As a young, idealistic environmental studies student, I came to study this semester in Belize looking forward to the pristine rainforest, the fascinating wildlife and the rich culture. Upon my arrival, I became acutely aware of how threatened these gems actually are. Throughout my environmental studies career I have been pressed with the question of how to best go about preserving the environment and culture, and the answer that continuously arises to me is through education of the youth. My program requires an independent study project, and in my search for something meaningful I sought something related to environmental education and children. My hope was that by promoting environmental education for the youth of Belize, a more sustainable future could be ensured. I was fortunate enough to find an organization that was already involved with numerous projects that aligned with these ideals.

Students at Little Flower School in Forrest Home Village develop a garden bed with teacher, Dian Westby, (right). Photo by Lindsay Fromme

For five weeks this November I worked with Plenty Belize’s Garden-based Agriculture for Toledo’s Environment (GATE) program, assessing the challenges, failures and successes by conducting case studies of six schools. I visited San Marcos, Little Flower, San Miguel, Columbia, Mafredi and Laguna several times throughout the course of my work, often tagging along with the field extension representatives.

Having the opportunity to observe students working in the garden it was clear the amount of pride and hard work they put into it. I will forever be in awe of small children wielding heavy shovels, hoes and machetes. Although many of the gardens are not producing this early in the school year, the student’s confidence in what they will reap makes me want to return to share in their harvest!

I found that although the program does face challenges with teacher’s knowledge and interest in the garden, for the most part the program is successfully teaching children a sustainable, organic alternative to the farming they are used to. The majority of teachers were knowledgeable about gardening, either from prior agricultural experience, or from attending Plenty workshops, and most teachers used the garden as a hands on learning experience, by integrating garden themes into other areas of the curriculum. I met teachers that used gardening in science, health education, math and even language arts. The biggest challenges faced were most often those that can not be helped, such as weather, enormous class sizes, pests such as ‘wee-wee’ leaf cutter ants and pigs.

As Plenty Belize expands the GATE program to include more schools, more teachers will become knowledgeable about the garden, and it is more likely for the program to be sustained in the long run. The most unique thing about the GATE program is that it is set up to provide long term self-sufficiency. Visiting schools that have been graduated for several years now, like Laguna and Mafredi, it is clear that the program continues to be a success. As an outsider, with no prior experience with international development work, it was truly inspiring to work with an organization that is not only making a difference, but empowering the local people to better care for their natural environment. I hope that in my next visit to Belize, all of the schools in the Toledo district will be involved with school gardening. And if I don’t make it back for some time, I am confident that the children I have met this trip will have grown up to possess a sincere love for gardening and to be responsible stewards of their land.

	“Our school has a garden. Every Wednesday we go to the garden. We planted pumpkin, coco and pineapple in our garden. We have some vegetables in our garden. We are very proud of our garden. We have the best garden from everybody that has a garden. I want to know about your garden; thanks!” Your friend, Joaquin from Midway Village School

2009/2010 Winter Bulletin

• Introduction
• Guatemala Adibe Soy project celebrates 30 years!
• Guatemala UPA-SOYA project
• Guatemala City’s Urban Poor
• Gulf Recovery Heros
• Homeless in New Orleans
• Plenty Belize Microgrant Success
• Pine Ridge Gardens

• Plenty Belize
• The Farm Community