الرحمن
الرحیم
بسم الله
In
the name of Allah most Gracious, most Merciful.
25 March - Imagine
Imagine a madrassah where the needs of learners are
considered first; where parents and teachers collaborate and support learners.
Imagine a madrassah where learners receive a holistic education: their
relationship with Allah, their social learning and their relationship with the
natural environment. Imagine a madrassah that offers a safe environment where
the learner enjoys learning, exploring and whose curiosity is attended to. Imagine
a madrassah where teachers are valued and paid salaries commensurate to the
effort and hours they dedicate. Imagine a madrassah that does not have to rely
on fees from parents nor donors with agendas, that is completely self-sustaining.
Imagine a madrassah teacher who is constantly touching base with what’s new in
teaching, in the community and in the world and feeds it into her classroom. Imagine
a madrassah teacher who practices what she teaches, is humble and sensitive to
the needs of all others around her and has a sense of humour. Imagine a
madrassah where learners eat wholesome food and “spookies” snacks are banned. Imagine
that.The Initiative that I am a part of is called Learning Across Borders (iLABS). A group of people who have come together with a common vision of learning and teaching; parenting; a way of living; sharing resources and good conversation that translates into action. One of the initiatives was to nominate a school in Rondevlei and a school in Manenberg to Greenpop who plant trees at learning institutions. They planted 30 trees at Hydepark last week. Well done, Greenpop you’re doing wonderful work alhamdulilaah!
iLABS is involved in teacher training, matric support,
initiating and supporting organic food gardens, strategic relationships with
others; youth and leadership training and a host of other things. Why am I
explaining all of this? So I can show gratitude for all of the open-hearted-handedness
from the iLABS team for the sake of growth of this initiative. So I would like to say Shukran Kathir, may
you never want for provision in this world or the next inshaAllah.
That said, it is a perfect day for gardening once all the
other work is out of the way. Marking essays, developing materials and other
important but boring work. The rain has activated a refresh button and the soil
is nourished with water. Fences have to be erected and grass cut. New planting
beds have to be completed. In fact a little faux pax, I planted the runner
beans on the wigwam without realising that the tomatoes will be denied the sun
for ripening. So a scramble to knock fencing on wattle stakes and a transplant,
silly Yasmine! What is gardening but also to learn from one’s mistakes?
A pot of soup is simmering for lunch time warming our senses,
there is nothing like a pot of vegetable soup with carrots, turnips, leeks,
celery and parsley (from the garden) a clove of garlic, split peas, barley and
cuttings from the neck of lamb. Toss in a few allspice and cloves and voila!
The parsley seeds I planted last week are popping out and so are the black-eyed Susie. Lavender cuttings are taking well and red onions seedlings are almost ready to be planted, kwaai Abubakr! Alas, we are running out of planting beds. So we are practicing what we preach. The garden areas will also be utilised to plant potatoes in ditches, mounds with strawberries and onion companions. I know for a fact that strawberries grow well with onions and garlic. I am not so sure about the potato ditches so I guess we will leave a bit of a gap between them.
As I write this blog I refer to myself and this garden,
but none of this is possible without others working in the trenches with me
such as my Abubakr, Uncle Basil, Waseemah, Madeneya, Rameez, Nadia, Omer, Luqmaan, forgive
me if I forgot someone. And Zaheer who patiently takes the photos and Azrah who
gives us advice and is good for our morale but hates dirt under her nails. I
cannot begin to mention all of the structural support of manure and beams and
shade cloth and plants and cuttings and seeds and trees and containers. Shukran to those too who like this blog and send me emails of support. May Allah SWT afford me the creativity and words and energy to do this blog justice so that others can benefit from it too.
Don’t forget to eat organic and plant organic.Fare thee well, till tomorrow.
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