Vegetable growing project initiated by Soltuna to provide healthy meals for its female workers.
Congratulations are extended to Soltuna for initiating a vegetable growing project to provide healthy meals for its 240 female workers living in the company hostel in Noro.
The company provides one meal a day for its workers in the SolTuna Kitchen.
For girls to continue having healthy meals at the hostels, SolTuna decided to make backyard gardens for them in the vast open spaces in the hostel compound.
Any excess produce will be sold to the SolTuna Kitchen as extra income for the hostel ladies.
Suzy Aquino, Plant Operations Manager and Lemu Darcy, Principal Administration Officer, with approval from management began the project.
The Agriculture Division in Munda initially gave hostel residents their first theory lessons on the importance of backyard gardening and the benefits attached to it.
A Kastom Garden worker was hired to start the nursery and help with the first harvest and the training of the women.
SolTuna staff plant mainly vegetables such as Tsoi sum, saladeer, lettuce, pak choy and green peppers including okra and tomatoes for consumption.
The area is water-logged so raised beds were made and the garden is expanding with a target of 50 raised beds that will be managed by the girls themselves.
To sustain the project, the company needed the involvement of the hostel residents so it decided to conduct training for a core group to spearhead the management of the garden.
This was held 22 June when ladies learnt basic soil mixtures, germination, pricking, transplanting and mulching. It was very successful training and will be ongoing.
The company wants to involve the girls with programmes to equip and keep them occupied in their spare time with life-skill activities so that when they leave SolTuna they will be able to continue with what they have learnt here.
Other life-skill programs for them are sewing, making crafts and learning public speaking.
This is a commendable idea and Soltuna is thanked and congratulated for the project and for seeing to the health, welfare and life skills of its female workers.
Source: Solomon Star News.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
