Field Trip | The Ziegelbaurs

By the posts this month it seems Ben’s the only one doing anything interesting these days. Michelle is researching universities and studying hard; Nathan has been getting caught up homework assignments before the quarter ended; Ron’s always busy with the school and construction of the hostel, and I’ve been in meetings of the various boards and committees I’m on.

And Ben’s school did something really fun again: a field trip to Rain Forest International School to learn about plants and trees, and to do some planting.

We all met at RFIS in the morning where they were introduced to Coach Didier, who works at RFIS and is involved in agricultural development in his home village.

We divided the students into 4 groups, and sent them on a scavenger hunt. They were given a list of photos with descriptions of plants that they needed to find on the campus. Labels on the plants gave the plant name.

Scavenger hunt for plants on RFIS campus

Students write the name of their find in the scavenger hunt

Once they learned the names of the many tropical fruit trees on the scavenger hunt, they got to play a matching game – matching the trees with the fruits that will grow on them in the coming years.

Mom helps her boys match the fruits with the trees they grow on

After a snack and round of the silly song “I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas” and the lesser known version “I Like to Eat Mangoes and Papayas” we were off to do some planting!

The day before, my friend Lori and I went shopping for plants at a local nursery: one flower for each of the 18 students and a tree for the teacher, Miss Carolyn to plant. We dropped them off at school, near the flower bed that Ron had gotten set up for us in advance.

Flowers are placed and ready for the students to plant... while Ron mows the lawn in the background

Coach Didier taught the students about composting, how to recognize good dirt, and helped them plant potatoes.

Lori and Didier gave instructions to the students on how to properly plant the flowers.

Coach Didier and Lori teaching about planting flowers

... while others dug with their hands in the soft dirt.

Ben and Ron watch as one of the students waters his newly planted flower.

Proud students stand behind their mulch covered flowerbed

Then Coach Didier took us on a “bush walk” around the more wild areas of the campus pointing out local plants and warning us about possibility of seeing snakes. (thankfully we saw none).

After lunch it was time for sports fun with parents and older siblings joining us.

...while others played soccer in the hot sun.

What a great way to spend the last school day before Spring Break!

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