Desert Gardens

The past month has been a very exciting (and busy) time for me here in Ambondro. I have officially started two of the main projects that I am hoping to carry out over the next year: a permagarden and a rural classroom rehabilitation. Both are still in the early stages, but it is very exciting to have finally begun working on them!

Permagarden

As I mentioned in my last post, my counterpart Josoah and I attended a training session in October about how to build a ‘permagarden.’ This style of garden uses a carefully arranged series of berms and holes to catch and hold rainwater, which combined with ‘double-dug’ garden beds helps to provide the plants with water even during the dry season. After a few weeks of preparation, we finally began work on our first permagarden last weekend. The garden is located in Association Tinoñe’s (Josoah’s village association) larger community garden, just a few feet from my house. We were able to complete all of the berms and garden beds, although we are waiting for more rainfall before we begin planting.

People in Ambondro are very interested in the permagarden. In fact, several community members have already asked us to help them set up permagardens of their own. The Androy Region is one of the driest in Madagascar, and access to fresh fruits and vegetables is very limited. Many families subsist primarily on cassava and sweet potatoes due to a lack of nutrition education and a lack of access to healthy foods. If our permagarden is successful, then we might be able to help address the latter issue.  Beginning the garden has been both exciting and somewhat nerve-racking, because there is always the possibility that the garden will fail. However, if it is successful it could really make a difference in the lives of people here!

 

Working on a garden bed

Working in the garden

Completed layout

Rural Classroom Rehabilitation

I have already talked a bit about my classroom rehabilitation project in previous posts. Well, after many meetings with parent’s groups, school officials, and local government offices, I have finally completed the grant application and submitted it to Peace Corps for evaluation. I am hoping to hear back from them sometime in January, which would mean that, if approved, we could begin fundraising in February.

People here are excited about the project, and we have secured a significant contribution from the community. Parents’ groups have agreed to pay for basic construction materials such as sand, rock, and water. The regional director of education has promised to purchase new windows and doors for the school. The regional government will provide a truck to transport all of the materials to Ambondro from the regional capital, and the district education director will pay for the gasoline. We have even talked with the local UNICEF office, and they might be able to provide us with desks for the new classrooms. We are still in the planning stages, and there is always the possibility that Peace Corps will not approve the project, but it is still very exciting to have completed the first step!