One million trees.One community-led future.

New Eden Park is a community-led tree nursery and livelihood project in Siaya County, Kenya. From one working nursery, reliable water, and solar power, neighbors are growing trees, livelihoods, and opportunity, and carrying the work from farm to farm.

Explore the work Support the work

Our goal: one million trees.The work begins with every seedling raised, planted, and kept alive.

Rows of seedlings growing in nursery bags beneath green shade netting. — New Eden nursery · shared October 2026

2022

Our story

A meeting in Austria became work on the ground in Siaya.

Jack and Raymond met in Austria in June 2022 in the setting of a four-week forestry exchange organized by the Austrian Federal Forests with Dr. Auma Obama’s Sauti Kuu Foundation. The official program brought 12 Kenyan farming and forestry participants to Austria, with support from Oikocredit Austria.

New Eden Park began after the exchange, when shared learning became practical work in Siaya. Local members organized around a tree nursery. Raymond opened his land to the first phase and local leadership shaped the work; Jack supported from the United States through personal funding, research, materials, and planning. Together, they put the practical foundations first: training, seedlings, and water.

Twelve printed Forest Garden training packets reached the group in 2022. Members put the materials to work in compost preparation, tree selection, and nursery practice, adapting the framework to local conditions and experience. New Eden Park uses the materials as a practical resource and remains independent of Trees for the Future.

Raymond and Jack standing between the Austrian and European Union flags in an ornate reception room. — Austria · June 2022Where a meeting became a partnership.
Raymond and Jack at the Austrian Presidential Chancellery during the exchange. New Eden Park grew from the independent work they chose to continue afterward.

Two source links

The exchange is documented.

The sources below establish the program context. Jack and Raymond’s decision to continue together comes from the project’s own records.

Official program record · June 2022

Austrian Federal Forests: the Kenya–Austria exchange

The official release records a four-week forestry exchange for 12 Kenyan participants, organized with Dr. Auma Obama’s Sauti Kuu Foundation and supported by Oikocredit Austria.

Official organization context

Auma Obama Foundation Sauti Kuu

Background on Sauti Kuu, the foundation involved in the Kenya–Austria exchange.

These sources document the program in which Jack and Raymond met. They do not imply endorsement of or affiliation with New Eden Park.

The work

Trees are the beginning, not the whole plan.

New Eden began with a nursery and grew in the order real work demands: water, solar power, seedlings shared across the community, local finance, and now beekeeping across partner farms.

Adults tending rows of seedlings in black nursery bags beneath trees. — Project archive · 2023The nursery takes root
Before there was a center, there were nursery bags, shade structures, compost, and people preparing for the rains.

Adults using a rope while a worker stands inside a hand-dug water source. — 2023 · Water reached by JulyWater is reached by hand
When machinery was out of reach, the community dug for water by hand and kept going until water came.

A black water-storage tank raised on a metal tower among trees. — 2023 · Tank acquired in SeptemberAccess becomes capacity
A raised tank turned a hard-won water source into storage for the nursery and the work growing around it.

An adult installer standing beside solar panels and pump equipment at the project site. — 2023 · Solar pump installed in DecemberSolar keeps water moving
At first, water still came up by rope. The panels and solar pump put it to work for the nursery.

Project archive · Siaya County, Kenya.

01Operating since 2022

Community nursery

The central nursery is the heart of New Eden, supplying seedlings to members, partner farms, schools, churches, and community planting.

02Built 2023

Water + solar

A hand-dug water source, raised tank, and solar pump keep the nursery growing and turn a fragile beginning into lasting infrastructure.

03Ongoing

Seedling distribution

Seedlings move from the nursery into farms, schools, churches, and community sites, carrying the work into every new place.

04Operating

Table banking

Community-run table banking helps members save, borrow, invest, and build livelihoods together.

05Underway

Beekeeping

New Eden has purchased 10 beehives and is now placing one on each of 10 new partner farms to strengthen local pollination and multiply the work across the community.

06Next build

Community center

The nursery is already growing. The next major build is a permanent center for training, after-school learning, meetings, enterprise, and community life.

The whole community

The nursery is the engine, not the finish line.

The work already reaches beyond planting trees: a nursery and water for farmers, programs for women and men, after-school learning, youth sports, clubs, holiday activities, and a place where families can build together. Together, these programs turn the nursery into a foundation for learning, livelihoods, and long-term community growth.

