is some barren land, plant and nurture a seedling, and as it grows, watch it begin to beautify the world.
Editor's Note:
To see Molai in action in a 2013, 16 1/2 minute award winning documentary, click here. To learn more: http://www.theweekendleader.com/Heroism/2155/forest-maker.html.
In the next KazanToday:
A 94-year-old man who found a way to help others, and helped himself as a result.
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