Brakpan school’s gardens eliminate hunger

The school, which is situated on the grounds of the Brakpan Synagogue, which is also home to the Brakpan Shul Museum and The Harvest Centre of Judaism and Equality, was originally named Teletubbies Day Care and was situated in Plastic City.

It was started by sisters Jessie and Hlengiwe Nkosi in 2015. Yakima Waner, the founder and chairperson of the Harvest Project, adopted the notion for the school’s gardens from the secret food gardens of the Jewish ghettos during the Holocaust.

The Harvest Project was born alongside Blessings Eco Preparatory School. Waner has carried the story about the secret food gardens that she learned from her father throughout her childhood to adulthood.

It was believed the gardens provided hope for the children in the ghettos, with hope being a magical thing during such a dark time in history.

Some survivors believed seeing something grow in hell gave many a mindful power of survival, even to those who didn’t survive.

Waner believed the same mindset could be used to help those who are not hindered by a death sentence but instead have no hope for a life worth living due to similar circumstances.

A vital element in both the project and the school was the importance of teaching children as young as three years old how to interact with nature and the basic steps to harvesting one’s own food.

“Immediately this recycled vision showed hope. The project and the school focusing on children who deal with the daily reality of oppression and open hate, as well as being denied an education based on their identity, was beginning to show agency,” said Waner.

“Children have a remarkable gift of seeing goodness in their lives. Children who deal with poverty seek salvation in the joy of one another.

“Children in Plastic City find joy in their reality, they play like all children do. They find things to bring them content amongst the risky chaos of their environment. But something they never saw for a long time was self-belief, a vision they now see with bliss.”

The team saw how the children were transforming alongside the seeds they planted and witnessed them eat those plants they nurtured with pride. This is a form of education and therapy that can fight hunger as well as abuse, which are both huge plights in South Africa.

As the project grew and took on new hurdles, one being the massive tension of Covid and lockdowns, Waner’s grandmother came to their rescue. Catharina van der Merwe arrived at a vital period and without knowing it brought even more hope to the project and its future.

Her presence at the Harvest Centre immediately changed the dynamics of a project struggling under the pressure of aiding those who were not helped during the pandemic.

She visited during these difficult times and started to prune an old peach tree which was on the grounds for many years but never bore fruit. The next season the tree bore its first harvest of peaches, which the children enjoyed.

In a year, van der Merwe transformed a yard, which had one back garden that harvested whatever seeds that were donated, into a centre which today has 18 different sections containing various vegetables that enhance the children’s plant-based diet and their health in many ways.

According to Waner, her grandmother has always been a nature girl at heart and was also the daughter of a farmer, so the green thumb is genetic. At 78 years old, van der Merwe is determined to do as much as she can on her own.

“The determination and effort she puts towards these children’s nutrition is a huge life lesson for every one of us, especially the children who follow her around and are curious to learn from her as much as they can,” said Waner.

“She is always thinking of new ways and innovative ideas to how they can use the centre’s space to provide as much food as possible to help feed as many mouths as they can.”

Today, Blessings Eco Preparatory School provides 100 children with a three-meal diet every weekday. Every day they eat fresh produce from their own gardens that they themselves work in to make sure they never need to experience the pain of hunger.

“The knowledge of knowing one can survive with simplicity alongside nature is a beautiful gift,” added Waner.

“A gift that will not only change one child’s life but many because children with agency love to share and celebrate their knowledge, and that’s what the Harvest Project is all about.”