Abdi’s Story: bunq Users Creating Jobs With Fair Wages

We’re excited to bring you more updates about the site where these trees are planted, and what kind of trees you’re helping to plant. Today, we’d like to share the story of someone who’s planting mangroves on the Magumba site. We hope you enjoy this little insight on how you’re not just helping the planet with your actions, but local communities, too.

Meet Abdi

Abdi’s father sadly passed away when he was born, meaning that when Abdi was old enough, he started harvesting crabs to provide for the family. This was a demanding job, and not every day was a good day. Abdi struggled to keep up with the huge responsibility of providing food and going to school:

“From an early age, I learned to fend for myself and my siblings. I’d skip school to go harvest crabs and use the money to pay part of my school fees and the other part to put food on the table. When I was in grade five, I dropped out of school to fully focus on harvesting crabs. It became hard to juggle both,”

Harvesting crabs wasn’t just a tough job, with no promise of a consistent income - it was also a dangerous one. The area where Abdi worked often had rough storms that could easily beat up small wooden boats. Even so, at the end of the day, Abdi was happy to keep going back, as long as his family wasn’t going hungry.

And he kept doing it…

Until he was introduced to the Eden Reforestation Projects’ team in Kenya. They hired him to help at the Magumba site (planted for bunq bunq Elite users). Since then, he trudges through thick mud to collect, sort, and plant mangrove propagules.

Although Abdi was willing to do any kind of work for his family’s well-being, he’s relieved to have a job where he doesn’t have to risk his life everyday, and that also gives him a consistent and fair wage. Because he’s able to cover his family’s needs, such as food and clothing, he can offer possibilities that he sadly didn’t have. Abdi’s children are in school and he’s now even building a new home for his family!

Having seen the importance that mangrove forests have on ocean life, Abdi knows that with each mangrove he plants, he’s securing the well-being of the ecosystem for his children and many generations to come. And while bunq users don’t (physically) plant mangroves to “participate in the magic”, they can easily help the world be greener, and the future be brighter.

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