For ten days, Giel Boes kept his mouth shut to raise money for the trees. “€4,000 was raised instead of the €12,000 we had hoped for”, he explains. “Still, fortunately, we can do a lot with that”.
Being quiet for 10 days was a huge challenge for Giel. He has ADHD and talked non-stop before the campaign. But that was not the only challenge. “It also caused tension in our relationship”, Giel says. His fiancée Dori supports him in his action, but because of the silence there was no room for a good conversation.
Peace returned
“It was also just a very hectic week. I have worked I think about 80 hours for the foundation and my regular work. There was also a lot of media attention. That was fantastic of course, but also very intensive”.
Now peace has returned as he calls it. “When I was allowed to speak again I had so much to tell. After one day everything is back to normal”. This was also evident in the video that he and Dori posted on LinkedIn. “Finally!” After 11:00 Giel immediately burst out with his message.
Of the €4,000, about 7,000 trees can be planted and half a hectare of tropical rainforest protected. Furthermore, 1,000 square metres of food forests can be planted. These are forests with more than 80 types of crops such as berries, apples and nuts. “It’s a kind of Dutch jungle and that’s good for biodiversity, because all those different kinds of greenery also attract critters”.
But for Giel, the most important message remains awareness: planting trees is great, of course, but we gain the most with our behaviour.
You can still donate to this campaign via BoesBos.nl/ikzwijg
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
