Luxembourg: Centre Hospitalier in Strassen is helping children affected by the pandemic through gardening
Many children engage with the garden through their five senses – they listen to the birds, they touch the earth, they taste the fruits of their labour and see and smell the flowers.
By Faye Peterson
Luxembourg Times
May 2, 2021
Excerpt:
Each allotment garden is managed by the Gaart an Heem gardening organisation in Rollingergrund. Once the organisation began to enlarge the spaces on offer it was possible for the day centre team to procure a plot of their own.
Both Schmol’s and Tirbisch’s enthusiasm for the project is infectious. They feel that gardening is a discipline that gives each child “the opportunity to live constructive and sometimes corrective emotional, psychic and relational experiences.”
Having a plot to garden enables the children to gain a better grasp of time; orienting them within the seasons and giving them the opportunity to observe how fast or slow food is produced.
Gardening also provides a creative outlet. Children can produce colourful flowers, fresh food and even artworks within the garden space, like the sheep built from recycled bicycle tyres and the repurposed bottle top rabbit.
While most of the children are admitted for behavioural issues, eating disorders and problems related to food are often underlying factors.
