College to plant vegetables at Alex school

THE Boston Media House’s annual corporate social investment programme will see the planting of a vegetable garden at Emfundisweni Primary School on 11 October.

The programme, which is run by the third year public relations students and handled by them from conception to execution, will be themed Growing Green: Helping Plant Tomorrow’s Meal.

The students said that many children in the communities, which include Alexandra, go to bed hungry and wake up and go to school, still on an empty stomach.

The eagerness to learn and build a better future is what drives some of these children despite the hunger. However, the eagerness can only take them so far. An empty stomach affects a child’s ability to concentrate and take in what is being taught, thus resulting in a poor mark which hinders progress.

It was with this in mind that students from Boston Media House decided to go to Emfundisweni to start the vegetable garden which, if successful, will not only cater for the needs of the schoolchildren but the surrounding community as well.

Although the vegetable garden in one school may not seem like much, it is a start and may have a ripple effect to create greater changes and also spread to other schools as well, not just in Alex but in many other similar communities within Johannesburg and the entire country, said the students’ media liaison officer Ziphozethu Khambule.

Although some children may eat at home, the meals may not necessarily be nutritious due to the inability to afford vegetables. Not only will students be fed but they will receive a nutritious meal and the vegetable garden may grow to feed the community, Khambule said.

The vegetable garden will also serve as an educational ground as the pupils will practical access for natural sciences and can learn how to grow vegetables and maintain them. The students hope what is learnt at school could easily be transferred to the home and into the community.