Disabled learning from the ground up

Keith Boswell and Ngawini Kingi work on the Disabled Citizens Society's garden project. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Growing green thumbs and new skills is the aim of a new organic gardening programme for members of the Disabled Citizens Society.

The society supports people with disabilities - from teenagers to the elderly - with work enterprise, community education and training.

It was established in 1943 to help disabled war veterans to become more independent.

Helena Mathieson of the society said most members had intellectual or learning disabilities, but the group also worked with people with sensory and physical disabilities.

The $10,000 from the 12 Days of Christmas scheme will be spent on a pilot organic garden project in Mangere.

Stage one, which involves ground preparation, has already begun.

Stage two will start next month and will develop a full training programme for young people and adults with disabilities.

Organic gardening will teach members new skills and may even lead to open employment, Ms Mathieson said.

"It's also an opportunity to get outside of these four walls and get them out into the community."

Ms Mathieson said a gardening programme was chosen for two reasons.

First, gardening is a transferable skill members can take into their own lives at home, and second, the society has a cooking and healthy food programme and hopes next year to be using the food grown.

"They're learning everything from the ground up, from ground preparation to preparing seeds."

The full programme takes 20 weeks to complete and the inaugural team of Keith Boswell, Justine McLean and Ngawini Kingi are into their fourth week of gardening. "The first couple of days are really, really hard yak," Ms Mathieson said, "because we literally take the weediest part of the garden and work it from scratch.

"But once they get into the planting they really start to enjoy it."

The 12 Days of Christmas money will help with everything from tools, to a worm farm, better compost, transport, resources and training material - both written and visual. None of the team had done gardening before.

Justine McLean said gardening was fun and relaxing.

"It is hard at first but when you get into it it gets easier. We came away really sore."

Ms McLean has started her own garden at home.

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