Reydi Moreta
Santo Domingo, May 22, 2016
Within the framework of the Recycling Olympics, activity held annually at the Centro para la Educación Dominica during the month of May, GFDD/Funglode’s program EcoHuertos hosted on May 20 a sowing day at the institution, which counted with the participation of 10 eighth and seventh grade students.
During the activity, the Program Coordinator of EcoHuertos, Cristiana Cruz Minier, through the Dialogic Inquiry Strategy, which consists of questions that encourage responses, comments and more questions from the students, explained concepts related to vegetables, gardens and the care of both.
Recyclable materials such as tires were used for the creation of the organic and sustainable garden. Vegetables such as spinach, Swiss chard, tomato, eggplant, pepper and leek were planted in the containers previously painted by the students.
About EcoHuertos
The program seeks to support the creation of organic and sustainable vegetable gardens in schools and communities throughout the Dominican Republic, as well as support, through hands-on workshops, the areas of natural sciences contained in the educational curriculum. The program also generates awareness of the importance of a balanced diet, achieving a greater appreciation for and receptiveness toward the consumption of vegetables.
Related Links:
www.eco-huertos.org
www.globalfoundationdd.org
Drafting the School Garden´s Present and Mapping out Its Future at Liceo de la República de Paraguay
Santo Domingo, May 2, 2016
In order to give continuity to the schedule of the EcoHuertos program and follow up on the work done by the students, Cristiana Cruz Minier, Coordinator of the GFDD´s program, visited, on April 28, Liceo de la República de Paraguay’s school garden. The interactive workshop involved 25 high school students accompanied by the Director of the institution, Iris Night, and Manager of the Vegetable Garden, Wilton de la Rosa.
After a tour of the garden, Cruz Minier through the Dialogic Inquiry Strategy, which consists of questions that encourage responses, comments and other questions from the students, raised the needs of the garden and its future perspectives.
The coordinator confirmed the excellent work done at the school, where students have not only planted and harvested radish, chayote, plantain, banana, taro, cassava, papaya, sweet potato, ginger, beans, tomato and pepper, but also, have often harvested mangoes and have grown a cocoa seedlings to give to the members of the school community who have requested them.
Looking into the future, they are now planning a cleaning day of an unused area of the school, to condition it and integrate it as part of the garden, as well as building planters for growing aromatic and medicinal plants.
About EcoHuertos
The program seeks to support the creation of organic and sustainable vegetable gardens in schools and communities throughout the Dominican Republic, as well as support, through hands-on workshops, the areas of natural sciences contained in the educational curriculum. The program also generates awareness of the importance of a balanced diet, achieving a greater appreciation for and receptiveness toward the consumption of vegetables.
Related Links:
Santo Domingo, March 9, 2016
On February 23, 2016, Cristiana Cruz Minier, coordinator of the EcoHuertos program, visited the Eco Garden of Escuela Básica Concepción Bona for a sowing session.
Fourth and fifth graders, members of the Eco Huertos group, helped by three teachers and the gardener, started by cleaning and weeding the school vegetable garden and then removing the soil from the planting beds. Later on planting seedlings of peppers, tomato, common lettuce, romaine, flat-leave parsley, cabbage, onion, and curly parsley seeds.
The Dialogic Inquiry Strategy was applied throughout the work day. It consists of inquiries that encourage responses, comments and questions from the students, on concepts related to gardening and to nature in general.
Congratulations to the members of Grupo Eco Huertos from Escuela Básica Concepción Bona for their enthusiasm and dedication in the management of the vegetable garden!