The Impact of a Single School Garden to the Community

“The 4-color wheel is the most exciting thing that Gardens For Health International has taught us. Children now know everything about a balanced diet, what it is made of, and how to get it.”

These were the words of Theophile Bapfakwita, a teacher at Ecole Primaire Kabujenje, located in Karongi District in Rwanda’s Western Province.

Since 2017, Theophile has been part of the Home Grown School Feeding program implemented by Gardens For Health International in partnership with the UN’s World Food Programme. The programme trained teachers and students on basic nutrition and agriculture topics so they could grow vegetables at the school grounds and share a healthy meal at school.

Theophile, a teacher at EP Kabujenje in Rutsiro District

Before GHI started working at the school, they had a school garden but there wasn’t anything planted. Everyone would go out to buy fruits and vegetables from the market instead of getting them from the garden. But they have since learnt to grow vegetables in the school space and now know about the 4-color wheel that demonstrated the different essential food groups.

As an extension of everything they learnt, many of the children have also grown to love farming. Theophile says they now volunteer to bring fertilizers from their homes to keep the vegetable garden in good shape.

“Our children became ambassadors in spreading the GHI story to their parents,” Theophile happily explains. 

The garden even provides the opportunity for the students to bring some vegetables home to share with their families. Their favorite vegetables include red amaranth and carrots.

The school also formed an Agriculture Club, which is another opportunity for students to practice some of the hands-on activities every week. Students meet every Friday to practice different gardening activities, and it’s always exciting for them to be involved in the planting, weeding and harvesting of vegetables in the school garden. 

On some occasions, the school has been able to sell the extra produce so they could save money for seeds. To Theophile and other teachers, this is encouraging. It gives them confidence that the school garden is sustainable and here to stay.

“Normally, I love farming. But GHI made me love it even more. My colleagues here used to tell me that I am doing the wrong job. They say I should have been a farmer, not a teacher. But now I can be both.”

Theophile’s passion for growing veggies is also visible at his home. He told us how his children have also adapted to the 4-color wheel. When Theophile and his wife go shopping, they make sure all colors are present in their shopping bag and in the meals they feed to their families.