Year-Round Classroom Garden Feeds Learners
By Mercy Wambui
Visiting classrooms remains the best part of my job and working directly with students and educators is absolutely rewarding.
One classroom visit that always inspires me, each time I visit, is Ohana Brook Academy, in Kiambu, Kenya, where I had the opportunity to experience their incredible projects firsthand.
From the school gate, even before meeting any learners, the Ohana Brook School garden catches your attention- they have used every space as a garden and they actually grow most of the vegetables the learners eat.
The innovative Greenhouse that recycles water from a tank fish pond is full of fresh
green vegetables all year round and the hanging gardens provide more room for the
seedlings that the learners grow to keep a steady supply to their gardens.
I was inspired to learn that they have incorporated climate and environmental education from kindergarten to the upper primary classes, where every class has a role to play in maintaining the vibrant school gardens.
For their CIC project, the students explored plastic waste disposal, urban farming in small spaces and recycling and they submitted three well thought out projects.
The students shared that they come from the informal settlement around their school, and as they walk to school the pass huge dumpsites; an eye-sore to them that has inspired many ideas on how they can reduce waste, make dust-bins as part of their classroom projects, recycle plastic bottles into pots for their seedlings. That is what CIC is all about- engaging students in action and hence building hope, hope in their ability to make a difference in a seemingly huge and impossible task.
I always leave Ohana Brook Academy, feeling hopeful and inspired by the young students who are looking beyond the challenges around them and using a possible eye-sore to fuel a fire, they get to work and create solutions that make an impact in their home and school.
That is hope. And that is my biggest motivation to keep supporting CIC.
Hi, I’m Mercy!
CIC Africa Education Program Director
Hi, I’m Mercy Wambui, an experiential and environmental educator. As the Africa-based Education Program Director at CAVU, I’ve had the privilege of supporting students and teachers as they bring their climate solutions to life.
