Volunteer portraits by Réka Keresztesi

There is always someone to encourage, there are always new problems… How much do you feel that sometimes there is a wavering of trust, and I don’t mean for the foundation, but in general: can we do enough, does it really matter to do this?

Community coordination is indeed a very important area, which is mainly our coordinator, but of course Franciska and Iván are also very intensively involved. It’s true that in many cases we need to nurture people’s souls, to give them strength. It’s important to communicate in a positive, affirming way and to think together when there is a blockage.

Although I basically work online, I find that in face-to-face meetings I have a completely different quality to talking in this way: it tastes better and feels better. Our members are diverse, they come from many different backgrounds, they are at different stages of their lives, there are difficult moments and of course very joyful moments. 

Motivating people is not easy, we are still improving ourselves, we are looking for ways to motivate the community and to involve more people. The way 10 Million Fa works is quite unique, you can’t find another example in the country with such an organisational structure, i.e. a national non-profit organisation of this size working with volunteers. But it would be good to talk to others and share experiences.

– You mentioned at the beginning of the conversation that you had strong climate concerns. How do you feel about it now, and what do you recommend for those who feel the same way?

This is the question that comes up most often. The answer we usually give is that we are “contracted” to plant trees, that is our core business.

We are not naive, we see what is happening and we see that what we do is not necessarily enough, but you can come to us, you can join us, you can get involved in the cause, to be as numerous as possible. Because this is not just a matter for the 10 million Fa, it is a matter for all of us. We want to send that message to the world.

Climate change is happening, what will happen is unpredictable, but I don’t want to turn off the lights without having done anything to make a difference. Whether what I do is enough or not is not a decision point for me. I am acting for the sake of action itself, so that I can say: what I knew, I did. I would encourage everyone else to do the same. I have told you how I work in the 10 million tree because I want to set an example. It’s a big job, we need a lot of people, and it doesn’t matter who is good at what, they can find their role here.

I live in the countryside, I’m a single mother raising my daughter, I could list all the things that limit me, but you have to change your perspective and build action around that.
By the way, my climate anxiety is in the past, but it was really bad, I felt really lousy. I also asked for help to solve it, but I can say with great certainty that the 10 million trees community and the work we do here has been a big part of solving that anxiety.

For me, being part of the organisation is a constant reinforcement, a constant retention. Of course, I don’t think that things are going in the right direction just because we plant trees, but I have come to accept that this is where humanity, planet Earth, is today, this is what we are capable of collectively, globally, this is what I was born into, this is the time I have to live in, and this is the time I have to find meaning and purpose in. I am passing this on to my child, who by the way knows the foundation well, is on good terms with many of the team.

We are like a family or a very strong community of friends here. Not as members of an organization, but as people, we are connected to each other, hair by hair, children by children, family by family, dog by dog, cat by cat.

– What do you see as the stronger trend: are there people dropping out or are more and more people joining, more and more people seeing the scope of the organization, its framework, knowing its goals?

We ourselves are sometimes surprised at how many people know about 10 Million Trees, and moreover, how many are becoming more and more recognised in professional circles.

It’s a different question how many people join us, because the two things are not necessarily directly related. Looking at the development cycle of any organisation, there is a boom at the beginning, lots of people come, there is a lot of motivation, and then it starts to melt away,and then stagnate.

We’re past the big bang, but of course we still want more of us, so we’re running different campaigns, recruiting MEPs, looking for new ways to get more people to join us. Some smaller local groups are disappearing, but new ones are being set up.

We believe that continuous work will pay off. I think that in many cases the key to success is not to stop what you are doing. What I see is that something is really embedded in the collective consciousness when it is constantly repeated, when the message is persistent. The passage of time, the more years we have behind us, the more experience we have gained, the more awards we have won, all reinforce the idea that if people want to join a cause, there really is a lasting foundation here.

The 10 million Wood is not a flash in the pan, not a passing thought, but a very serious, professionally prepared, stable community. For those of you who are thinking along the same lines as I did at the beginning – oh, I don’t know how to do it, oh, but I’m just a single mother working at home, and so on – take strength from my example. For those who feel a tiny bit of urge but are still unsure, I just say that it is possible to overcome the initial doubts, come and find us, because you will find your place with us.

Source of the article:Vulcan Literary Journal