Community Garden

Over the past few months, the Shanti grounds have been bustling with new developments. Planting and workshops have begun in our community demonstration garden, and our new round hut is completed and being put to good use.

Our gardener and groundskeeper, Kato, has planted kale, spinach, garlic, beans, eggplant, and many other vegetables in our new community demonstration garden. A number of these plants are not commonly found in the Luwero district despite being easy to grow in the climate. One of the goals of the new garden to expose the community to new plants that will help in diversifying their diets, and most importantly making up for dietary deficiencies in pregnancy. We even managed to get our hands on seeds for the elusive orange sweet potato or “Vitamin Potato” as it is called here. Sweet potatoes are a staple in the Ugandan diet, but the most common variety is the white sweet potato, which has significantly less nutritional value than the orange variety.

In a recent workshop delivered by Kato and Ritah, our nutritionist, pregnant women and new mothers learned about the importance of dietary diversity. Ritah began by teaching the women about the most common nutritional deficiencies among pregnant women in Uganda including Folic Acid, Iron, Calcium, and Vitamin A. Ritah then counseled workshop participants on locally available and affordable foods they can incorporate into their diets in order to prevent nutritional deficiencies. After having some healthy vitamin A packed carrot sticks, Kato showed the women around our demonstration garden and advised them on how to successfully plant and grow the crops previously discussed by Ritah. This workshop method is intended to help women learn how they can make small changes at home that will result in much healthier pregnancies and babies. 

Kato, our all-star gardener is currently on an exciting adventure. He has traveled to Kamuli to attend an internationally recognized Permaculture Design Course. Over the course of two weeks, he will receive 80 hours of practical training in ecological design. Once completed, Kato will return to Shanti with fresh new ideas and perspectives on how to ensure all of our gardening and workshops are as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. He is excited to not only implement his knowledge at Shanti, but teach the community as well.