Mont Fleuri secondary school gets its own medicinal garden |06 August 2020

Ms Mohotti and Mr Arrisol after cutting the ribbon to inaugurate the nursery (Photo: Anel Robert)

The Mont Fleuri secondary school yesterday inaugurated its shade house, a donation by the Seychelles Centennial Women Lions Club, harbouring a nursery of medicinal plants including some vegetables.

It was the President of the Seychelles Centennial Women Lions Club (SCWLC), Ruth Mohotti, who had the honour of cutting the ribbon to officially open the nursery in the presence of the head teacher of the school, Marc Arrisol.

Also present at the ceremony were representatives of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, other members of the SCWLC, members of the school council, members of the PTA, teachers and members of the Eco-School Club among other students.

The nursery, which started in January 2020 following a R10,000 donation by the SCWLC in 2019, has grown different types of medicinal plants such as Catharanthus Roseus (saponer), Lemongrass Cymbopogon Citratus (sitronnel), Plectranthus Amboinicus (gro bonm), Aloe Vera, Vetiver, among others. Among the vegetables being cultivated are lettuce, Chinese cabbage among a few other plants.

In his opening speech, Mr Arrisol said that having a medicinal garden at the school is to promote the use of alternative medicine to cure some illnesses or diseases in the wake of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

He noted that the fact that we are faced with the pandemic which is certainly having and will continue to have a severe economic impact on the world and that scientists are still working day and night with no success to find a cure for the contagious virus, “the cure for the Covid-19 pandemic might be in these medicinal plants right here in front of you”.

He added that given the fact that education is not locked or caged between four walls, the medicinal garden will encourage students to get involved in environment education outside the classroom and in so doing they will learn to preserve and protect our environment.

He said that some of the medicinal plants in the nursery will be planted around the school compound while the vegetable plants will be transferred to a larger garden the school is about to create with the help of the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture.

Mr Arrisol thanked the SCWLC for working with the school and its partners to make the medicinal nursery a real success and hopes that it will encourage more students to develop a love for plants.

Ms Mohotti, a former student of the school, said the club’s hope in sponsoring and partnering with schools across the country for a school garden is that it is allowing the students to experience and to put into practice in an outdoor environment what they have learned in the classroom.

She commended the students and the school’s management for understanding the importance of medicinal plants as they are also a vital part of any garden.

“That will be your visit before you go to see a doctor,” she added, asking them to be proud of their achievement.

Twelve-year-old S1 student Jean Jules, who is also an Eco-School Club member, said that having a medicinal garden in schools will curtail the number of students that will have to go to the doctor for simple ailments such as headaches and tummy aches as they will find comfort in the use of these medicinal plants.

As for Sabine Henriette, also a twelve-year-old S1 student but not a member of the Eco-School Club, said that now with the medicinal garden, more students will be educated on the use of medicinal plants and in doing so it will encourage them to cultivate these plants at home.

During the small ceremony, Fadell Sophola, Anaëlle Marie and Natasha Agathine from S1 recited poems they had written on their nursery.

The ceremony ended with the planting of more medicinal plants (Catharanthus Roseus) to further embellish the nursery.

Eleven schools have been assisted with funds to build their shade houses and Mont Fleuri secondary is the ninth school to have set up their nursery.

The SCWLC’s shade house project in schools started in 2018.

Patrick Joubert