About us
The garden
The school garden is 4 ha big and has an interpretive center. The garden is created based on agroecological principles, presenting a model example of climate-smart and diversified agriculture. We don’t use chemistries in our schoolgarden. Our veggies grow organic and very well.
In the garden you can find a vegetable garden, agroforestry with medicinal and fruit trees, an exhibition of vanilla species, a restoration area, a tree nursery, a lunch area, sanitary facilities (WC, shower), a fish pond, a lake with canoe, two school buildings, bungalows and a playground.
Besides the school visits, the school garden has hosted training in permaculture, pisciculture, building a tree nursery, rice cultivation and restoration as well as workshops for international research teams, local NGOs or clubs and ministry officials. We are also distributors of the fuel-efficient cooking stoves by the Swiss/malagasy company ADES.
Lastly, we are increasingly welcoming tourist groups to increase our independent income.
The team
We are a grassroot organization led by Malagasy people. Our team consists of seven Malagasy staff members and includes our manager Evrard Benasoavina, two teaching assistants, two cooks and two guardians. Even though we are a small organization, our garden provides income for these team members on a regular basis.
The local team is supported by international advisors based in Germany. Dr. Eva-Maria Rathke supports the financial organization and Dr. Annemarie Wurz as well as Dr. Viviana Uruena are responsible for project management, fund raising and website management.
On top, the American NGO DLC (coordinated by Dr. James Herrera and Laura de Ara) support the school garden with the design of environmental lessons as well as training organization.
Animals and fish ponds
In December 2022, we completed the new animal house. It is the home for goats, ducks, geese and chicken. We use their meat, milk and eggs to cook delicious and healthy meals for our visitors.
Also at the end of 2022, we established a 10 x 15m big fish farm. The fish can be used for consumption. We planted cassava to produce our own fish food.
Interpretive center & library
The interpretive center is 12 x 6m large and consists of a classroom and an additional room. The classroom is used for school visits, workshops and movie evenings and is equipped with tables, chairs, a white board, solar lamps and a beamer. In the additional room you can find our library with literature in English, German, Malagasy and French on diverse topics such as the environment, farming or conservation.
History
December 2022
GoFundMe campaign for improving the garden infrastructure with the aim to attract more visitors
December 2021
Fundraise campaign with a total of 1600€. This money was invested in improved infrastructure (lights, more tables & chairs) and security (second security guard).
May 2021 – current
Cooperation contract with GEO Rainforest Conservation. The foundation funds activities, infrastructure and material with ~8000 Euro in 2021/22 and ~14000 Euro in 2022/23.
December 2020
GoFundMe campaign, resulting in a total of 2097 Euro. Mid-February 2021, we started with this money our new six-month program including three visits of one school group each month.
August to December 2020
More than 40 children from neighboring villages where invited for environmental activities. With the help of conservationist and education experts from Duke Lemur Conservation, we developed a three-part lesson plan that introduces students into the diverse elements of the environment, biodiversity, and the sustainable use of natural resources. The lessons build on each other and are distributed over three visits. We tested all lessons in a two-month trial period and adapted the education plan based on the teaching experience and the feedback from the kids.
Evrard’s story
The Duke Lemur center made two videos with the New Generation School Garden history. Click on the screenshots to watch the videos.
