The organic garden provides experiential learning opportunities for over 1000 community members
The Urban Ecology Program is based at Sant Felisite Sineyas, the Integrated Healing and Education Center at the IDP camp on Delmas 33. This IHEC consists of 11 pavilions and 22 classrooms, 10 composting toilets, 8 rainwater catchment systems, a reservoir, a composting site, a tree nursery, a permaculture demonstration site and organic garden. Two agronomists and three technicians give around the clock classes and demonstration of various principles of urban permaculture.
The goal of the urban ecology program is to train teachers, women and youth leaders and community members in all 5 basic permaculture modules, and to supply them with the necessary seeds, compost and soil, and learning materials, in order for them to begin and maintain their own square foot gardens and permaculture experiments. The permaculture modules taught at Sineyas are experiential, process-oriented, and hands-on, seeking to build trainers and to replicate these ecology principles in the community.
- 25 First graders plant 25 seedlings
The urban ecology program focuses on the following principles and hands-on activities:
- Permaculture – principles and techniques
- Composting – generation, maintenance, and uses
- Horticulture – tree nursery management and maintenance, tree planting, knowledge, and nature cycles, including air-quality, soil conservation, etc.
- Integrated water management – rain catchment, grey water usage for the square foot gardening, etc.
- Urban gardening – tire, square foot, stacked, raised bed, etc.
- Moringa – powder transformation, nutritional and medicinal aspects, planting and care of
- Composting Toilets – construction, principles, use of, hygiene, compost maintenance, problem solving
- Agronome Wilky conducts square-foot gardening trainings for youth and community members
