They were met with a lot of excitement and in the course of the event, while cows milk was passed around in a wooden bowl as refreshment, the piece of land  in the picture below was offered to our team. Negotiations are now under way  to use this land to plant Neem trees for JustNeem, while creating jobs and income opportunities for the village.

While on the road, they came to this village (below), where a large Neem tree has become the center of village life. What an awesome perspective to plant many more of these trees in many more Saharan Desert villages!

Our Mauritanian friend has become quite an enthusiastic Neem tree grower. We call him Johnny Appleseed, because, like him,  he takes a few Neem tree seedlings along wherever he goes and shares them with others. Watch him here plant one of them:

He first digs a hole with any tool he can find . . .

. . . then plants the Neem tree seedling and adds natural  fertilizer (camel or goat dung) . . .

. . . adds water . . .

. . . and anything available to protect the little tree from hungry goats .

In this case he found a broken bucket, knocked the bottom out and added an old spring mattress that he found in nearby bushes as additional protection. A great way of recycling .

This NGO has operated in Mauritania for the past 20 years and has established relationships with its people and government. As we got to know them, we were impressed by their dedication and care for the poor.

These friends in Mauritania are now partnering with one local Mauritanian to plant Neem trees. They hired  a young local man to harvest and process Neem in a rented facility. Bill and Peter visited the Neem processing facility and met him and his wife. Here’s a video of them pulverizing the dried Neem leaves:

Bill and Peter also discussed financial support for planting more Neem trees in the future. The NGO is currently experimenting with growing trees from seeds.

On their last day in the country, they received a Neem order for JustNeem that was delivered and shipped home to us the next day. Back home we were thrilled to receive our first batch of real Mauritanian Neem!