In South Africa, permaculture was introduced several years ago as a development solution especially for townships, with the notion of “Door Gardens.” These gardens, the size of a door (2m x 1m), are adapted to suburban housing from townships, which often have a small fenced plot of a few square meters.
the idea is to create on that small surface a fertile land, using household waste mixed with plants available nearby (leaves, branches, grass …) and to associate crops for maximum performance on a small surface to provide a dietary supplement with fresh vegetables for families throughout the year.
Designing Hope supports the Silethithemba Halfway House since 2007 in Rosboom, one of the most disadvantaged suburb of Ladysmith District, in Kwazulu Natal.
Since 2011, Permaculture raised beds have been implemented in a pedagogical garden in this center.
In Roosboom, the children staying at the Halfway House play an active role, on a daily basis, in maintaining the vegetable garden at the day centre. Watering, sowing, planting, transplanting, harvesting: the activities change with the seasons, as does their … Read More
Designing Hope has commissioned Zimbabwean artisans to produce wire stands designed to hold condom dispensers made available to communities in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini. At Halfway House Roosboom, the women at the centre have distributed these stands to small … Read More
As the southern winter approached, the women at Halfway House Roosboom had started cabbage seedlings in their nursery. The young seedlings are now fully grown. The women are busy transplanting them into the growing beds, both in the greenhouse and … Read More
Before planting the seedlings produced in the nursery, the women in charge of the Roosboom Halfway House vegetable garden take care to enrich the soil to ensure good growth for the future plants. Fisani, who is in charge of the … Read More
The children at Roosboom Halfway House have created a herb garden in the vegetable garden of the halfway house. After preparing the ground and loosening the soil, they carefully planted young seedlings of sage, lavender, rosemary, thyme, chives and mint … Read More
As part of the nursery renovation, the Roosboom team, assisted by Designing Hope, manufactured two new seedling trays to complement the two existing ones. Made from thick 20 cm high planks, the trays measure 4.30 m long by 80 cm … Read More
In Roosboom, the vegetable garden team – now made up of four women and two men from the township – works several mornings a week alongside Fisani, who is in charge of the project. After the harvest, a new essential … Read More
Children from the Halfway House in Roosboom (South Africa) had the opportunity to exchange with those from the Bercy School, as part of the educational garden bridge initiative set up by Designing Hope. After several video exchanges, during which everyone … Read More
Following a severe storm and heavy rainfall, the stakes supporting the Roosboom greenhouse, despite being set in cement, were blown over by the wind. As part of the regional interconnection of projects supported by The Ivory Foundation and Dessine l’Espoir, … Read More
At Halfway House Roosboom, the nursery continues to expand to meet the growing needs of the vegetable garden. The small greenhouse dedicated to seedling production already had two growing trays, fitted with removable dividers to organise the seedlings efficiently. To … Read More
