A passion for gardening...Sophia activist pushing ‘go back to land’ drive

A passion for gardening…Sophia activist pushing ‘go back to land’ drive

May 26, 2014 News

A community activist with a passion for gardening is spreading a ‘grow more food’ campaign in Sophia.

Mrs. Doris Shelto

Doris Anetha Shelto’s is a resident of B Field, Sophia, which she describes as a “very impoverished community,” but with an abundance of rich soil. It is the sight of this poverty amid this fertility that drove her to come up with the farming initiative.
And Mrs. Shelto yard, packed with virtually every crop imaginable, is an example of this potential.
“I have bora, pak-choy , egg plant, tomatoes, poi bagee, carrilla , eddo leaf , peppers , broad leaf and fine leaf thyme , pumpkins , watermelon, guava , sour sop, five finger , cherry, sweet pepper and coconut trees …every plant stated can be found in my back yard,” Mrs. Shelto said.
“The only things that I purchase from the market are rice, sugar and flour.
“I grew up seeing my parents planting a kitchen garden; it helps a great lot …for me it’s a kind of cushion for this crisis.”
Mrs. Shelto is a child of that era when ‘buy local’ was the watchword and Guyanese, including children, were urged to cultivate every available spot.
“I remember as a child going to school one of our subjects was Agriculture. I remember those days when President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, would be on his horse riding through the villages of Belfield and Victoria where I was born and went to school for a while. Everybody was excited to show off their kitchen garden to Mr. Burnham; your head would swell when he said ‘very nice Comrade’”.
The enterprising Mrs. Shelto is the President/Founder of the Mothers Action Groups on Social Issues and Sophia Sparkle Youth Group. Not only is she encouraging adults to join her agriculture drive, but members of her youth group are also cultivating their own gardens as well.

Mrs. Shelto examines some of her crops

“What I’m doing with the children and parents is trying to let them see where their riches lie….in the soil. We are now in the planning stage of a kitchen garden competition within our community, and we want to engage other communities on this initiative, but we need help with acquiring seeds and gardening tools.”
“The people are responding well to this initiative. I want to encourage agriculture; just as I encourage education …one of the keys to emerging from poverty is to obtain a sound education.”
A staunch Christian, Mrs. Shelto is also working on a book which she says will be “a spiritual guideline to building and maintaining the invisible wall around our kids.”
She is urging parents to “take time out to talk with your children, let them understand that the first item on their program in life is to have a relationship with GOD …and children do not learn morals by what you say …but they pay attention to what you do.”