Farm network

Farmers & members

Members link the central nursery with farms, schools, community planting, and table banking. Together they raise and distribute seedlings, prepare compost, choose trees for local conditions, and share practical Forest Garden knowledge.

Livelihoods + family

Women, men & families

Women, men, and families build enterprises, save and lend together through table banking, work in the nursery, and support one another through shared activity.

Learning + trees

Children, schools & after-school

Children and schools learn by doing: caring for seedlings, planting trees, and joining community tree and water giveaway days. The nursery is a living classroom connecting after-school learning with responsibility for the land.

Sports + community

Youth sports, clubs & holidays

Youth sports, clubs, after-school activities, and holiday programs create year-round places to play, lead, learn, and belong in the wider community.

The people behind the work

Meet the New Eden Park team.

15members
October 2026

Our members bring the nursery, community activities, and plans for the next chapter together.

Office bearers & team

Chairperson

Raymond Opondo

Vice Chairperson

Mary Akinyi

Secretary

Phylis Opondo

Treasurer

Priscilla Olilo

Organizing Secretary

Bruce Odhiambo

Marketing

Bryan Adolwa

Social Media

Sharon Awino

Patron / Board

Jack Andersohn

Members

Victoria Faith
Lowell Luke
Beryl Tshombe
Victoria Hope
Jeff Omondi
Antony Obonyo
Clara Ayidi

Where things stand

Built. Running. Next.

The state of New Eden Park in plain terms, as of September 2026.

Built, 2022 to 2023

A central nursery on Raymond's land. A well dug by hand, with water reached by July 2023. A raised tank and a solar pump installed by December 2023.

Running

New Eden Park C.B.O., registered in Siaya County in October 2023. Members run table banking and share seedlings with farms, schools, churches, and community sites. Tree learning and after-school activity with local schools. Youth sports, clubs, and holiday activities.

Underway and next

Ten beehives purchased in 2026, now being placed one per farm across ten partner farms. A community center is planned as the next major build.

Growing together · 2022 to 2026

From a shared idea to a community-led project.

2022
A shared idea takes root
Jack and Raymond meet during the Austria–Kenya forestry exchange. Together, they develop a tree-nursery plan, begin nursery preparations and share Forest Garden learning materials with the group.
2023
Water makes growth possible
The community digs a well by hand, adds a storage tank and installs a solar pump. Seedlings reach schools, churches and community sites. New Eden Park registers as a CBO in Siaya County.
2024
Rooted in the community
The nursery and water system support a wider community effort. Seedlings for schools and neighbors connect tree growing with practical learning and care for the land.
2025
A vision for the next chapter
Plans take shape for a community center where training, youth activities, meetings and local enterprise can grow together. Raymond shares a proposed site, giving the team a place to imagine the next phase.
2026
Growing livelihoods together
Members link the nursery to their farms and support one another through table banking. Ten beehives are being placed across ten partner farms, adding a new livelihood opportunity as the group plans its next community projects.

Each step builds on the last: shared knowledge, reliable water, trees in the ground and more ways for the community to grow together.

The next chapter

Water before walls. Now a home for the whole community.

New Eden did not begin with a building. It began with seedlings in nursery bags and a well dug by hand. The nursery, water system, solar pumping, programs, and farm network are now in motion. The next major build is a planned community center, a permanent home for learning, enterprise, meetings, youth, and community life.

Design with the community

Shape the site plan with members, families, farmers, educators, and young people who will use the center.

Create flexible learning space

Plan rooms and outdoor areas for after-school learning, agroforestry training, clubs, meetings, and community celebrations.

Connect the center to the land

Link the building to the nursery, water and solar systems, demonstration gardens, seedling distribution, and the hives being placed across 10 partner farms.

Build in phases

Move from site plan and budget to essential shared spaces first, then expand as programs and local capacity grow.

Siaya County, KenyaRooted and led in Siaya. Strengthened through partnership since 2022.

Support the work

Help the next chapter take root.

Interested in supporting the nursery or an upcoming community project? Talk with the New Eden Park team about current priorities and ways to help.

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Direct online donations are not available on this website yet.

Contact New Eden Park

Let’s connect.