More Practical Workshops In SD St Theresia 1 and SMP 31 Surabaya

James Ogilvie – England

We ran another practical workshop at St Theresia 1 this morning, where we got all the children to make Biopori (holes in the ground filled with leaves and covered to make compost). Like we have done previously, we used metal tools to bore holes in the ground, about 30cm deep and 10cm wide. We then filled the holes with crushed leaves, covered them up and marked their location so they can be found at a later date. We divided the class into groups, some of which dug holes with the metal tools and some collected dead leaves to fill the holes. They then swapped tasks so everyone got to do everything.

By the end of the session we had a number of completed Biopori holes all around the school grounds, which will turn to compost in time. The children really enjoyed the task and it was very successful. Practical activities like this are a really good way to teach the children about the environment in a fun way.

After leaving ST Theresia 1 we headed to SMP 31, a junior high school in Surabaya. Here we ran a similar practical workshop to this morning, where we got the children to make Biopori around their school. The soil here was really clayey, so it was harder work to bore holes in the ground. Despite this, we managed to make many holes in the ground with the metal tools. I climbed up a big tree to knock some dead leaves down as there were not very many around the school, and we finally managed to fill in all the holes with leaves!