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rebgarof · 7 years ago

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“The Lemon Tree Trust is a United Kingdom-based nonprofit organization which facilitates greening innovation and urban agriculture in refugee camps in Iraq, Uganda, and Jordan. “People are arriving with almost nothing and are literally making home, so the garden becomes representative of a space that people have control over, some ability to be creative, and a space to just be in after they’ve undergone this process of forced migration,” says co-founder Mikey Tomkins. “It’s a question not only of personal dignity but also of social, communal dignity.”

Primarily, the Trust sees itself as a capacity-building organization, providing funding and supporting agricultural activities and businesses already under way in the camp. All staff members in Iraq are refugees from the camp, as the organization emphasizes the importance of local partnership and participation. This provides employment and income for refugee communities and tries to move away from the donor dependency trap many other food security projects fall into. By encouraging refugees to create their own gardens and food growing spaces, they become actively involved in their own livelihoods and are able to be creative and productive. It is also a sustainable approach, continuing and growing even when the U.K. Trust staff are no longer there.

“We know for a fact that in every refugee camp anywhere in the world we can grow food and install greywater systems,” says Andrew Adam-Bradford, an academic from the Trust. “Refugee camps have to have water provision according to the United Nations, and where we have cows and food and eating, we’ll have organic waste and so we can make compost. Your main inputs are in the camp already.”

Many of the refugees already have agricultural experience to build on. Aveen, one of the Trust’s local facilitators, tells of her childhood in a village outside Damascus in Syria. “My father worked in a nursery and in the fields and he was very happy, so I get this interest in green things from him.” Aveen raises awareness in the camp about the potential and benefits of greening and food growing, arguing that “the greenery is changing the way I feel for the better. So, I would like to show people by example that they should start planting, so life will be green.””

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thearnoldtully · 5 years ago

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The role of urban agriculture amongst refugees and forced migrants in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

Decorative and productive food garden, Domiz Camp (copyright Mikey Tomkins 2016).

Urban agriculture and greening innovation is a powerful force that can help refugees and forced migrants to take control over their lives and local environments

By M. Tomkins, S. Yousef , A. Adam-Bradford, C. Perkins, E. Grosrenaud, M. Mctough & A. Viljoen UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Aug 9, 2019

Abstract:

Refugee camps are born out of chaos and crisis, characterised as short-term responses with little in the way of planning for long-term living. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that within protracted refugee situations, all too often these camps morph into ‘accidental cities’, where an accelerated everyday urbanism transforms tents into streets lined with self-built homes. Within the camps of northern Iraq, displaced Syrian refugees are finding innovative ways to incorporate urban agriculture and agroforestry into these unintended but now permanent settlements.

Largely unsupported and often in conflict with the initial disaster response planning for camps, Urban Agriculture (UA) flourishes at a household level, providing access to fresh food, healing spaces from trauma, and creative place-making practices. Using lessons learnt from three years of practical fieldwork developing and supporting UA in camps located in northern Iraq, this paper demonstrates that with or without institutional support home gardens emerge at every stage of camp development as a vital yet little-discussed and even less planned practice. The paper argues that refugee settlements, home to millions worldwide, need to be seen as both urban and permanent, with home gardening and agriculture as a core response at the point of crisis, or risk developing, by default, into unsustainable – slum-like – cities of the future.

Read the complete article here.

from Gardening http://cityfarmer.info/the-role-of-urban-agriculture-amongst-refugees-and-forced-migrants-in-the-kurdistan-region-of-iraq/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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williamemcknight · 6 years ago

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Winners announced in Refugee Garden Competition

Running in parallel with the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show this week, the Lemon Tree Trust has announced winners of a garden competition run across five camps in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Lemon Tree Trust supports gardening initiatives in refugee camps as a way to restore dignity, purpose, and cultural identity among refugees, and this year’s garden competition attracted close to 1,000 entries. Mirroring their garden competition in Iraq, the Lemon Tree Trust is exhibiting a show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in order to showcase its work to a global audience.

Since 2015 the Lemon Tree Trust has been working in Domiz camp in Northern Iraq, which is home to 26,000 Syrian refugees. It started the garden competition as a community activity to engage with people living in the camp and it quickly took root, with residents embracing the sense of competition and pride that it brought. For many refugees, gardens are a meaningful way to connect with their lives prior to being forced to flee their homes, helping to bring some beauty, normality, and comfort to their harsh living conditions.

