Seeds of Hope: Gardens in Quito Bring Communities Together
Apr 6, 2015 3:00 PM ET
Campaign:
Stories From the Field
By Ashley Puderbaugh
Every other morning, Ana, a volunteer mother, heads to the Francisco Huarcay garden near a Children International community center in Quito, Ecuador. Today, she works the loose, fertile soil around a massive green-and-purple cabbage. Nearby, other parents pull weeds while children giggle and play as they water the crops.
This garden – just one of 13 located in conjunction with CI’s community centers in Quito – produces enough organic vegetables to feed 10 families and then some. Parents sell the leftover crops at nutrition fairs in the centers, fostering an entrepreneurial spirit and providing supplemental income.
But the gardens have yielded even more benefits than food and money...