WIS COMMUNITY GARDEN CAS PROJECT

The reception at WIS is a welcoming entry point for the students, parents and staff that enter the building every day; yet the space remains empty and quiet. Our group of six CAS members (Zafari,Claire, Euzel, Hala, Jani, and Vezembouua) see the opportunity to create a community garden in this area.

The garden will represent our school's values of sustainability, community and creativity. The garden will be designed using drought-tolerant and native Namibian plants, including the Namibian Partridge Aloe, Spekboom and the Golden Barrel Cactus. Not only do these plants add visual interest to the garden, but they are also specifically suited to the arid climate of Namibia, thus contributing to water conservation and raising awareness for sustainability.

We intend to mix organic aspects of nature with elements that reflect our school's identity, through the use of subtle references to school colour, and seating areas that encourage interaction between people. Each plant in the garden will be labelled, creating an additional educational element for the reception area, further allowing visitors to learn about the local flora and the benefits of gardening sustainably. However, this garden is about more than just the plants that will eventually grow in it.

This garden is about people and how we come together to create something beautiful, functional and sustainable. We will involve all levels of the WIS community students, teachers, parents and staff through bake sales, composting initiatives and a Family Planting Day to engage everyone in helping to build this vision of a garden.

One of the many initiatives being started alongside this project, is the compost initiative! Our group has decided to continue on a project from last year that went quiet not long after the absence of one of our grade members.

Compost bins will be placed around the campus, with posters providing details as to what can be added to compost and what cannot be.

Ultimately, the end result of this project will focus not only on developing a garden at WIS that showcases the beauty of Namibia's native flora, but also on establishing a theme of care, sustainability, creative expression and collaborative effort among the

WIS community that will continue to grow each year.