By Lacy Cooke / Source: inhabitat

Saalumarada-Thimmakka-Environmentalist

If you’ve ever doubted the power of just one person, this story might change your mind. Husband and wife Sri Bikkala Chikkayya and Saalumarada Thimmakka from southern India couldn’t have children, so they began to plant and care for trees instead. Now Thimmakka, who is around 105-years old, has planted approximately 300 trees.

After being married for 25 years without kids, Thimmakka started planting trees from her home village Hulikal along the road to Kudur in the state of Karnataka. The trees now span around four kilometers, or nearly two and a half miles, on the route. Thimmakka told CNN, “It was my fate to not have any children. Because of that, we planned to plant trees and raise them and get blessings. We have treated the trees as our children.”

After working all day farming, the couple would turn their attention to the trees. Chikkayya planted thorny bushes near the trees to protect them from animals. Thimmakka planted saplings she found in the area. As the local climate is arid, the couple had to lug water for the trees for several kilometers. Chikkayya has passed away but Thimmakka continues nurturing the trees, gaining some notoriety for her conservation efforts.

Today the Saalumarada Thimmakka International Foundation works to conserve the environment, inspired by Thimmakka. She herself had to start working at a young age and never went to school, and the foundation in her name provides money for education. The foundation also donates and maintains medicine and blood banks, and builds rest houses for the poor.

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