Thank you Sean Sander for sharing one of your experiences from the Change Your World Youth Tour put on by Alberta Council for Global Cooperation (ACGC). Watch for more stories from the youth participants! 

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Upon viewing the garden, I was struck with awe. The pilot garden, and the Go-Go gardens that I visited are beautifully pruned, and are exceptionally well cared for. The garden was glistening with fresh dew, and the vegetables and fruits were looked scrumptiously ripe.  The garden is a peaceful place, where you are able to forget about your worries, and enjoy the beauty of the plants.

Moreover, the gardens provide the Go-Gos (grandmothers), whom care for the garden, a sense of pride, and joy. The gardens not only provides essential nutrients for people taking antiretroviral medication, a medication used to abate the CD4 count of people who are HIV positive, and require extra calories within their regular diets for the medication to be effective, but a sense of fulfillment and pride. The gardens are community gardens, as the fruits and successes of the gardens are shared by the community. I learnt that the gardens’ produce is shared amongst those who need it.

After listening to Princess, the woman giving the tour of the Hamburg pilot garden, I understood that the garden was also used for therapeutic reasons, for the grandmothers working on the garden would talk about some of their struggles, and would realize that they were not alone. Princess explained that this empowers the grandmothers. Additionally, the grandmothers collaborate, share their stories, and experiences, and work collectively, providing them a sense of unity.

Brief Biography

My name is Sean Sander and I’m a grade 11 student attending Catholic Central High School in Lethbridge, Alberta. This summer, the summer of 2015, I spent two weeks in Hamburg, South Africa. I participate in many sports including volleyball, basketball, badminton and soccer.  In addition, I love learning and am very interested in discovering creative ways to preserve and protect the environment. My favourite hobby is gardening. Consequently, I am involved in multiple community gardens. If I don’t have a shovel in my hands, you will find me with a book!