Holiday Program

As the term ended Calabash organsied a holiday program which extended the ABCD process by introducing permaculture and arts to the parents and children.

Parents and children gathered during their holidays to work on the school garden and continue the creative thought program. We were amazed to see that children from surrounding schools, besides Emafini, also took part which became clear that the holiday program was something these children enjoyed.

Xolisa Ngubelanga, the creative thoughts associate, had parents and scholars excited in their class room when sharing his process with the group. He started showing the children and parents the importance of keeping stories documented and alive through sharing folk tales, which the children were told by their elders. Through writing scripts and creating puppets, Xolisa creatively engaged with the students showing them how basic materials could be used to create puppets.

Letter Calabsh received from the children asking not to go home early during holiday program.

Alhyrian, the permaculture associate, starts off his process by determining what knowledge exists within the group already, and explains that it is meant to be a shared learning experience. Some of the content he adds include factors to consider before designing a garden, mapping, the importance of soil, composting, water catchment, contours and swales, preparing beds etc. Some of the parents did express that they already have their own home gardens but found that permaculture techniques were of use in improving their current gardens.