In the first year, 50 families took part in the competition, and in the second year the number of entrants tripled. This year, there were 918 entries across the five camps. After the judging took place, the winners were announced this week in parallel with gardeners receiving awards at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Stephanie Hunt, founder and CEO of the Lemon Tree Trust, says: “The participants of the garden competition have shown incredible ingenuity and resourcefulness to create such fantastic gardens out of so little. The great enthusiasm and response we have had to this competition shows how powerful gardening is as a way to give individuals and families a sense of peace and purpose, as well as grow communities.”

Using their limited resources, the residents of the camps have created a wide range of gardens, incorporating readily available materials such as concrete, steel, and breezeblocks. Water features are an important element of many gardens and items such as tyres, plastic bottles, and tin cans are repurposed as planters. The array of plants typically found in the gardens focuses as much on ornamentals that bring colour and beauty as edible crops, and includes roses, grapes, jasmine, honeysuckle, figs, lemons, pomegranates, herbs, sunflowers, marigolds, and succulents.

Mikey Tomkins, director of urban agriculture at the Lemon Tree Trust, was in Domiz camp this week helping to judge the garden competitions. He said: “The number of garden entries this year has been outstanding. We have thoroughly enjoyed visiting each and every one of them, all of which are testament to the dedication of gardeners across all five camps to creating green spaces to find solace and grow food. Our congratulations to the winners, and all the entrants who deserve recognition for their creativity and ingenuity to garden against all odds. These gardens represent a grassroots movement, and through the creativity of refugees, the local government and NGOs and UNHCR are now embracing home gardens and urban agriculture as an essential part of camp planning and crisis response.”

Stephanie Hunt continues: “A garden competition is a powerful addition to other NGO efforts that provide critical basic needs for refugees. The simple act of gardening has given us a way to connect directly with refugees and allow them to feel valued again as an individual. We believe that gardening should be brought to the forefront of crisis response because the sooner you plant trees and put seeds in the ground, the sooner people can begin to feed themselves, experience aesthetic beauty, and restore their dignity.”

Inspired by these refugee gardens, the Lemon Tree Trust has created a garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, showing the unexpected beauty that is found within refugee camps. Designed by Tom Massey, it is the first refugee garden to appear at the prestigious show. Imitating features from the camps, it incorporates an ‘innovation wall’ filled with everyday objects such as tin cans and plastic bottles used as containers for vertical planting, as well as a drought tolerant planting scheme and an Islamic inspired fountain.

Home gardens also have a huge impact on home cooking for refugee parties from Syria who have a proud tradition of using fresh food and herbs, some of which are not available locally. Residents of “Domiz I” camp staged a cooking competition this week to celebrate their culinary traditions, with over 40 families preparing traditional dishes for the whole community to enjoy during Ramadan. Each dish came not only with a flavour and a dedication to a presentation, but also with a story; a story of trying to preserve a rich tradition of food in the face of migration and being displaced. The community came together after sundown to enjoy breaking fast together, and dishes were judged on presentation and taste.

Aveen Ibrahim, community outreach officer for the Lemon Tree Trust who is based in Northern Iraq, said: “Coming together as a community to break fast during Ramadan and to share food with all our non-Muslim neighbours and friends was an absolute highlight of our week. Judging the garden competition entries was difficult enough this year but judging the incredible cooking was even more so. Luckily, we had some help from UNHCR Iraq colleagues who all thoroughly enjoyed the evening. It has been a perfect way to join in the spirit of the Chelsea Flower Show festivities here in Kurdistan.”

To find out more about the work of the Lemon Tree Trust, please visit: www.lemontreetrust.org

The post Winners announced in Refugee Garden Competition appeared first on Pro Landscaper - The industry's number 1 news source.

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goalhofer · 1 year ago

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2023-24 Tampa Bay Lightning Players By Nationality

American: 8 (Zach Bogosian, Logan Brown, Mikey Eyssimont, Luke Glendening, Tyler Motte, Nick Perbix, Conor Sheary & Austin Watson) Canadian: 11 (Alex Barré-Boulet, Anthony Cirelli, Calvin De Haan, Haydn Fleury, Brandon Hagel, Tanner Jeannot, Nick Paul, Brayden Point, Darren Raddysh, Steven Stamkos & Matt Tomkins) Russian: 3 (Nikita Kucherov, Mikhail Sergachev & Andrei Vasilevskiy; Jr.) Swedish: 2 (Victor Hedman & Jonas Johansson) Slovak: 1 (Erik Černák) Finnish: 1 (Waltteri Merelä)

#Sports #Hockey #Hockey Goalies #NHL #Tampa Bay Lightning #Celebrities #U.S.A.#U.S.#Canada #Russia #Sweden #Slovakia #Finland

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goalhofer · 1 year ago

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2023-24 Tampa Bay Lightning Roster

