From a Plot of Land

From a Plot of Land, into a Garden of Possibilities

by President Derique Casio

Rotaract Club of Manila Metro

BASECO, MANILA - An empty lot turned into a garden of possibilities. Rotaractors became a witness to their projects having a life on its own.

For the BASECO Community Garden Project, the future is bright for 20 families who decided to dedicate their time for the project’s completion. With all the coordination from my club and all the other stakeholders, as well as their blood, sweat and tears, we’ve created their garden of possibilities.

It would have been quite a sight, as a year ago, the same plot of land was filled with debris and litter. Beside a “white house’ bathroom, the land was often unused except as a garbage area, parking area, and a “siesta” place for kids and adults. It wasn’t until October 2020, when the Rotaract Club of Manila Metro (RACMM) and Sustainable Gardener Ph, in partnership with Bless the Children Foundation and Rotary Club of Manila Metro, joined forces to initiate the BASECO Community Garden Project.

What is our project?

Our garden project was created for struggling families living within the slums of BASECO compound. Prior to the pandemic, the community members were already burdened with unstable income, lack of phone signal, regular floods, protracted access to water and electricity and surrounded pollution. Amidst all their challenges, we want our garden to serve as a beacon of hope.

Our objective was to create a community garden to boost our beneficiaries’ food security, while promoting ecofriendly practices. We aimed to grow local economies by sourcing the needed construction materials (concrete, wood, landfilling, etc.) and volunteer labor within the community. To efficiently use the surrounding waste, we intend to mobilize the community to create eco-bricks (plastic bottles stuffed with plastic wrappers) in order to serve as raised garden beds. Besides the set-up, we planned to assist them at the initial planting of the vegetables by conducting a short seminar on gardening at the constructed garden. At the end of all this set-up, we envision the garden to be a sustainable source of food for the community for years to come.

In every occasion, my club felt the harvested love and genuine passion that the community volunteers. Last December 3, 2020, a group of them was mixing soil and coconut husk merrily. Rochelle Plantino shared to us her thoughts saying "I am enjoying my time here, because we get to help each other here. " After our conversation, she returned to the crowd, where she listened to a short talk on where to plant the seed. Mother Rowena, like all volunteers, felt that joy because the garden strengthens their community, while opening opportunities for them.

.After a few weeks, we've noticed that the bond grows stronger and the garden grows more greener than before. Jona Jainge told us that "We invited our neighbors sometimes to see our garden. We even had a system within our group. Whenever we are free, we stay here in the garden to help. " It was clear that the cause of the thriving garden came from the sustained efforts and ownership of all our community volunteers.

As my club wonders at the garden, we couldn't help but smile at the effect it had on the community. In our visit last January 29, 2021, we counted a total of 426 growing small-medium sized vegetables. We were told to expect more to come.