Futility continued, or not?

You should have read the previous post to get the most out of this one, and maybe I'll be able to add pictures when the internet isn't circa 1997.
Our story pics back up yesterday, Sunday, September 26th. 
The whole forestry committee was supposed to show up to plant and fence some 50-ish trees, one person, one tree, one fence.  Communication being the challenge that it is, there was also a school-garden-fence-building project planned for the same day, and wouldn't you know it, many of the committee members had to do that instead.
But we bravely forged on, planting and fencing 6 cashew seedlings in just less than 2 hours. 
Each person was free to choose their method of fencing, and so we have six different fences around the trees. (Pictures would be included here.)
In the end, it wasn't the volume of tree planting I'd hoped for, but it was community driven, and so that's what will hopefully make it stick.
I told another man (shamelessly) that I'd give him 10 seedlings if he got 10 people to plant seedlings. I also need to get rid of these trees.
To me, they're not worth planting if they will just be neglected and die- Mom and I worked hard to fill the bags with soil and plant the trees. The sun shone and the rains fell, not to mention I bought the nuts, and the little cashews started to grow. I kept them from goats and small boys until now, and with just a little bit of effort, in 3-4 years they will be bearing fruit.  That's the reason for making the committee fence the trees as a condition for getting them.  They've invested time and effort into planting the trees, not just the 5 min it takes to dig a hole and throw the seedling in. (And honestly, 2 hours is not that much time- really. Especially in the life of  a tree.)
So that's what's going on in ole HK these days.  I'll try and fill in some stories from the last few months here and there. Keep checking the blog, and thanks for all the support!

the futility of life

Not really, but the futility of posting pictures today has stymied the blogs inside me begging to be posted.
I have so many pictures to share! Internet, why must you be so slow?
Sure, this is a third world country, but you're striving to be better, to pick yourselves up, to build roads, to have electricity on a regular daily basis. And to load pictures of humble cashew plants onto the internet for the masses  few people in America that my mom makes read my blog see.
So unfortunatly (wow Gambian english, going to need to stop that in 4 months) I spent the whole afternoon trying to load 2 pictures, and not typing.
The abbreviated version of my life lately:
Last Sunday, the 20th, the Forestry Committee planted over 600 Gmelina (pronounced melina) stumps (which should grow into trees) in the Hella Kunda Community Forest.
Yeah! This is great- I didn't have a thing to do with the planning or execution, I just supported.  I see that as the gauge of effectiveness as a Volunteer- Is the community able to get things done without you? Will they be able to do so when you leave? In this situation, YES. I really just wanted to be positive reinforcement and gentle guidence, the community was the driving force behind the planting.
The committe decided to plant the cashew seedlings Mom and I started in June. At first I was going to sell them, with the proceeds going back to the committee or the community somehow, but I decided to give them away provided that they were individually fenced for protection from goats and other pests. 
The Forestry Committee decided to use the cashew seedlings as a border for one side of the village, with each member required to plant and fence one tree.  They decided to meet the next Sunday, the 27th, to do the work.