Story 3

At the vermiculture farm
















It was a hot, sunny day when we arrived at the vermiculture farm in Nalbandyan village. The kids were already waiting for us. Having finished the work for the day they were resting under the trees. The “little farmers” were impatient to show what they accomplished. They managed to collect 30 tons of manure, wash it and mix it with all kinds of food and yard wastes, vegetable and fruit scraps, alum, garden refuse, manure – they knew what to gather to make compost.
The training they received both at school and out in the farm equipped them with knowledge about Californian worms and the fact that those tiny red creatures could be a part of rather complex biological process of transforming organic matter into clean organic fertilizer that could be used or sold later.
Children are usually fascinated at the sight of worms and the neatly planned science project for the children educated not only the youngsters but the whole community as well.
There was a healthy hubbub among the parents, running around to collect and prepare all the necessary ingredients for the arrival of “dear red friends” – Californian worms.
The compost was ready, laid on the ground waiting for the final “guests” that arrived at last. Bedding (compost) has a major role in worm composting process since it is the environment where the worms live and eat. Like children that were relaxing under the tree after the day of hard work, so would do the worms in the bedding prepared by the kids. As soon as the worms arrived the children hurried to place them on top of the bedding and could not hold their thrill while observing how the worms were disappearing in the bedding.
The children knew that worms dislike light and if some of them stay on the surface, they are either unhealthy or dead and should be removed. Thus, the kids were anxious to see whether the worms would disappear in the compost, which they eagerly did giving the young “biologists” the sign that they had a perfect “shelter”. Numerous child hands were enthusiastically placing the rest of the worms on the pile - their “red friends” had to work hard as well. Now they needed to do the last thing to make the “guests” even more comfortable: they watered the bedding and then sighed with a feeling of deep fulfillment. All the young members of the club were both amused and content as they were a part of creating something really significant – “home” for their “friends” and a source of income for the community.
By Karina Matevosova, Development Principles NGO Expert