CIIR brings 'Garden in the Community' and storytelling to students in Belém
The Integrated Center for Inclusion and Rehabilitation (CIIR) promotes environmental education and healthy habits in schools in a creative and accessible way for children
The Integrated Center for Inclusion and Rehabilitation (CIIR), in Belém, through the Sustainability Commission of the unit, promoted a new action of the Garden in the Community project. This time, the initiative was taken to the Nossa Senhora de Fátima I State School, in the Val-de-Cans neighborhood, in the capital of Pará, Belém. The proposal, aimed especially at children, used storytelling as a playful tool to teach the kids.
About 45 children from the 2nd year of Elementary School, aged 8 years, participated in the activity. The action presented fundamental concepts such as sustainability, healthy eating, and urban agriculture in a light and interactive way.
According to CIIR, the project's proposal is to transform the school environment into a living learning space, where the garden ceases to be just a bed and becomes a true outdoor classroom, stimulating curiosity, care for the environment, and teamwork.
For Denise Morais, president of the CIIR Sustainability Commission, involving the little ones directly in the experience is essential for the practice to make sense. “It is an action of the project to truly engage the children who will participate, who will consume the products from the garden. So, it is only fair that they put their hands in the soil and actively participate in the process,” she stated.
The school's pedagogical coordinator, Lúcia Lobato, reinforced the relevance of the developed activity. "Today, it is extremely significant because it works with art, storytelling. It works on a pedagogical intervention process that demonstrates a public policy that the State is developing on environmental education in the state education network. And it is the beginning, because it is a process of awareness,” she emphasized.
The action reinforces CIIR's commitment to sustainable practices and the construction of a culture of collective care from childhood. The Garden in the Community project has already been successfully implemented in different locations, such as the Promorar and Barreiro communities, consolidating itself as a powerful tool for social inclusion, community integration, and environmental education.
In addition to planting and harvesting vegetables, fruits, and herbs, the proposal includes nutritional guidance, training for those involved, and evaluation of the impacts on the well-being of participants. CIIR emphasizes, with this action, that cultivating goes beyond the land: it is a way to sow awareness, autonomy, and community ties.
Highlight – CIIR is a reference in Pará for medium and high complexity assistance to people with visual, physical, auditory, and intellectual disabilities. Users can access the Center's services through referrals from health units, welcomed by the Regulation Center of each municipality, which in turn forwards to State Regulation. The request will be analyzed according to the user's profile by the State Regulation System (SER).
Service: The Integrated Center for Inclusion and Rehabilitation is an agency of the Government of Pará managed by the National Institute of Social and Human Development (INDSH), in partnership with the State Department of Public Health (Sespa). It operates at Arthur Bernardes Highway, No. 1,000, in Belém. More information: (91) 4042-2157 /58 /59.
Text by Danielle Carvalho / Ascom CIIR
