Please click on the following link;Grandview/¿uuqinak uuh Community Garden and select Google images to view the various pictures. Here you will get a glimpse of what my mother started back in 1979! My mom taught me about respecting Mother Earth and all it’s children, young and old. She was an educator at the small neighbouring school Grandview Terrace Daycare, which was a preschool in an innercity area, for well over 40 years. She noticed many of her students, ages 2-5 were mal-nutritioned, and the food that was available in her school did not meet the requirements for a proper and nutritious diet for any growing child. So around the time I was 2 years old, my mom began to do what she does best, she started to grow a little community garden in a little patch of soil just behind the school. She would take me to work with her and spend time teaching, working on the garden and taking care of me. She used this garden, that bore so many fruits and vegetables, to feed the children and give the remaining to the students whose families were in need. Her name is Sneh (which means love in our culture), and she has fed so many little tummies, and filled so many hearts and she is my mentor and hero! —-,—‘-(@
She is still teaching many around our neighbourhood how to garden to this day! Sneh is a teacher, friend, colleague, gardner, landscaper, protector, and most of all advocate for all the children, from various backgrounds, the majority being of Indigenous decent. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, community gardens were non-existent, just like government funding and proper food programs for those in need. Without getting too much into my very first blog, I just wanted to give everyone a chance to see what one person can do, and what it can lead to over time.
I added some links below for you to see and read about the ¿UUQINAK’UUH community garden and elementary school, wow has it grown!!!
https://www.vsb.bc.ca/schools/grandview/Teaching-and-Learning/Programs/Pages/Community-Garden.aspx
http://www.cityfarmer.org/grandview.html