De nombreux clubs Roots & Shoots dans les ecoles primaires et secondaires ont leur jardin potahger au camp. Apres avoir distribue outils et graines, il est temps de planter pour recolter des legumes dans les mois a venir. En attendant, le responsable de l'un de ces clubs nous livre ses impressions.
In the Lugufu Congolese refugee camp in Tanzania, we decided to cultivate a garden. We have planted three kinds of vegetables: eggplants, amaranth and cabbages. It was not easy because of the lack of gardening tools and of the poverty of the soil.
To fertilize it we have received animal manure from GRACE, a local development NGO. In the meantime the plants had started to grow in the nursery. We put a few handfuls of manure in and around the holes we dug to plant them. Indeed we have understood that the good health of the plants depends on the fertilizers obtained from animal manure. Our garden is a very good illustration of that. Not only does it provide food to our families and vulnerable community members, but it also enables us to sell the remaining crops. Moreover, teachers regularly use our garden to teach children botany.
However, because of the bad habit of lighting bushfires, and of the deforestation taking place around the Lugufu riverbed, there has been scarcely enough water brought by the drinking water distribution network to reach the school water tank since the second week of May. Many flowers dried up, and the production diminished, so that we could not meet the demand for eggplants from community members.
Today, all Congolese refugees from Lugufu understand that if they follow Roots & Shoots members’ advice on environment conservation, they will be hugely rewarded. So the education given to the children by Roots & Shoots needs to be supported by everyone.
Mulubi Mulonda
A 05 B21 P03
Hekima Secondary School
Champ de Mais, Ecole primaire de Kilimanjaro
