WHAT'S NEW

FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

LMLG Management Committee meeting - Tuesday 24 January 2012 at 8pm at Southfields Library, Southfields Drive, Leicester LE2 6QS

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Mon 30 January - Fri 3 Feb 2012 and Mon 17 - Fri 21 Sep 2012 Food for Thought Experience Programme.pdf 

GLOBAL EDUCATION LEICESTER-SHIRE - Termly meeting - Tuesday 6 March 2012 from 4 - 5.30pm - Venue TBC. Minutes of previous meeting.

Linking Local Lives - Creating Global Connections FREE training for schools

UPDATES and NEWS:

Latest bulletin from Nicaragua - No 24 - Second results out.pdf

Annual Review 2011

Major environmental issue affecting the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.  Go to our News page to read more.

Young Gardeners

A project to create a school garden and raise environmental awareness among children in rural Masaya

The LMLG is working once again with the Association for Integrated Community Development (ADIC), our partner NGO in Masaya, to develop an environmental education programme in a primary school in Las Cortezas, an area of rural Masaya where we have not previously worked.

Over a two year period, a barren piece of land adjacent to the Nueva Zelanda school is being transformed into a garden to provide an educational and recreational facility for 200 children, aged up to 12 years, their teachers and the wider community.

As they work with ADIC to establish the garden, the children and teachers will receive hands-on training in growing organic vegetables, fruit trees and flowers. The garden includes a water tank to supply the crops, a chicken coop (with 20 chickens) and a cooking area with a solar cooker to raise awareness of the benefits of renewable energy and to provide occasional school meals. The new recreation area is being equipped with swings, slides and a climbing frame.

Benefits:

The project has multiple and long-term benefits for pupils, teachers, parents and the community at large:

  • The garden provides a practical and recreational facility to support children in all aspects of their development as well as an educational resource to help teachers implement the curriculum.
  • Raising environmental awareness at an early age increases understanding of the link between food and the environment.
  • Teaching sustainable agricultural skills to children in rural communities has benefits for them in later life - many adults who rely on subsistence farming often struggle to feed their families as they no longer use organic methods and cannot afford fertilisers and pesticides.

  • Parents as well as children are involved in building and managing the garden, thus extending the learning and giving adults new skills which they can use to cultivate their own food to supplement their incomes and improve the family diet.
  • The garden encourages community participation as it will be available for social and special occasions.
  • Reforestation through tree planting helps to conserve the natural habitat for future generations.
  • Healthy, happy children do better in school and are more likely to achieve their potential and break out of the cycle of poverty.

The LMLG is raising funds for teacher training, educational materials, garden equipment (seeds, plants, trees and tools), the construction of the water tank, the chicken coop (including chickens), the cooking area and the playground equipment.

If you, your school or your Organisation would like to contribute to changing the lives of young people in Masaya, please click here to fill in our donation form.

Once completed, please print the form and send it to our postal address.

Your contributions can change the lives of Masayan children for better.

For further information and updates on this and other projects, in Nicaragua, please view our bulletins.