Wingers

#14 Tyler Motte (St. Clair, Michigan)*

#20 Nick Paul (Mississauga, Ontario)

#23 Mikey Eyssimont (Littleton, Colorado)

#38 Brandon Hagel (Morinville, Alberta)

#39 Waltteri Merelä (Ylöjärvi, Finland)**

#51 Austin Watson (Ann Arbor Township, Michigan)*

#73 Conor Sheary (Melrose, Massachusetts)*

#84 Tanner Jeannot (Oxbow, Saskatchewan)

#86 Nikita Kucherov (Maykop, Russia) A

#91 Steven Stamkos (Markham, Ontario) C

Centers

#11 Luke Glendening (East Grand Rapids, Michigan)*

#12 Alex Barré-Boulet (Montmagny, Quebec)

#21 Brayden Point (Calgary, Alberta)

#22 Logan Brown (Chesterfield, Missouri)*

#71 Anthony Cirelli (Vaughan, Ontario)

Defensemen

#7 Haydn Fleury (Carlyle, Saskatchewan)

#24 Zach Bogosian (Massena, New York)

#43 Darren Raddysh (Caledon, Ontario)**

#44 Calvin De Haan (Ottawa, Ontario)*

#48 Nick Perbix (Elk River, Minnesota)

#77 Victor Hedman (Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) A

#81 Erik Černák (Košice, Slovakia)

#98 Mikhail Sergachev (Nizhnekamsk, Russia)

Goalies

#31 Jonas Johansson (Gävle Stad, Sweden)*

#88 Andrei Vasilevskiy; Jr. (Tyumen, Russia)

#90 Matt Tomkins (Edmonton, Alberta)**

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williamemcknight · 7 years ago

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UK not-for-profit spearheads movement to green refugee camps in Northern Iraq

In the midst of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria, which has forced millions of people to flee their homes and for some to seek refuge in neighbouring Northern Iraq, a small UK-based not-for-profit organisation is using urban agriculture and horticulture to bring together communities and restore dignity to broken lives.

The Lemon Tree Trust is led in the UK by Dr. Mikey Tomkins, an urban agriculture expert who has been using gardening and gardening competitions within the camps to inspire refugees to ‘grow home,’ and to highlight the potential for primary food production and large scale agriculture.

Dr. Tomkins says: “Forced migration results in trauma for young and old alike and far from being a temporary solution, refugee ‘camps’ provide homes for an average of 17 years. The heritage of growing plants to both sustain and enrich life is one that can be traced back to the very beginning of civilization and it is this heritage that we are drawing on in Domiz.

“We started three years ago, one garden at a time, and have found that with a little investment and some patience, ‘greening’ on a large scale is achievable and has wide ranging social, health and environmental benefits for everyone. One of the residents we have helped puts it quite simply: ‘My garden is my life’. That’s enough to keep us going and expanding.”

The ongoing work of Lemon Tree Trust in Domiz and its planned expansion to other camps will reach a global audience this year thanks to a collaboration with UK garden designer Tom Massey at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May. Massey has designed a show garden inspired by the resilience, determination and ingenuity of refugees, highlighting the importance of gardens and gardening to thousands of displaced families.

He says: “People need a way to bring order to a chaotic situation, as well as a space to come together as a community and to learn about horticulture and water retention. The gardens, encouraged by the Lemon Tree Trust, are far more than spaces to grow familiar plants, vegetables and herbs; they become a statement of belonging, a representation of ownership and an embodiment of dignity.”

Massey’s design draws on elements found in the gardens of refugees and intends to show visitors how brutal, harsh materials such as concrete and steel, that are widely available in the camps, can be made beautiful with techniques such as polishing, casting and crafting into intricate Islamic inspired patterns and designs. Drought tolerant planting will educate visitors about the type of plants and crops refugees grow on their own plots. Ingenious vertical planting techniques, inspired by refugees’ use of everyday objects, and designed with their input, will showcase ideas for planting in limited spaces. Trees laden with fruit, including figs, lemons and pomegranates, will provide scent and valuable crops to harvest and trade.

Cooling and calming water will flow throughout the space, which will then be collected in channels and pools, recycled and pumped back through the brimming central Islamic inspired fountain, representing the importance of grey water reuse in the camps and the many makeshift fountains refuges have built in their own gardens. Massey’s design speaks of what’s possible, what’s needed, and what’s longed for.

The Chelsea Flower Show garden marks the third year of operations for Lemon Tree Trust, which started by running garden competitions inside refugee camps and donating lemon trees as a way to build connections.

To help Lemon Tree Trust support refugees with essential garden supplies, visit the website at www.lemontreetrust.org.

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