Give An Education To A Trash Picker's Child

In last December’s Project Report, we introduced you to three “at risk” young men, Andre, Armand and Rudy, who had just returned from a 100 day program at The Learning Farm (also a GlobalGiving partner) where they learned to grow organic produce, speak English, work on a computer and run a small business.

While they were gone, XSProject secured a plot of land for these young men to turn into an organic farm when they returned home.

This report is an update and the simple yet amazing story of how these three young men, raised in poverty, changed their lives, and found it in their hearts to “pay it forward” because GlobalGiving donors didn’t give up on them.

It’s a small plot of land. The soil was compacted, dry and rocky. It took the farmers several months and lots of composting and soil testing just to bring it back to life.  In the evenings they drew plans on what produce would be grown where on the farm. XSProject purchased a hydroponic tower for them.

Some seeds sprouted and died. They tried starting seedlings in paper pots. They built a greenhouse.  Soon they had leafy greens and beans. Then up came the tomatoes, corn and broccoli. They knew they were on their way.

Once the farm started to produce, they gave some of it to the Cirendeu trash picker community. Their friends were amazed at what they had accomplished.

But the young men wanted to do more. They wanted to share their knowledge; to educate their community about organic farming. 

They decided to invite the local elementary schools to visit their farm. The first school agreed…then the next and then another. It started with Grade 1 classes, then Grade 2 the next month and so forth. The children learned where their food came from, starting from seeds, how to plant and care for them so they would grow. How to make compost, how to tell when the produce is ready for picking and how delicious vegetables can taste when they’re picked right from the garden.

As of this writing, the XSProject Organic Farm is open for field trips and tours. Andre, Armand and Rudy love sharing their farm and educating us about nutrition and growing without pesticides.

What’s next?  They want to train other young men to be organic farmers. They want a second larger area to grow even more produce so they can become suppliers to restaurants. So XSProject is looking for another location and today, these young men have a business they can be proud of.