We were interviewed recently for an article in the Gold Coast Bulletin Eye Magazine colour lifestyle lift out magazine about our gifts with purpose, The Happiness Shop, planting trees in Madagascar and fluffy lemurs. We were expecting a tiny article. So you can imagine our surprise as we went for a walk last saturday morning and dropped into the service station and picked up a copy. We were very humbled that the journalist ‘got us’ in the words and images in the full page spread.

Our Misssion

Our mission is to create more happiness in the world.Not only through our words and books that we publish but through the butterfly effect it has. Every book sold plants a tree in Madagascar, a place close to our heart. We were fortunate enough to be invited by the organisation Eden Reforestation projects to visit their working sites in this island nation. We were blown away by the incredible impact that planting trees in this impoverished nation had already started to have.

Some of these ways were:

Dignity:

Planting trees provided not only much needed employment for the local villagers but a deep sense of dignity. Many of these villagers are women whose partners had left them leaving them with the burden of feeding their children. Employment gave them the much needed funds to not only feed and clothe their children but to be able to give them an education to help break the cycle of poverty.

Education and Pride:

Planting and nurturing their trees has given the villagers a sense of pride. They now understand the consequences of cutting down trees to their environment and very survival. They can see the big picture. They now understand how an ecosystem works, why the land had become infertile and why the rains have disappeared. Looking after the trees ensures that they are protected from outsiders who are bent on burning them down for charcoal production.

Restoring Habitats:

Planting trees and restoring forests allows the locals to preserve their unique wildlife. This includes rare species of lemur found nowhere else on earth. Madagascar is one of the most biologically rich places on earth, however, with 90% of forests having been cut down the situation for its biodiversity is at a critical point. Flying over the island nation in a small aeroplane at the start of our trip I really did think the situation was impossible. It really was like looking down on mars. With very few trees and red earth bleeding into the rivers and fires burning everywhere – it looked like there was no hope.

If you would like to read the online version of the article please click here.

Gifts With Purpose

Thank you everyone for your continued support by purchasing our books. Our books make perfect gifts with purpose. You can not only help bring happiness to others with our books but know that with each book, you personally are making a difference to the lives of others elsewhere and helping to restore our natural environment and preserving the biodoversity of our planet.