Ruk Rakaganno

An Englishman’s home is his castle and in the same way a Sri Lankan woman’s pride and joy is often her garden. The trees and plants of numerous home gardens are what makes the island’s cities green, the countryside beautiful and the curries delicious. But it would all turn to dust if it were not for women working hard to maintain these gardens.

On International Women’s Day (Saturday 08th March), the UN are calling for more investment in women and girls. One of the key ways this is being achieved in Sri Lanka is through setting up home gardens, especially in areas devastated by the tsunami.

At the heart of this movement is Ruk Rakaganno, the Tree Society of Sri Lanka, http://rukrakaganno.sacredcat.org. With funding from CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency, the volunteer group has set up a program to teach women in tsunami affected areas how to re-establish their gardens and keep them going in a new era of climate change.

Nirmala de Mel, president of Ruk Rakaganno, or Ruk Raks as it is affectionately known, says women are key to keeping up the gardens of Sri Lanka and in so doing maintaining the biodiversity and beauty of the country.
“Usually it is the man who is the head of the household. He is going out working as a farmer, a woodcutter, a stone-mason or whatever while she is at home, “ she says.

“ With home gardening the woman can stay at home and grow their own vegetables and nurseries and generate an income themselves to supplement their husbands’. With that money they can improve their quality of life and they could actually give a better meal for their kids, be able to buy them school books etc. So it is helping the whole family over the long term”.

– Nirmala de Mel, president of Ruk Rakaganno

Shyamala Gomez, gender advisor to the UN in Sri Lanka, says home gardening may even help women to escape situations of domestic violence because they have access to a small income.

“ the benefits of having one’s own resource is important in terms of empowerment, making decisions and even in terms of escaping situations of violence “ she adds.
In the longer term empowering women and girls through programs like home gardening has a multiplier effect on productivity because women take charge of the family and the next generation.
Ultimately it is women who are the key to pverty eradication. But Ms. Gomez says it is essential the program is sustainable.

“I firmly believe that these things must not be piecemeal or adhoc,” she adds. “They have to be sustainable”.
Pubudu Weerarathna Project officer for Ruk Rakaganno, who co-ordinates the home gardening program, argues the program is sustainable because the women taking part in each workshop are monitored afterwards.

He says re-establishing gardens in the tsunami affected areas for women to continue is particularly important.
“After the tsunami a lot of housing schemes were built but they bulldozed all the land and now a lot of schemes are like deserts which is why we need more plants and trees – to creat biodiversity and new habitats, “ he says. Since April last year mr. Weerarathna has overseen four workshops involving around 100 women in the Matara and Galle areas. Eventually Ruk Raks hope to hold around 40 workshops in these areas and Hambantotoa as well as Ampara and Trincomalee in the east of the country. The organization is also re-planting trees along the coast and raising awareness of conservation issues in schools as part of the pose-tsunami rehabilitation and recovery program with CIDA.

The workshops are held over two days and involve around 40 women identified through community based organizations. First the women are given introductory talks by visiting lecturers on the importance of biodiversity to the home garden.

As Mr. Weerarathna explains biodiversity will not only encourage local wildlife it also negated the need for pesticides or weeds killers as insects and birds eat up the pests and weeds for you. The workshop also teaches organic methods of gardening such as using hay to prevent weeds and compost as a fertilizer.

Next the women are lectured on more practical skills such as how to discourage snakes or biting insects in the garden and how to encourage good animals like butterflies. They are also given advice on when is the best time to plant and water.

Because the gardens of, many women are very small the program teaches women how to identify plants for shade, food or medicines in a limited area and soil type.

Finally the women are given practical lessons in how to plant a plant so it will grow successfully, how to graft trees to get better fruits, budding methods, hoe to mix sand, soil and compost for the best growing beds and to how propagate seed beds.

At the end of the program the women are given up to 15 plants each from the Ruk Raklaganno Buona vista Nursery in Galle to get their garden going. The nursery is famous for its unique collection of herbs and medicinal plants and will sell indigenous plants to members of the public.
Mr. Weerarathna says women always has knowledge of gardening but many are in need of new skills, plants and tools, particularly in areas still struggling to recover from the tsunami.
“The women have knowledge but it need polishing. We can show them new methods and accelerate the planting “ he says.
In just two days Mr. Weerarathna says women leave feeling more confident about their home gardening skills and what they can achieve.
“When you make a good home garden the housewife can reduce expenses by growing her own food and manage waste by making compost, “ he says. “We need to show women what they are capable of”

Louise Gray is communication advisor to Ruk Rakaganno.