I'm going to tell you about a very special type of tree and why it matters to Cidinha and the people of Lodovico village. The tree is called a babassu palm. People in the village often rest beneath the tree's shade and use its leaves to make their roofs. The nuts that grow on the palm are full of oil.

Before Cidinha was born, rich farmers tried to drive her family and their friends out of the village so that they could take over the land. They wanted to cut down the trees and open up the land so that they could farm cattle. Everyone was scared, but they stayed put and stayed together. They wanted to make their lives better. The babassu tree helped them do this.

Babassu nuts grew all around the village, and so people set up a factory which used oil from the nuts to make soap. They sold the soap and little by little began to be able to buy the things that they needed.

The babassu palm tree is part of Cidinha's future. She cracks about a hundred nuts every day - they're the size of apples, with very hard shells. The money she and her family get from nut cracking helps pay for her to go to school and to make her village a better place to live.

 

Lesson plan: The futures tree