Volunteers Step Up to the Perma-Garden Challenge

Volunteers Step Up to the Perma-Garden Challenge

The 15th of September, PC Senegal showed once again permaculture is not just a pot-smoking pastime reserved to those with Patagonia stickers on their Nalgene water bottle. Instead, the St. Louis perma-garden training, which occurred within a sprawling wave of perma-garden trainings around the country, helped Senegalese understand that if we all want to be around to care for future generations, we should consider soil-fertility and food-security in terms of how Mother Nature herself would. Encouraging methods that have zero-dependence on chemicals, that also conserve water and maximize space, we hoped to convey, if only at the domestic level, one can revamp vegetable production more cheaply more bountifully and you guessed it, more sustainably! Stretching from Kolda to St. Louis, from Kedagou to Linguere, the core message of the trainings are being heard loud and clear: Go a little deeper and good things will come.

Last May, APCD assistant Nathan Danielson, with perhaps Austin swooning in the back, thrust the Urban Agriculture Program into a ‘go sustainable or E.T.’ state-of-mind. Challenging every Urban Aggie to host a perma-gardening training at his or her site by August 15th, Nathan spiced up the summer with a little friendly competition. When the results came in, 12 driven volunteers from all six serving regions rose to the challenge. Some of these challengers commendably organized and hosted their training in time for the August 15th deadline and others, like myself, did so forgivingly after.

The Urban Ag’s who medaled included Austin in Tambacunda, Maya in Kolda, Mary in Linguere, Emile in Louga and myself in St. Louis. Besides the city-slickers, many of the cowboys from the Sustainable Ag program lassoed onto Nathan’s calling as well--herding some of these fresh ideas back to the farm. These buckaroos included Steve Sullivan down in Kedagou and Meg Thomson in Kolda and in the region hosting the largest number of trainings, Kaolack, there was Cassie alongside the lone S.E.Der Byron, Mike Kelly teaming up with Ben Magen and finessing one on her own, Danielle Stoermer.

In St Louis, I was spoiled rotten, having both the expert hands of Massaly and Arfang and the cheerful support of other P.C.V. and P.C.T.‘s who all happened to be passing through for Demyst. The day was certainly enlivened by the batch of fresh faces, including Jen, Clint, Michelle, Rachael and Claire of the new Stage and of course, enriched by the seasoned wisdom of a few old-timers i.e. PCVL Casey! Emile of Louga was an indispensable body on the logistical front! And Rachael Gardiola brought the women!

Although it was a hot day in Africa, it was a scorcher by St. Louisian standards! Despite the sopping sweat, we were pleased with how the day unfolded .The response of the twenty-three Senegalese who participated was decidedly favorable.

St. Louis, as we said, was just the most recent in this summer’s series. This past June, Maya Lau, down in the depths of Kolda lead the pact, hosting the first ever perma-garden training at her demonstration site. In the towering presence of Tech Trainer Yusipha, Maya and her supporters had an engaging crowd. Happy but not quixotic, Maya realized that if her participants did not walk away masterful, they at least left with broken up snippets. As she explains in her own words,

“It’s more important that they incorporate certain elements (e.g., double digging, soil amendments) of the permagardening method into their existing farming practices. A successful training is one where locals feel like the new techniques are affordable and adaptable, and it's important to emphasize during the training that they can mix and match the new methods in a way that works for them”

Emile in Louga and Mary of Linguere stripped the Neem as well, when preparing for their brilliant trainings, held in July and August respectively. Having attended Emile’s, I saw how often overlooked communication can be between gardeners and that a training is much more than a tutorial on new techniques but a rare forum to share experience. The scintillating round-table discussion that emerged in Louga was a colorful example that those in a common profession itch for an environment to exchange ideas. As Emile points out,

“The training provided an opportunity for leading market gardeners in the area to come together, exchange challenges and work towards solutions, especially in the local context of Louga.”

As we slowly say goodbye to the rains and look towards the cooler gardening season, the agriculture program can proudly rejoice in our summer of sustainability. Thanks to Peter Jensen from PC Tanzania and his rousing introduction of Perma-Gardening last December, coupled with Nathan’s competitive twist, Peace Corps Senegal, in just three months, steamrolled a healthy set of ideas far and wide. In our gardening practices, if we continue to promote more tender-loving-care, we will help our Senegalese friends reexamine soil-fertility as something delicate, too be protected and nurtured like a 4th wife or perhaps a 9th child.

The first annual Perma-Garden Challenge was a tremendous jump-start. Thanks to the 12 triumphant volunteers, the scope was expansive: nearly 208 farmers received the training--85 of them being women. Some of this success may have been garnered by the ‘I challenge you’ component, that I predict, will serve as a seminal approach for boosting initiatives into the future. But as we have taught with the double dig, the ultimate challenge is not to scratch the surface, it is to go deeper. It is to ensure that all the roots of Senegal have the capacity to grow strong.

To all the Peace Corps volunteers who will have fulfilled Nathan’s Perma-garden Challenge, he wanted the Sabaar to know the highly-anticipated T-shirts will be rewarded at the All Vol Conference this December, as well as an exhibition, he calls the “Perma-garden Hall of Fame” which will be on display to remember everyone’s hard work!

Richard Ross