Nandini Cheemalamarri (Detroit Communications)

Aug 8, 20212 min read

VT SEVA DETROIT: SOW A SEED EDUCATE A CHILD APRIL – JULY 2021

In the early Spring of 2021, VT Seva Detroit started off a brand new Project – ‘SOW A SEED EDUCATE A CHILD’ with a vision to encourage every volunteer, be it Youth or Adults, to bring the Gardener within them out of the deep slumber of the pandemic year and spend some time outdoors planting seeds, nurturing them and in turn contribute towards a great cause of helping the Tribal & Nethra Vidyalaya School Children in their education.

We had a great response from 19 Youth Volunteers who registered to take part in this eco-conscious project. The parents and adult volunteers were equally enthusiastic about this project. We had a fantastic kick-off meeting on the 11th of April 2021 to plan about the different kinds of seeds that we were planning to sow, the finer details of starter kits, types of soils, tools, watering cycles, sunlight vs. grow light, and how to care for the saplings when the weather is still cold.

The plan was to get fast-growing and most saleable plants such as Squash, Beans, Okra, Cucumbers, Peas, Eggplant and Tulsi. All the seeds were pre-planted in starter kits before they were distributed to the participants. Once the seeds started germinating and saplings started turning up under the indoor grow light conditions, they were picked up by the participants and nurtured in their homes. During our 3 subsequent meetings, the Youth participants eagerly showed the growth of their plants on a regular basis and were really excited to take the next steps of selling them to raise money for the cause.

Youth volunteers encouraged by their parents, did an AMAZING JOB in marketing their plants to their neighbors, teachers, friends and family members explaining about the great cause of this project and how all the proceeds from the sale of plants would go directly to towards the education of visually challenged children of Nethra Vidyalaya and Tribal Schools. Almost all the plants were sold except for few that did not survive.

At the conclusion of this project in June, our 19 participants raised over $600.00 by selling their plants as a part of this unique hands-on project. This was quite a learning experience for everyone. Youth and Adults enjoyed every bit of this project and are eager to grow more plants in their backyards. The Youth Volunteers wanted to express their experience through a quick video blog.

𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐓𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟏.𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐯 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢 𝟐.𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝟑.𝐓𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢 𝟒.𝐀𝐫𝐲𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢 𝟓.𝐎𝐯𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝟔.𝐀𝐛𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐯 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝟕.𝐒𝐚𝐢 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐑𝐚𝐦 𝟖.𝐒𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝟗.𝐇𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐲𝐚 𝟏𝟎.𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐧 𝟏𝟏.𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐢𝐥 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝟏𝟐.𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐍𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐚 𝟏𝟑.𝐀𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝟏𝟒.𝐒𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐲𝐚 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐮 𝟏𝟓.𝐀𝐝𝐡𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝟏𝟔.𝐘𝐮𝐠 𝟏𝟕,𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝟖.𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢 Ananthalwan 𝟏𝟗.𝐑𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