"We do projects to make education more fun. Like brightening up a school library in a local school, which was a lot of fun painting it!" - Naomi Govers, Belgian Education Intern
A non-profit organisation that focuses on growing resilient communities.
The name Nourish is well-chosen since they nourish the children’s bodies by
providing them with a daily meal. They add moringa to the meals served, which
they grow in their own garden, to give the children extra nutrition necessary
for a healthy life.
Moringa, also called the “miracle tree”, is one of nature’s most healthy
and nutritious foods. The moringa tree offers enormous amounts of nutrients,
vitamins, and minerals that our bodies need. Moringa is a fast-growing,
drought-resistant tree and it grows in subtropical areas, where malnutrition is
most prevalent. The leaves are the most nutritious part of the plant, which
they cook and use like spinach or dry and crunch into a powder to add to soups
and sauces. But also the seed pods, seeds and roots are a good source of
nutrients.
But nourishing the children is so much more than providing food for
them. It’s building strong individuals. To prepare them for life and to help
them use their full potential education is one of the main pillars to focus on.
Nelson Mandela once said ‘education is the most powerful weapon which you can
use to change the world’ and we couldn’t agree more. Nourish has its own crèche
and an after-school education program. The children from the local primary
schools come to Nourish when school ends at 2pm. They get a free meal and enjoy
one more lesson to end their day.
Teaching at Nourish can be quite challenging though, especially because
the group of students exists of a mix from 6-year-olds to around 14-year-olds.
Some are strong English speakers, others can barely understand a few words of
the language. During this week, we managed to let every student shine in their
own role in an after-school-play. The little ones being bees or something
similar, while the older students could take up a big role or be the
storyteller of the play. Achieving this with such a diverse group is a
rewarding job.
Nourish runs its own crèche and works together with several existing
crèches in the area. We had a chance to come along while visiting and
evaluating the crèches in order to see what their needs are and act to them
appropriately. Some of the crèches have to manage with very little means and
therefore have difficulties providing good daycare and living conditions for
the children. Luckily enough, others are doing
pleasantly well.
Except for crèches, Nourish also cooperates with 12 primary schools in
the area. Last weekend we organized a big soccer tournament, called ‘Kick It
For Conservation’, which turned out to be less of a success than we expected
since only 3 of the 10 schools who signed up to take part in the tournament
showed up. We prepared food for all 150 expected participants, so we ended up
having way too much food. Those who did show up were lucky though, because they
all went home with a nice prize!
Other projects to make education more fun are also put into practice.
Like brightening up a school library in a local school, which was a lot of fun
painting it!
Nourish is not only concerned with children, but also very much involved
in animal-life. Once every two weeks they do a dog outreach in cooperation with
the African Dream Horse Safari, where they will provide dog-owners with the
necessary information about their dog(s) and help them to protect them against
diseases. They also put them up for sterilization or cancer treatment for free
when desirable. Fundraisers will
pay the medical costs for them.
To finish off, I want end with an African quote:
“Moenie
wag totdat die storm verby is nie, begin liewe te dans in die reën.”
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed
it!
