Children during tree-planting in Narasha Forest, Baringo County, on December 13, 2024. [File, Standard]
Every year on my birthday, I take a moment to measure life not just by the years I’ve lived, but also by the number of trees I’ve planted.
Plant Your Age is the tradition we started to remind ourselves that the true measure of age isn’t candles on a cake, but trees in the ground.
It’s not just my day; it’s everyone’s day. Each birthday, wherever you are, can also be your Plant Your Age Day, a reminder that life is best celebrated by planting and nurturing trees equal to your years. This year, that reflection feels heavier than ever.
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Today, I celebrate my birthday with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, the new Pope whose life of faith and leadership begins a new chapter for the Catholic Church.
It is also the ninth time in 56 years that this date has fallen on a Sunday, the same number of chapters in a work I am now releasing. Some things cannot be staged; they belong to providence.
For over 30 years, my life has been a journey through mistakes that became teachers, problems that became invitations, and respect that formed the foundation of progress. I call this the MPR lens.
It has been tested in valleys of betrayal and on mountaintops of courage. From those decades, I developed a desire to write, a process that took 14 years to distill lessons into words the world can understand.
That is why today means more than just my birthday. It also marks the start of a testimony I’ve called Green for Life.
This isn’t just a book; it’s introduced to the world with a foreword by H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco and has the global endorsement of Chip Ingram, a respected pastor and broadcaster whose voice reaches millions across continents.
However, its deepest treasures stay hidden until you open its pages.
Why did I write this? Because I saw pain where there should have been joy. I saw leaders trading truth for convenience.
I saw our youth drowning in noise without guidance. I saw the earth itself groaning for faithful stewards. I knew that silence was no longer an option. Throughout this journey, I have also seen over 939 million trees planted across Kenya and beyond, creating living legacies in schools, hospitals, homes, and landscapes.
Each tree proves that when people work together, broken ground can be healed. These trees are more than just statistics; they provide shade, oxygen, food, and hope.
And yes, today is a Sunday. For me, Plant Your Age isn’t work; it’s worship and thanksgiving. By joining others celebrating their birthdays, we remind ourselves that the best way to honour life is to plant and grow trees equal to our years.
If the earth cries out daily, surely the Lord’s Day is the most fitting time to respond with hope.
But I will not reveal everything the book contains here. Instead, I will leave you with questions: What can three decades of MPR teach a world in crisis? What happens when one life is lived as a roadmap for others?
What might change if you planted not only trees but also truth, courage, and respect in the soil of your own life?
In a world shaken by climate shocks, broken trust, and restless youth, I present this work not as a manual but as a mirror. It does not belong to me; it belongs to you, to Africa, and to the world.
Today, as I plant trees, I also seed this message into the soil of our shared future. My hope is that you will find in it the same hope that sustained me, the same courage that lifted me, and the same respect that grounded me.
Because when seasons converge like they do today, life itself speaks. The only question is whether we will listen.
Think Green. Act Green!
www.kaluagreen.com
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By Isaac Kalua Green