EarthStory in Ghana Part 2: Gardens of Ghana (Video)

I met Alrie Middlebrook after the first EarthStory festival. We connected immediately. Ever since, I have learned so much from her, not only about ecology and the ways the Earth renews herself, but how to lead a life of purpose. Alrie just retired as the Executive Director of the California Native Garden Foundation. She is also in her ninth decade of life.

In one of our early conversations, Alrie told me about her friend Rueben Foster in Ghana. She told me about her work with regenerative agriculture and how she worked with an amazing team to create a thriving garden program that continues to this day. I told her that I happened to be going to Ghana to visit family who are staying there this year. She told me that I had to meet Rueben and see the amazing gardens they worked on together.

Fast forward a few months. I met Rueben in a taxi cab that pulled up to our lodging in Elmina, on the Atlantic coast. Too many of us piled into the back of the cab and we were off. Rueben told us about his work in public health, how he is a phD candidate at the University of Cape Coast, and how these garden are his passion project.

30 minutes later, we arrived in the village of Yamoransa. We drove down a side street until we reached a grove of tall palm trees swaying in the afternoon breeze. We parked the car where the road ended and began to walk down a dirt path. Quickly, a fence line appeared and then continued for hundreds of feet into the distance. Rueben led us down the fence line and shared that we had indeed made it to one of the gardens.

This garden, tended to by the Green Club at the Methodist School in the village, was a relatively new plot. Each time property owners in the village decide to no longer allow the gardens on their land, Rueben and educators in the local schools rush to find a new plot of land available for a new garden. While these transitions may be discouraging at times, the outcome in the long run is a remarkable testament to resilience in the face of change.

Watch the video to learn about how these gardens came to be thanks to many contributors and creative minds in Yamoransa, Cape Coast, and the United States. Alrie returned to Ghana nine times to continue working on this project. Rueben visits Yamoransa frequently in between his engagements as a student in Cape Coast. The lifeblood of the garden is tended to by the teachers in the Methodist and Catholic schools in Yamoransa and their students in the Green Clubs.

Check back soon to see the full interview with Rueben. We shared a wonderful conversation overlooking one of the gardens most recently built. You will hear excerpts of this interview in the video.

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