Source: The Ekurhuleni Center Newsletter

Over the past two years the vast permaculture garden at The Ekurhuleni Center slowly withered and died due to the drought that hit the region. The lack of rain caused many of the wells to dry up. Water had to be brought to the area in tankers.

This year, we received some seasonal rain and the Cubs and Scouts had fun and learned valuable skills working towards bringing the garden back to its former glory. The Cubs and Scouts were tireless in their drive to bring the garden back to life. They were assisted by Seeds of Light’s permaculture expert TryGive Nxumalo. The garden is now supplying the kitchen with fresh produce again!

After first harvest, Nick Vorono showed the children how to utilize the radish and beet greens to make `marog` – or cooked greens – as they are extremely high in vitamins and minerals.  Although some of the carers enjoyed this, the new flavours were not a hit with most of the children! Despite this, they do enjoy eating the fresh fruit and vegetables that are grown. Additionally, they were very proud to receive their permaculture badges, Cub gardening badges and first part of the Scout gardening badge for this service.

The second part of this Community Service, is to share this knowledge, along with seedlings and harvest, with their families and neighbours in their communities. The children want to help build more gardens for vulnerable families.

The Ekurhuleni Center Scout Group is supported by Keep The Dream 196. This NGO uses Scouting as a tool for development.