Every time vegetables began to flourish in the school garden at Laitlyndop RCLP SSA LP/UP School, roaming animals would find their way in, destroying crops that had taken weeks to grow. For parents, teachers and the wider community, it was a constant reminder that without protecting the garden, it would never fulfil its purpose of providing nutritious food for children or becoming a place where they could learn about agriculture and Indigenous food systems.
Although the school garden had existed since the school’s establishment in 1982, it remained largely unattended for many years. In April 2025, the garden was revived during an immersive youth programme, where young people from different villages came together to initiate school gardening activities. Their efforts inspired the parents of Laitlyndop to continue nurturing the space, recognising its potential to strengthen school meals while creating a hands-on learning environment for students. Determined not to let the revived garden fall back into neglect, parents, elders, teachers and members of the School Management Committee joined hands to build a protective fence using locally available stones and turf, with technical guidance and awareness support from NESFAS.
The work demanded both commitment and cooperation. Men dug the sandy soil, carried stones and built the turf fence, while women cultivated vegetables and prepared meals for those contributing their labour. Despite the challenges of transporting materials, unpredictable weather and balancing the work with the farming season, the community organised workdays around the agricultural calendar. Everyone contributed in whatever way they could, whether through labour, tools, food or encouragement, demonstrating a strong sense of ownership and shared responsibility.
Their collective effort soon began to bear fruit. The fence protected the garden from roaming animals, allowing vegetables such as water celery and mulberries to thrive. Today, the garden benefits all 78 students of the school, supplying fresh produce for school meals while serving as an outdoor classroom. Children actively participate in planting, watering, weeding, composting and harvesting, learning not only about agriculture and nutrition but also about teamwork, environmental stewardship and the value of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems.
Reflecting on the initiative, parent Nesto Khongwar said, “When we protect the garden, the garden protects our children. We may not have had a big budget, but we had stones, turf and people willing to work together. Parents, teachers and community members joined hands to grow food, improve our children’s nutrition and teach them skills they can carry into the future.”
What began as a simple effort to protect a school garden from roaming animals has become a powerful example of how a community can come together to improve children’s nutrition and learning. In Laitlyndop, a fence built with locally available stones, turf and collective effort has become much more than a boundary. It stands as a lasting symbol of the community’s commitment to its children, demonstrating how local knowledge, shared responsibility and collective action can create healthier learning environments and a brighter future for the next generation.
This story has been documented as part of the ongoing project, “Demonstrating Community-Based Initiatives for Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems”, supported by Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF) of UN-IFAD.
