Today we continued our work with Common Ground Relief and headed out the swamp to plant California Bullrush in the sand. We took a boat ride out to where we would be planting, a sandy shore covered in water up to our calves. Stumps and roots were hidden under the water. We worked hard from early morning to late in the afternoon, eventually planting a total of 1000 Bulrush plants.
We learned that within 5 years, our plants would make a thick wall across the distance we had planted. To plant the Bulrush, one person had to dig a hole and another person had to stick the plant in the hole, and cover it up, without seeing the ground. It was difficult to do without working together, and it forced us to work as a team. Towards the end, the whole group met at the same place to plant the remaining plants together.All of us were excited to work in the water, in a place pretty well shaded by Cypress Trees.
It was fun to work with each other and continue the bond that we had created in our previous work, but most of us shared similar fears and challenges throughout the day. Most of us were scared of the possibility of animals and getting sunburned or dehydrated. We faced several challenges like one of the boats breaking down, successfully planting the plants, and overcoming our lack of energy from the early wake up this morning. We ended the day having overcome our fears and facing our challenges.