It was on the 14th of June 2019 when our school Musavezi Primary School hosted the World Environment Day together with the District Permaculture Day on the theme Air Pollution “We can’t stop breathing but we can do something about the quality of air we breathe.” We had learners, teachers, school heads and councilors from the District converging at the school. We also had other learners from CJR Primary School from Gweru urban in attendance.
I was made to start leading the tour of our projects from the main gate to the school where we have our buffer zone. From the buffer zone area the guests proceeded to the kitchen gardens which were once lawns (green deserts).
Here guests were told by a group of learners that the function of the kitchen gardens was to provide fresh vegetables and herbs to the kitchen as they were placed next to where we live. Another group of learners also explained the uses of herbs which were growing in the school’s herbarium to the guests.
The guests were taken past the waste management area where we do the sorting of waste at source. In permaculture we were taught that waste is a resource, so we use carbon paper as compost and plastic at the base of fruit tree pits to conserve moisture and control leaching of nutrients.
The guests were then led to the food forest where we have lots and lots of moringa trees. In the food forest, all guests were made to plant trees many of which were fruit trees which were going to give us food and improve the quality of air we breathe.
From the food forest guests were made to pass by the animal integration section where there were roadrunner chickens and rabbits. This area is a source of meat and manure for the supermarket garden.
The animal integration section was placed next to the supermarket garden so as to save energy and time when taking the manure to the garden and when feeding the chickens and rabbits with some of the garden produce.
In the supermarket garden, guests were told that this was our main source of healthy food for the school feeding scheme as well as a source of revenue. We also had a number of composts that supported our organic farming practice.
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