Urban Agricuture

For the past two years grades five and six at the Lighthouse School have experienced a more hands on approach to science and agriculture. A greenhouse project was started in 2014 and training in organic farming got the students out of the classroom and into the soil. The salty and often polluted water of Gaza along with the sandy soil may not seem like the best combination for a healthy harvest, but the children have learned how to sow and reap in one of the most difficult and unlikely of locations…the center of Gaza City. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas on earth and finding an empty plot of ground is not easy. But nothing is easy in Gaza. Adaptability is a characteristic most Gazans have had to learn in an ever deteriorating and worsening situation. The project was intended to teach the children that growth and productivity are possible in any environment given the right resources and the proper care. There is a divine element in planting and harvesting. Seed, sun and soil are gifts from God and a little dirt under the fingernails is a life lesson. It’s a picture of what we’ve been trying to do in Gaza ever since the Lighthouse School opened in 2005…’getting our hands dirty’ by getting involved in the lives of children. Growing a healthy and productive child in Gaza has become more difficult since the school first opened. War, violence, poverty and isolation are not conducive to healthy growth, yet this is the reality for our students and their families. So we’re continuing a hands on approach, ‘getting dirt under our fingernails’ and learning that growth and productivity for each child at the Lighthouse School is possible in Gaza given the right resources and the proper care. Of course there is a divine element in this process…one plants, another waters, but God gives the increase. –I Corinthians 3:6