Cape Town - A “touch-and-feel” garden has been set up to give blind children in early childhood development an opportunity to smell and touch flowers.
The Zisukanya Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme at the Athlone School for the Blind’s pupils will now have their hands full with the installation of a garden on their premises in Bellville South.
Alvita Huisamen, a teacher in the ECD programme, told the Cape Argus the pupils were excited with their new garden.
“Since our kids all struggle with sight, it’s more practical to smell and touch the flowers.
“We also make use of the garden to harvest plants for eating, to demonstrate their multi-purpose usage.
“Three weeks ago we planted eggplant and we plan to harvest these once ripe and make a dish for the children.
“For now it’s only used by our ECD programme, which is a pre-school, but in future we hope to make the garden accessible for pupils from Grade R to foundation phase,” she said.
Catherine Browne, of the Botanical Society of South Africa, said the initiative was brought to the attention of their society by Dr Dee Rees – a volunteer teacher at the school and a member of the botanical society.
The garden was opened the day after Valentine’s Day and featured a love theme.
Browne said: “We wanted the theme to be planting the seed of loving nature.
“It’s about sharing the passion we as the botanical society have for bio-diversity.
“It’s purpose is multi-functional: It serves aesthetic purposes to beautify the school, serves as a tool to encourage interaction from pupils with its textually driven plants and there are plants which can be eaten in the garden too.”
Browne said it was an ongoing project and she hoped the garden would expand to incorporate a vegetable garden.
The garden is sponsored by MySchool, the Rotary Club of Kirstenbosch and the Redhatters Bridge Club.
Cape Argus