Herbal Garden Education for Students In Nepal

A spadeful of determination and a pinch of optimism – two things that nature club members of Laxmi Secondary School in Bhere of Punma VDC, Jajarkot discovered in themselves during a series of educational outreach programs conducted by ECCA. The educational sessions lasted from May 2 to 4, 2014 and were focused on cultivating a herbal garden in the school compound. Pretty easy, right?

Students were asked to bring plants that they thought had precious nutritional and medical value on attending first day, to be planted after digging up the land of the school. While all the 25 participants were active and took up their work seriously, they were met with a series of problems. The barren land proved too difficult to dig properly and soon enough, students were feeling frustrated and defeated by the entire project. But the leader students of the club, mainly Danika and Hemanta turned the tables and beat the odds. These grade 9^th students, who are the President and Secretary of Laxmi Nature Club, kept on working despite the difficulties, not stopping to join in with the collective frustration. They took it upon themselves to get the job done, Danika doing so despite a nasty cut in her hand. Soon, other participants followed suit and the work was finished in no time. The second day, the plantation program had even more participants than the previous day. The students worked their magic and created a lively, educational and productive environment to turn the land green.

Similar programs were also conducted in Saraswoti Secondary School in Punma 1 from May 8 to 9, 2014 with 12 participants and Bijaya Secondary School in Kafalchaur, Punma from May 11 to 12, 2014 with 14 participants. Native plants with medicinal value were planted. The training aimed to raise the students’ interest in and understanding the local herbs in their community. The program also encouraged the students to conserve these native species so that they will be available to be used by future generations. The training was also followed by plant tagging and preparation of a herbarium for their future reference.

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