Bulawayo's Community Gardens Begin To Flourish
The gardeners in Wards, 15, 19 and 27 have just transplanted their seedlings and are now employing the water saving drip irrigation equipment that came as part of the Garden Kits supplied by the Trust.
Whilst completing his routine rounds to the wards, ZDDT Field Correspondent, Ntando Sibanda, noticed that the morale of the beneficiaries had increased since the establishment of the projects a few months ago. Gardeners said the potential visible in the young vegetables is giving them hope that they will succeed with their new venture.
“As you can see, the plants are coming out well and, in a couple of weeks, this whole garden will be as green as the Garden of Eden. We can now see the fruits of our labour and we are now even more motivated to make sure that this project is a success,” said Mr Calvin Ndlovu, a garden member from Ward 15.
“We have since begun using the drip irrigation kit to water our garden; we use it from 2pm to 4pm and one full tank lasts for about 45 minutes. We realised that the system is good in that there is no soil erosion and all the water is sucked by the plant and there is no wastage,” said Ward19 garden chairperson, Mr Jethro Mangena.
Within the bounds of the Trust’s MoU with the Bulawayo City Council, ZDDT equipped the gardens with the assistance of an anonymous Australian partner under the auspices of its “Sebenzela” concept that seeks to economically and socially empower communities through self-help projects at grassroots level.
The imminent success of the garden is a direct result of the Garden Training that was provided by the Trust, through AGRITEX, at the onset of the project. It is a clear indication that ZDDT is pursuing its objectives and the fundamental belief of empowering communities through self-help initiatives and interventions.
Whilst completing his routine rounds to the wards, ZDDT Field Correspondent, Ntando Sibanda, noticed that the morale of the beneficiaries had increased since the establishment of the projects a few months ago. Gardeners said the potential visible in the young vegetables is giving them hope that they will succeed with their new venture.
“As you can see, the plants are coming out well and, in a couple of weeks, this whole garden will be as green as the Garden of Eden. We can now see the fruits of our labour and we are now even more motivated to make sure that this project is a success,” said Mr Calvin Ndlovu, a garden member from Ward 15.
“We have since begun using the drip irrigation kit to water our garden; we use it from 2pm to 4pm and one full tank lasts for about 45 minutes. We realised that the system is good in that there is no soil erosion and all the water is sucked by the plant and there is no wastage,” said Ward19 garden chairperson, Mr Jethro Mangena.
Within the bounds of the Trust’s MoU with the Bulawayo City Council, ZDDT equipped the gardens with the assistance of an anonymous Australian partner under the auspices of its “Sebenzela” concept that seeks to economically and socially empower communities through self-help projects at grassroots level.
The imminent success of the garden is a direct result of the Garden Training that was provided by the Trust, through AGRITEX, at the onset of the project. It is a clear indication that ZDDT is pursuing its objectives and the fundamental belief of empowering communities through self-help initiatives and interventions.