By Gabriella Bottani, SMC
What does it take to make trees grow where nothing has grown for years?
Ask Sisters Selam Mehari and Yorusalem. They’re living proof that the most impossible dreams sometimes just need someone crazy enough to try.
Picture this: Kulluku, a dusty corner of Eritrea’s Gash Barca region where the landscape stretches brown and endless toward Sudan. This is semi-desert territory, where torrential rains wash away precious soil and the advancing desert claims more land each year. Not exactly the place you’d expect to find an ambitious reforestation project.
But that’s exactly where these two Comboni sisters decided to plant their flag—literally.
In 2023, faced with increasingly barren conditions and families struggling with failed harvests, the sisters made a decision that probably seemed completely insane to their neighbors. They launched “Reviving Hope, Making the Desert Bloom”—a four-year mission to plant 300-400 trees around their community and eventually help every family grow fruit trees in their own backyards.
The secret weapon? A well and two newly completed cisterns. Because let’s be real—without water, this whole dream would have been dead on arrival.
The sisters didn’t tackle this alone. They got the young people involved, and together they began the backbreaking work of preparing the land. We’re talking plowing, clearing fields of stones and debris, and carefully avoiding the snakes that had made themselves comfortable in the undergrowth. Not exactly your typical community service project.
The plan is as ambitious as it sounds. First, create a green buffer around the Comboni community to literally stop the desert in its tracks. Then, once people see that it’s actually possible, give families the tools and knowledge to grow their own fruit trees. It requires water, patience, and the kind of long-term commitment that doesn’t always come naturally in our instant-gratification world.
But here’s the beautiful part: this year, the region experienced its best harvest in years. The sisters’ work hasn’t gone unnoticed—they’ve been recognized for their environmental impact and, more importantly, they’ve proven that hope isn’t just a feeling. Sometimes it’s something you plant, water, and watch grow.
This isn’t just about trees. It’s about showing young people that they have the power to literally change their landscape. It’s about families discovering that barren ground doesn’t have to stay barren forever. It’s about communities learning that sometimes the most radical act is simply refusing to accept that things can’t get better.
In a world where climate change often feels overwhelming and unstoppable, Sisters Selam and Yorusalem are writing a different story. They’re showing us that transformation doesn’t always require massive resources or complex technology. Sometimes it just requires two determined women, some seedlings, and the audacious belief that even deserts can bloom again. 🌱
Follow more stories at #MissionHope and discover how communities create joy in impossible circumstances.