Annual Report 2014

REINFORCING COMMUNITY TIES

while their husbands work in the fields can pursue their own activity and income. The seed of this dream began with the family integration workshops held regarding what to plant and why it is worth cultivating a vegetable plot. Now, with the results of the school orchard in sight, the improvement in eating habits is already a reality. IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD Local families say that nothing has been planted at the school for many years. “You would say beetroot and the kids didn’t know what it was, they ate very few vegetables”, says de los Santos. Now, however, with the school orchard they eat vegetables every day. “When they come home they tell me what they ate at lunchtime and now it’s always spinach pie, soups, vegetable cannelloni”, she adds. The head also said that the orchard“was a great help to the cafeteria, there are always fresh and healthy vegetables”. Lettuce, peas, Swiss chard, beans, onions, red peppers, parsley, carrots, beetroot, this great variety of vegetables makes up the school menu. 20 species of fruit trees were also planted. The children themselves enjoy working outdoors. “They were very enthused right from the start”, says the head teacher. They tell me that they love planting, watering and even weeding. But they mainly want to reap the fruits of their labour. “They saw that they were eating their own vegetables, harvested with their own hands. You can see how many vegetables they are eating now that this food project is being implemented with the pupils in Queguayar.

“The orchard provides new life to the school. It helps bringing people together, it is a way of working for the village” , says María del Rosario de los Santos, mother of Santiago and Gastón, aged 10 and 11 years old.

28 2014 ANNUAL REPORT