I have designed and built over a 100 gardens in the last five years and every one of them have been very special to me. However the communal garden I designed for Freedom Park in South Africa is by far the most special and significant piece of work to date.
After 13 months of planning, recruiting, fundraising, writing, and public speaking on Saturday the 3rd of November 2007, 53 volunteers joined me in creating a little piece of Heaven. Nelson Mandela, said in his first address after being elected president of South Africa that the cultivation of earth shall be as close to heaven as one on earth can get. For our team of 54 gardeners we certainly felt that for the people of Freedom Park, our gift to them of a beautiful garden was like giving them a small piece of heaven on their downtrodden earth.
We had six days to complete out task, 800 square metres to cultivate, 200 cubic metres of earth to remove, 220 cubic metres of compost to fill, 200 square metres of paving to lay, 3 play areas to create, seating, lawns, water feature, murals, artwork, mirrors to hang, stepping stones to build, walls to plaster and paint and approx. 1500 plants to plant and build a basketball court in our spare time. Truly a mammoth task, however through sheer determination, early mornings, late evenings and plenty of elbow grease, the Garden of Hope team completed the garden and basketball court just before 12pm on Friday 9th November. 30 minutes later Niall Mellon officially handed over the 203 houses built in the previous week, the community hall and garden and of course the basketball court. Thousands were in attendance including all of the volunteers, the house and community beneficiaries and local government officials, as well as sponsors and world press.
The atmosphere was electrifying as everyone assembled at the climax of a gruelling week, as expected not everything went to plan, but everything was completed in the end and when 1380 volunteers left Freedom Park on Friday afternoon, one thing was for sure, Irish people had changed the life’s of that entire community for the better.
All the press clippings in the world, the group photographs, the handshakes or the praise received from my peers could give me anymore satisfaction than when I went back to Freedom Park on Saturday morning, I brought a group of 6 local children into the garden and watched them as they played, initially they where hesitant to touch anything and needed to get the reassurance that indeed this garden was theirs. Myself and a local taxi driver who had brought me to the site sat on the exterior wall and cried, tears of joy for a magical moment like few others was unfolding in front of us. In proportion to the benefit the sacrifice is nothing.
The Garden of Hope project has now commenced for 2008, please join us or support us on our way.
After 13 months of planning, recruiting, fundraising, writing, and public speaking on Saturday the 3rd of November 2007, 53 volunteers joined me in creating a little piece of Heaven. Nelson Mandela, said in his first address after being elected president of South Africa that the cultivation of earth shall be as close to heaven as one on earth can get. For our team of 54 gardeners we certainly felt that for the people of Freedom Park, our gift to them of a beautiful garden was like giving them a small piece of heaven on their downtrodden earth.
We had six days to complete out task, 800 square metres to cultivate, 200 cubic metres of earth to remove, 220 cubic metres of compost to fill, 200 square metres of paving to lay, 3 play areas to create, seating, lawns, water feature, murals, artwork, mirrors to hang, stepping stones to build, walls to plaster and paint and approx. 1500 plants to plant and build a basketball court in our spare time. Truly a mammoth task, however through sheer determination, early mornings, late evenings and plenty of elbow grease, the Garden of Hope team completed the garden and basketball court just before 12pm on Friday 9th November. 30 minutes later Niall Mellon officially handed over the 203 houses built in the previous week, the community hall and garden and of course the basketball court. Thousands were in attendance including all of the volunteers, the house and community beneficiaries and local government officials, as well as sponsors and world press.
The atmosphere was electrifying as everyone assembled at the climax of a gruelling week, as expected not everything went to plan, but everything was completed in the end and when 1380 volunteers left Freedom Park on Friday afternoon, one thing was for sure, Irish people had changed the life’s of that entire community for the better.
All the press clippings in the world, the group photographs, the handshakes or the praise received from my peers could give me anymore satisfaction than when I went back to Freedom Park on Saturday morning, I brought a group of 6 local children into the garden and watched them as they played, initially they where hesitant to touch anything and needed to get the reassurance that indeed this garden was theirs. Myself and a local taxi driver who had brought me to the site sat on the exterior wall and cried, tears of joy for a magical moment like few others was unfolding in front of us. In proportion to the benefit the sacrifice is nothing.
The Garden of Hope project has now commenced for 2008, please join us or support us on our way.
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