MANILA, April 13, 2012-The Oh My Gulay! (OMG!) advocacy program, spearheaded by Senator Edgardo J. Angara, held a Community Day celebration on Wednesday at the Jose Rizal Elementary School in Tondo, Manila.
The event brought together eight different Manila schools adopted under the OMG! program, where vegetable gardens were established and maintained by students and teachers throughout school year 2011-2012.
Donor companies such as Asian Terminals, Inc. and Aboitiz Foundation financed the creation of the gardens. East-West Seed Company, OMG!’s implementing partner, provided technical training in each of the schools and monitored the gardens throughout the year.
A plentiful harvest of vegetables such as kamatis, pechay, sili, upo and talong greeted the students and teachers at the end of the school year.
Some of the produce was used for a cooking contest participated in by members of the school and community, while the rest was distributed for the consumption of the students.
Each school is equipped with the skills and materials to sustain the gardens in the years to come.
“Studies show that young people are more inclined to eat vegetables when they participate in the planting and harvesting,” said Angara. “OMG! has brought that knowledge to these students, and they can now plant their own vegetables at home, and possibly even make a profit by selling their produce.”
The program celebrated the year’s worth of hard work put in by the students and their partners from OMG!, government and the private sector. Representatives from the donor companies joined the faculty, staff and students of the OMG! schools together with OMG! Executive Director Josie Paule, East-West Seed General Manager Dr. Mary Ann Sayoc and Department of Education Health and Nutrition Council’s Dr. Jun Araojo at the event.
The participating schools in the celebration were the AV Hernandez, Magat Salamat, T. Paez, Lakan Dula, Almario, H. Atienza, P. Burgos and the host Jose Rizal Elementary School.
Community Day celebrations were likewise held in other parts of the Philippines where the OMG! school gardening program is being implemented.
OMG!, a brainchild of Angara, welcomes prospective donors to pledge for the coming school year 2012-2013. (Rikka Sotto)
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