THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: "I don't know how many of my friends know how to make a seedbed," said Resham Khan, a Class IX student of the Cotton Hill Girls School, with a big smile. According to her, she will be back to school with an array of knowledge on farming that includes segregation and management of waste along with the procedures of organic farming. She was part of a group of students who had attended the four-day Harithanagarotsavam camp organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation at Government Model Boys Higher Secondary School.
"This is the third edition of the camp. It was organised under the aegis of the Green Army of the corporation. The main intention of the camp was to impart knowledge real-life lessons on farming, which otherwise could have confined to the four walls of a classroom," said Sanitta S. Mathew, an instructor of the camp.
According to her, children were provided with the opportunity to explore and experience activities which will equip them to face the world by understanding, rather than just blindly believing what they learn.
"The children cleared and cleaned the land, ploughed it, prepared the bed and planted pea and red amaranth. There are a lot of things one should consider while planting a plant and taking care of it. Through this camp their perspectives might have undergone a paradigm shift," said Akshay Prakasan, another instructor.
"Untill attending this camp I assumed that a tree should be watered at its roots. But after the camp I learnt a tree must be watered below the tip of its longest branch as they branch out in the direction in which the root grows," said a participant.
At the camp, the children are provided both, the concepts and practical experiences."To understand about the waste generated we organised a task for them. Here they were split into ten groups and were asked to conduct a birthday celebration. They were given green money and stalls were set up for them to shop from. The children successfully organised a party. They cleaned up right after but failed to segregate the waste and dumped everything into one bin. We later showed them the wastes they dumped and teach them how to segregate it," added Akshay.
Akhila S Raj, one of the camp heads said, “The children are clearly learning something at this camp. It is evident from their response. Children have already started implementing things they learnt here in their houses. We are not teaching them to do away with plastic completely but informing them to reduce and avoid using single-use plastics.”