The character, Adam, was Mohammad Tajeran’s idea, an idea to connect with young children, while adding color and a friendly character to our workshops. Adam resembles Mohammad with his curly hair and a big nose, wearing a red jacket and the colorful scarf that Mohammad often wears when cycling. 

 

Adam was chosen as the name for the character as it is a name that is widely accepted in many cultures and is inclusive of religious belief and nationality. It is, however,  not gender-free but a boy as Mohammad is male and single. Adam is to mirror, through stories, Mohammad’s travels. 

 

Mohammad’s very good friend, Hossein Safi, created the cartoon character, Adam, in 2015.  Adam is introduced through an animation. Like the character in the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Mohammad had his very own tree.  Mohammad visited his tree, once a week, during the year he was studying mechanical engineering at university. Mohammad would ride his bicycle up the mountain to sit by the tree he came to call his own. One week, having cycled to visit his tree, he found his tree cut, leaving him very sad. That lost is something he has not forgotten. 

 

Did the idea of planting trees come from his lost of his tree?  Perhaps, but it was not a conscious decision at that time. However, this experience is the basis for the animation that introduces Adam.  

 

Mohammad raised the required funds to pay for the creation of the animation by cycling 800 km within 48 hours, from Mashad to Tehran, in Iran.

Hossein Safi was the director and writer of the animation working with the team of four.

Today, Mohammad is ready to write stories with Adam as the key character, a character that we hope young children will like, will want to follow, and will inspire these children to take care of their natural environment, protect trees, and repopulate our environment with trees.