People with disabilities at Day Centre pilot veg patch and aromatic garden

feina hort aromaticLocal social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada and Maria Uriarte, the director of island's care centre for dependent individuals, sat in on occupational training course centred around the centre's vegetable and aromatic garden. The hands-on course, just one of the numerous therapeutic activities made available to people with disabilities at the Formentera Day Centre, is premised on enabling individuals to achieve their maximum level of personal autonomy and social involvement through comprehensive daily work. Underpinned by personalised care for each participant, the course turns on the idea of stimulating and maintaining participants' abilities and aptitudes.

Course
The course will entail students' preparation of the aromatic plant garden, which will later provide material to be incorporated into personal care products, like soaps and oils, and ultimately sold. Technical support in the planning and execution of the course came from Petits Jardiners, a company run by Pablo Aixelá.

Goals
The course is aimed at giving individuals at the Formentera Day Centre occupational training-style alternatives for personal and social development. Other objectives include promoting participants' ability to engage in interpersonal relationships, as well as increased personal autonomy and community involvement.

More specific targets exist as well, like participants' learning how to safely and appropriately use tools and understanding the steps that go into the creation of a garden as well as the forthcoming task of crafting original products and selling them at Formentera's Christmas market and farmers' market.

During its initial phase, the ten individuals taking part in the course will meet twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 11.00am to 12.30pm. The price of setting up the garden and the first phase's associated costs totalled five thousand euros.