The Vlottenburg Community teamed up with Shoprite to build a community vegetable garden which is now empowering the youth within the community.
The Vlottenburg Community Organisation’s Wesbank garden shows, partnered with Shoprite to establish a food garden to help empower youth in the area. They placed the garden at Rainbow Primary.
The vegetable garden is thriving and now feeds 250 school pupils. The crops that grow in the garden include spinach, beetroot, leeks, lettuce, cabbage, and carrots; as well as a variety of herbs.
“Our beautiful garden is a positive attraction and is redirecting our youth’s focus. We use its beauty as a metaphor for their lives.”
“We’re now feeding 250 children daily. That’s a huge improvement in just three years.”
“Our hard work has ensured where once there was nothing there is now a green garden that feeds and empowers people. The same can be said for the lives of our youth: they might feel as if they have nothing to offer but if they work hard they can create something beautiful from nothing.” – Hilton Davids, founder of the Vlottenburg Community Organisation
The garden is used as a way to teach the learners how to garden and improve their skills. They then take these skills home and empower their parents, siblings and elders. The garden is a positive place to spend time in.
Urban Harvest, a partner of Shoprite, helped to design the gardens. The gardens offer a community space where people can go to spend time relaxing.
One of the community volunteers is a retired farm worker names Gerald Bezuidenhout. He spends most of his days in the garden and tends to it daily.
“Gardening gives me immense pleasure, but the greatest pleasure comes from the praise I get for our beautiful garden from community members.” – Gerald Bezuidenhout
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