Pupils at Diocesan School for Girls in Makhanda are busy with a new activity which dirties their hands and keeps them busy outside.
Reverend Rachel Ssekimpi, DSG’s chaplain, leads a farming project, teaching the grade 9 girls the importance of patience during farming sessions.
According to the reverend, the goal of the project, “farming in God’s way”, was to illustrate the technique of farming used in the Bible and to understand that in order to acquire the ultimate product one must labour every single day to get the desired results.
As a result, the pupils visit the garden almost daily to water their crops.
She hopes that when the pupils leave DSG, they will have learnt not just academic skills but also sporting, cultural and farming skills.
Ssekimpi said the strategy they used was biblical in nature, with the goal of replicating how God planted his own plants.
She said it was impressive to see how engaged the girls were.
“There was a lot of excitement and passion from the girls as they immersed themselves in the mood,” she said.
“They worked in groups of three to mark out their areas, hammer in permanent pegs, build furrows, add manure and transplant seedlings.”
Various vegetables, such as spinach, beetroot, green onions, green beans and so on, are grown and sold to the community for as little as R5.
Grade 9 pupil Anne Cuthbert said they had grabbed the opportunity to make a change with both hands.
We grow the veggies using organic methods and then offer them to the workers and community at a much lower price
Cuthbert said their major objective was to guarantee that any profits from the project were sent to Makhanda’s underprivileged households, reason enough to be proud.
“We grow the veggies using organic methods and then offer them to the workers and community at a much lower price.”
She said the school had higher aspirations for their own garden, but for the time being they were working on repaying the money they had borrowed to establish the garden.
Going forward, all of their proceeds would be donated to the community.
Hope Mudenda, another grade 9 pupil involved in the garden, said they were proud of their efforts.
Mudenda said they had witnessed how God operated in mysterious ways, as described to them by the reverend throughout their sessions.
She said they had not anticipated the garden would be as lovely as it was, and as a result of this she had learnt to be appreciative.
“I learnt to be grateful to God. This was a tremendous chance for the entire grade 9 group to take, and even though it is mandatory for all of us to participate, we are very grateful to be a part of this magnificent initiative,” she said.
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