In February 2023, we were suprised with a donation of SRD 318,430.00 by the Fernandes Bottling Company. They had decided to donate the proceeds of the 2022 Coca-Cola Christmas Caravan fundraising to Green Growth Suriname, the mother organisation of Forest93.
Forest93 Ambassador, Christio Wijnhard, was overjoyed to accept the cheque. He used the budget to continue the ambassador’s own social project: Tiny Food Gardens for children’s homes.
Selected children’s homes in various districts received tiny food gardens to grow vegetables and spices for their kitchens. The food gardens were produced by Tiny Gardens Suriname and come with a workshop in planting, a booklet to monitor the plants and a workshop on responsible use of single-use plastics. The workshop on plastic use is combined with a planting course in PET-bottles. Two gentlemen from the Ministry of Agriculture support us with the workshop and deliver the seeds for the children. Moreover, via a train-the-trainer program, a selection of youngster received training in woodwork and planting to make these food gardens themselves, and assist in planting. Four youngsters completed the training and monitored the planting projects in the children’s homes for a period of 6 months to ensure continuity of the project.
During the project it became clear that the watering of plants resulted in extra monthly water charges for the homes, who already have budget contraints. We decided to reallocate part of the budget to buy water tanks for rainwater storage for irrigation purposes. Moreover, compost buckets were placed at the children’s homes to help them recycle leftovers and create nutritious earth for their plants.
The project in numbers:
6 homes (Kinderhuis Saron, Kinderhuis Riyos, Kinderhuis Sukh Dhaam, Rorita’s Creche in Tammenga, Trees Oppashuis in Coronie, Senior Citizen’s Home Lunor in Coronie) in 4 districts received tiny food gardens.
150+ children participated in, and benefitted from, the project
53 tiny food gardens were produced and placed
4 compost buckets were produced and placed
35 PET bottles were used to plant spices
11 youths from children’s homes finished the train-the-trainer program
4 youths were trained to monitor the planting in the children’s homes and assist with the execution of the project
Numerous healthy meals were cooked with the harvest
