Our group was assigned to the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) in Quezon City to work on the topic Climate Change. I have never heard this organization before and that made me feel excited to get to know them. We were welcomed by the person in-charge of us and I felt really excited to work with them.
Well, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement or PRRM is a non-government organization focuses on particular areas such as protecting the environment, managing the resource base; building sustainable livelihood; ensuring access to basic services, enhancing human development; and responding to disaster situation, reducing community vulnerability. It does not only focus in the environment but also to other matters related to sustainable development and human development.
During the orientation, a lot of things popped into my mind. What are we going to do here? Are we going to a field and plant there? Or are we going to experience fishing? Are we going to do tree planting? Are we going to do some environmental campaign? And then, they introduced the garden on top of their building.
It is so rare to have a garden on top of a building in an urban area. I thought it was a flower garden. No! It was not. It is a vegetable garden. The coolest part is that there are different kinds of plants that you could eat or use as an ingredient. Sometimes they get tea leaves from the garden for their tea time. It was so cool!
Our task was to improve and maintain the roof top garden of PRRM. I got a problem there, for I have difficulty in planting. However, I was still excited. The feeling of working on top of the building, having a wonderful view around you is just so inspiring. And the work is something unusual. I never thought that plant would live in extreme conditions especially it is in an urban area where pollution is the major problem. In some way, their roof top garden helps lessen pollution and since everything is organic, it is healthier; they are caring for the environment and at the same time caring for their own self.
It may seem that working on improving the roof top garden is a small act for the environment, but I believe this small act, once promoted, will make a huge difference, a huge impact for our mother earth. I hope that I could still learn more about the environment.
Source:
2012-18077 Irah Angelica Padilla
NSTP @ UP School of Economics 