By Wendy Anders

One of Costa Rica’s most remote schools, the 15-student Shinabla public school in Limón province’s Talamanca region, was awarded a grant from the Ministry of Public Education (MEP, in Spanish) to establish a garden.

The school’s teacher, Antonio Lázaro Leiva, took the initiative to apply to the MEP’s School Gardens Program, and the support was provided last August.

The students are now harvesting their first corn, beans, squash, plantains, bananas, cassava and other crops.

Last August was dedicated to purchasing tools and seeds, and preparing and planting the land, said Leiva, in a press statement.

The project is being documented on Facebook as well, where Leiva explains the real nutritional significance of the garden produce for the students.

The 15 students are all of the indigenous Cabecar group. “Producing the crops themselves … using organic production that is part of the indigenous culture, as well as planting with native seed, strengthens their culture” said Rosa Adalio, director of MEP’s Equity Department, who said the families normally have very limited or no access to fresh produce.

Leiva, who has taught at Shinabla for five years, said the garden project is motivating students to stay on past 6th grade, when most students drop out.

The produce is used to supply the school dining room. “The students have experienced the whole planting cycle, and now that they are harvesting the harvest they are proud, and see that it was worth the effort,” said Leiva.