Employee Story

Amélia’s story: leaving a legacy through reforestation with Eden


Amélia Alberto Chilengue was a young mother with two small children living in Mozambique when her husband was murdered in January 2021, leaving her with no source of income to raise her family.

She started cleaning homes but the money she earned was not enough to feed and educate her daughters or pay for their water and electricity. Fortunately, Amélia had a neighbor who monitors mangroves at our Chilhale site and helped Amélia secure a job as a planter.

Amélia now wakes at 5:00 AM every workday to make breakfast and care for her family, then around 7:00 AM begins her work carefully planting propagules one meter apart in the thick mud of a mangrove planting site. When she completes her planting for the day, she collects more propagules from mature mangroves, sorts them by species, and prepares for the next round of planting.

From that work, Amélia can care for her daughters and ensure they are educated.

“It makes me proud to leave a legacy for my children,” says Amélia. “As they grow up, they will know that their mother contributed to planting trees to restore the environment.”

Amélia Alberto Chilengue

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