The Singing Tree Institute
The Singing Tree Institute is the non-profit I started in 2013 with David Mutinda of Kitui, Kenya. We have since planted 7,000 trees in Kambaland, Kenya and in 2024, established The Singing Tree Nursery to source trees for our food forests. Generous donations from our private sponsors and the San Francisco Evening Rotary Club made it possible for us to buy a water catchment tank so Mutinda could propagate seeds and tend the seedlings.
CLICK PHOTO TO SEE VIDEO
Our planting sites are in the schoolyards at Maviani Primary School, Syombuku Vocational College and Yanzuu DayStar Academy in the rural area of Kangweni, Kenya, where Mutinda and his family live. If you would like to assist in the growth of the Nursery so we can continue to plant trees and support food security in this region, see below:
Here’s how you can help:
Option 1: Adopt-A-Tree ~ For $25 we will plant 1 tree, water and maintain for a year.
Option 2: Adopt-A-Grove ~ For $50 we will plant 5 trees, water and maintain for a year.
Option 3: Adopt a Food Forest ~ For $100 we will plant 15 trees, water and maintain for a year.
VIDEO ABOUT INSTALLING THE WATER CATCHMENT TANK & FENCE TO KEEP OUT CHICKENS WHO EAT SEEDLINGS. Water Catchment Tanks capture rainwater from roofs through downspouts. This water is used for cooking and cleaning and also for tending the gardens. People in Kangweni are subsistence farmers and due to the lack of infrastructure, rely upon the rains. We are grateful to have the extra water for the Singing Tree Nursery. Mutinda and his neighbors have chickens that we need to keep away from the seedlings!
PROJECT MANAGER MUTINDA AT YANZUU DAY STAR ACADEMY IN 2024. CLICK TO SEE VIDEO.
LIS SINGING WITH STUDENTS AT YANZUU DAY STAR ACADEMY IN 2024, our biggest tree-planting site.
LIS DANCING & SINGING WITH STUDENTS AT MAVIANI IN 2022. CLICK TO SEE VIDEO.
PICTURED WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS THAT CAME OUT AND PLANTED WITH US IN 2023. The President of Kenya designated November 20 as National Tree Planting Day. We were already boots on the ground SO THE OFFICIALS JOINED US.
Students at Yanzuu Daystar Academy 2022.
Lis singing with students at Maviani in 2022. We document traditional Kamba songs and dances for future generations.
Lis and Mutinda traveling to the sites 2022.
Planting at Syombuku Vocational College 2022.
Fun together!
Maviani planting 2022.
Student Planting at Maviani Primary School, Kangweni, Kenya.
David Mutinda, Project Manager. Specializes in Tree Planting, Water Harvesting and Food Security. Worked for the Greenbelt Movement for 14 years. Kitui, Kenya
Lis Addison, Founder and Executive Director, Project Development. Musician, Dancer and Professor of Environmental Science. San Francisco, CA
Partner: Irene Mwanzia, Singer helping record Kamba songs and sewing and distributing dignity kits to Village girls. Mbooni, Kenya
Advisory Board Member: Ricky Kej, UN Goodwill Ambassador and three time Grammy winner. Delhi, India.
Partner: Michelle Nirenstein with Marias Ripau of Mara Napa Camps, the only Luxury Safari camp owned and operated by the Maasai. Austin, TX and Maasai Mara, Kenya
Partner: Gloria Simoneaux Director of Harambee Arts which uses Expressive Art Therapy to improve the lives of women and children who have suffered from trauma and trafficking. San Francisco, CA
Intern: Riziki Mpanga, student at University of Taiwan in Environment and Global Business. Arusha, Tanzania.
Advisory Board Member: Sara Laumann, former EPA Attorney specializing in air quality and The Clean Air Act. Denver, CO
STUDENTS PLANTING AT MAVIANI.
MISSION STATEMENT: To help mitigate global warming, reduce erosion, encourage condensation and plant food for the local people who are mostly subsistence farmers. We begin by planting trees that can nourish the soil and when those trees take hold plant bananas, mangoes, guava, cherimoya and avocados to provide extra nutrition.
Here’s how you can help:
Option 1: Adopt-A-Tree ~ For $25 we will plant 1 tree, including water and maintenance services for a year.
Option 2: Adopt-A-Grove ~ For $50 we will plant 5 trees, including water and maintenance services for a year.
Option 3: Adopt a Food Forest ~ For $100 we will plant 15 trees, including water and maintenance services for a