Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. This is the motto of the Energy Development Corp. in its Health, Education, Livelihood, and Environment projects that aim to instill self-reliance among its partner communities in areas where it operates.
In Valencia, Negros Oriental, EDC is making its feeding program more sustainable by helping its partner schools become self-reliant sources of better nutrition through its “Gulayan sa Paaralan” project, a media release said Wednesday.
Initially launched in four of its partner public elementary schools last year, namely Puhagan Elementary School, Nasuji Elementary School, Malaunay Elementary School, and Dungga Primary School, this school vegetable garden enhancement project aims to strengthen the schools’ capability in providing nutritious food and learning opportunities for students through a school garden as it increases their parents’ awareness and appreciation for growing their own food in their backyards. This way, healthy food will always be available for the students as they cultivate their appetite for learning.
“While we have been implementing our school feeding program in select partner public elementary schools since 2009, we now envision a holistic and more sustainable approach to nourishing students – one that does not only start and end in school,” said Noreen Bautista, EDC assistant manager and group head of Community Partnerships, External Relations, & Watershed Management.
EDC’s school feeding program was originally anchored on the need to increase the students’ participation in school by nourishing their bodies so they have the stamina and motivation to learn.
In this pilot project, the company empowers the parents and teachers as they grow their own nutritious food in the school gardens. Since most of the parents work as farmers, it was only a matter of encouraging them to grow food not just to earn money but also to nourish their own children. Recognizing the important role of their involvement, EDC encouraged the schools to organize a school vegetable garden committee comprised of Parent-Teacher-Community Association members and coordinator teachers who will oversee the operations of the school gardens.
Most of the seeds are sourced from the Department of Agriculture for free while the gardening implements and guidance on farming techniques and strategies were provided by EDC.
The hard-work of the schools and parents will also be recognized by the company through annual School Garden contests. EDC aspires to grow and expand its Gulayan sa Paaralan project to all of its partner schools as one way of motivating its partner communities to utilize resources and talents that are already innate in them to uplift their lives.
EDC is the world’s largest vertically integrated geothermal company and the only purely renewable energy firm in the country. It has been empowering communities and preserving the forests in areas where it operates for almost 40 years. (PNA)