Finally Eating Vegetables
There was an unusual sight in Mr. Delsius' yard today. Red tomatoes were sprawled across his yard, ready to be picked. In addition to tomatoes, there is also red spinach that also thrives in the yard of Mr. Delsius' house.
Mr. Delsius works as a fisherman. In his spare time, he joins the Floating Nutrition Garden Group of RT 1, assisted by Wahana Visi Indonesia. This Floating Nutrition Garden is a program supported by 3M through GlobalGiving. The Floating Nutrition Garden solves the agricultural problems people in Asmat Regency have experienced. The geographical condition of Asmat consists of swamps, so when rainfall is high, and water levels rise, all agricultural products and gardens planted by the community are submerged. The community still grows crops simply, so crop failure is expected, leading to malnutrition in children due to difficult access to food sources.
"I used to do gardening too. But we planted in the mud. The results were not good," said Mr. Delsius. Now after receiving assistance in the construction of the Floating Nutrition Garden, Mr. Delsius has been able to grow many vegetables, including tomatoes, pepper, chili, water spinach, red spinach, beans, and mustard greens. The produce from this floating nutrition garden is then used for family meals, and the rest is sold to the surrounding community or other districts. "I sell ten thousand a bunch," she added.
The results of this floating nutrition garden are beneficial for Mr. Delsius in fulfilling nutrition, especially for his two young grandchildren who live with them. Mr. Delsius hopes that this program can continue, that the community will also be more diligent in planting, and that they can continue to maintain this floating garden.
"Because of the floating garden, we can finally eat vegetables. If there is no floating garden, we cannot eat vegetables," said Mr. Delsius at the end of his story.
Writer: Yuventa (Head of Public Engagement and Communications Department)
