The School Garden

     One thing that I constantly worry about is the poor nutrition of students.  In the morning they have black tea and potatoes.  For lunch they eat ugali and beans.  For dinner they eat ugali and beans.  Sometimes if they have spending money, they can buy an avocado for lunch or mandazi (fried bread) for breakfast.  On Saturday, they get meat and ugali for lunch.  On Sunday, they eat rice and beans for dinner.  And on Mondays and Tuesdays they get a small amount of cabbage cooked in oil for lunch.  But that’s it.  This is what most of them eat every week for four years.   I am one of those people who loves food and eating is one of my favorite hobbies.  I have already fantasized about the delicious food I will eat when I visit America and look forward to my trips to Dar es Salaam simply because of the food diversity.  Sadly, for many students eating is for survival not joy.  Can you imagine eating the same thing every day for years??  To reward some of my top students I invite them to my house for dinner on occasion.  I have exposed them to pancakes, salad, stir fry, pizza, spaghetti, cookies, fudge, and even variations on their own foods (coconut beans, rice, and curried cabbage).  I have also started giving away bananas and oranges as rewards.  They crave food diversity and their diet lacks a significant number of nutrients needed to maintain one’s health.  Students are missing fruits and vegetables in their diet and I expressed my concerns to the school last fall.

     The main obstacle for varying the diet of students was money.  So we decided to start a school garden and have the students do the labour.  I hope to post some pictures soon, but we have prepared the land and have begun planting seeds.  My students are trying to teach me how to garden so hopefully I will have some skills when I return to America.  One issue that I learned about recently is that the school has no money for manure.  I am hoping to bring in an environment volunteer to teach them how to make compost.   Another great part about the garden is that we have developed an alternative to corporal punishment.  Now when students commit small infractions like coming late to assembly, they are not beaten with a stick.  They are sent to the garden after school to work.  The stick is still used frequently, but at least we are making baby steps…