TZANEEN: Woolies getting dirty for a cause
'Most of them came from poor homes where they could not afford to buy food, some were orphans and some were even taking care of their sick parents.'
In celebration of #WorldFoodDay, Tzaneen Woolworths (Woolies) employees got their hands dirty with the aim of fighting poverty and starvation at Shikhathi Primary School in Khujwana Village outside Tzaneen on Friday.
The Woolies employees volunteered their time to work with the learners in the school’s permaculture food garden.
The 2017 theme for World Food Day, which was commemorated on October 16 is ‘Change the future of migration, Invest in food security and rural development’.
The school which has about 520 learners has been participating for many years in the EduPlant permaculture food gardening programme.
“We began the garden in 2009, when we realised that many learners were coming to school on empty stomachs.
Most of them came from poor homes where they could not afford to buy food, some were orphans and some were even taking care of their sick parents,” said Mmabatho Khoza, School Manager.
Khosa said that the garden does not only feed the learners but it feeds the whole community, because many residents cannot afford to buy food.
The school grows vegetables, fruit trees and different kind of herbs such as lavender, mint and garlic.
“This is the first time that our store employees participated in an EduPlant volunteer day.
It is a wonderful opportunity to go out into our community, join the kids in getting our hands dirty and learn all about permaculture food gardening while helping to expand the garden and boost their school’s sustainable food production,” says Stephnie van der Merwe, Manager of the Tzaneen store.
Woolworths partnered with the EduPlant Programme over twelve years ago and has been the main funder of the programme in an effort to improve food security in vulnerable communities.
As the country’s leading food gardening programme, EduPlant, initiated and managed by Food and Trees for Africa, provides free workshops for educators to learn permaculture skills.
“Gardening has become a lifestyle to the school because this has become a way of living to the learners. The learners can now start thinking about having a future in agriculture when they grow up, because they have been introduced to this culture at a young age,” said Lawrence Tshuma from Food and Trees for Africa.
By the end of day the woolies employees with the help of Tshuma and some learners had made a food garden comprising of vegetables, fruit trees and herbs.
Their duties included digging new beds, mulching (a process of wetting and protecting the soil), putting on compost, planting and watering the plants.
Woolies Tzaneen donated fruit, vegetable and herbs plants for the school.
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