The Blodeuwedd Project
2023 - Year 3
Plants: Aubrietia, Rudbeckia, Verbascum, Yarrow, Antirrhinums, Verbena, White Musk Mallow
Raised: £500
Bought: 100 Fruit Trees, Vegetable Seeds, Equipment to manage the garden
Another year, another unpredictable start… In February, my neighbour came knocking at the door asking if I wanted another dog – a friend of his couldn’t look after his six month pup and wanted him to go to a good home without going into a shelter. Funnily enough, this is exactly how I got Sandy. Soon after my Jakey-boi joined the family – an absolute crazy boy…so he fit in very well. And he came just in time, as a few weeks after I was told I had had C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) for the past 11 years. Once again, I had a four-legged baby by my side for support, and I had my Blodeuwedd project to be outside in the garden to do focus on and do some good.
My plants from last year were growing beautifully in the garden – especially the St John’s Wort which grew absolutely huge with stunning yellow flowers to brighten up the border. I had chosen as array of beautiful seeds, all of which had extra benefits for nature, especially pollinators – these plants included aubrietia, rudbeckia, verbascum, yarrow, antirrhinums, verbena and white musk mallow. This year, things really were blooming beautifully! We had stunning weather which helped the seeds to germinate well and the little seedlings were growing strong. It wasn’t long until I had tons of little plants growing. I did have somewhat of a challenge this year in the garden – chasing after an adolescent pup that loved to dig, chew, eat and run off with everything was rather arduous! But we worked it out with a lot of training!
As I sold the plants through the summer, people were once again loving to see the photos from Tanzania of the school gardens and the students that benefitted from the project. They were also particularly loving the plants this year – all plants that had extra benefits for our nature, and all rather stunning! I had a goal of reaching £300, which would bring me to £1000 since the beginning of the project. But with everyone’s help, we smashed that target and raised £500!
I donated the money once again through the Tanzania Development Trust, where 100% of the donations go straight to the projects they were intended to go to. After looking through all of their projects, it was decided to go to Tumaini Open School this time.
This amazing project was created by Ezekiel Kassanga, a local representative based in Tabora of the Tanzania Development Trust. Tumaini is a place that creates a stigma-free second chance for teen mothers, allowing them to continue their education where they might not have been able to. Until November 2021, teenage mothers were banned from continuing their education in public schools. Even now, many public schools do not meet their needs, and there is so much stigma that these teens face. Tanzanian society is patriarchal and regards girls who get pregnant while in school as immoral, even if they were raped. Stigma and discrimination against teenage mothers begins in the homes and extends to schools, many religious traditions, and the community at large. Due to poverty, many teenage mothers lack support from their families and communities. Alongside secondary education, the school offers guidance and counselling services to restore their self-esteem and self-confidence as quickly as possible and to work towards eliminating the stigma attached to teenage pregnancies that is still so common in Tanzania.
I absolutely adore this project and am so happy the money from this year’s Blodeuwedd project has been able to create a brand new school garden for the girls. Of course, they benefit from the delicious food that they grow (also gaining that sense of achievement from knowing they’ve grown it themselves – food is always tastier when you know you’ve grown it!), but they also have the therapeutic benefit if being outside caring for their garden.
I’ve always been passionate about women and girl’s rights, as well as education for all, so I have loved seeing how the money raised this year has gone to such as incredible cause!
