Carl faces prejudice and challenges every day – but he has a huge heart and he wants to make the world a better place. siLENT is supporting him and his fellow students with learning difficulties at St John Bosco College. They are dedicating themselves to inspiring their peers to care for their common home.
With love and commitment Carl and his fellow peers have revamped a once ignored patch of the school playground into a wildlife haven for plants and wildlife to flourish. The community garden project is the first of its kind at the school, and has become an integral part of the students’ daily school life.
Despite a lack of resources and funding, the group have welcomed donations of seeds and materials from generous friends and parents and have repaid the generosity with not just devotion to the gardening club but also persistence, determination and humour when faced with the infuriating problems of slugs and squirrels. Rather than get disheartened, the Year 7s have sought innovative ways to protect their plants as well as seek advice from professionals and are enthusiastic when they see new shoots.
In 2019 their hard work and passion saw them receive the ‘Barbara Ward Conserving the Environment Award’ at Million Minutes’ Celebrating Young People Awards. For Carl and Anna (founding members of the club) the nomination came as a complete surprise. Anna said, “I didn’t think we’d get nominated for something outside of our school, it made us believe in ourselves and we hope our work inspires others to care for our common home in the process. My favourite thing to plant was strawberries last summer…when they were ready, we were able to eat them with ice cream and chocolate cake, it was delicious!”.
For many of the kids the gardening club is a rare moment to get outside. Carl adds, “I live over an hour away from school, in an apartment block, I don’t have any access to a garden. This club is my chance to spend more time outside.”
Those who attend the club find it to be a safe space to come to after a long day. A teacher who oversees the group said “…many of our attendees have learning difficulties, these aren’t the kids who will sign themselves up for the football or sports club afterschool. The club is a space where they are respected and can be themselves. The transformation of these kids when they first arrived to now has been massive, and the gardening club has been instrumental in that.”
The groups parting message to others like themselves who are caring for the earth is to keep going. Doing something big or small is important, Carl adds, “…our gardening feels like we are making an impact and we want to do our part to protect the things we love. You really don’t know what kind of impact you can have!”
Sadly when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the club had to partially close, much to the disappointment of the gardening members, but in the new year the club will be supported by Million Minutes with new resources to continue their amazing efforts.
