Sometimes a simple volunteer activity leads to unexpected and wonderful outcomes.
9/7/2024
Last September, I was invited to give a presentation about the RCMG youth programs to the Roseville chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary organization for women educators. The group was very receptive and interested, many of them having no idea of what Master Gardeners actually do.
Following my talk, I was introduced to a young woman named Rose Rementina from Quezon City in the Philippines. Rose is a Fullbright Scholar and is also being sponsored by Alpha Delta Kappa to study at the University of Minnesota. She is working on her Master’s degree in Special Education, following some years of teaching teen and young adult special needs students at home. Her goal is to return to the Philippines and find a way to help students such as these build skills and independence and to offer employment opportunities, but she wasn’t sure what that would look like. She told me she was very interested in learning more about becoming a Master Gardener and later confided that the presentation was an “aha moment” for her as to how she could work toward her dream.
Because Rose was living and going to school in Minneapolis, I steered her toward the Hennepin County Master Gardener program. When we spoke again recently, she informed me that she had completed all her requirements to become a certified Master Gardener volunteer.
Some of the volunteer work she did was in the African Garden on the St. Paul campus, at Agape with their Farm-to-Table summer camp and answering questions at Farmers Markets. The one that may have resonated most, however, was the work she did with the Green Garden Bakers. She sees this as a possible model for the nonprofit she is hoping to start in the Philippines. She will be finishing her degree in May (2025) and returning home to refine the concept and raise funds.
Rose stated that, “We will survive if we have food on our table.” She wants to make sure that everyone has the skills and opportunity to make that happen for themselves. She now has new tools and a network to help make that happen in a community where she sees a need.
Susan Cathey
RCMG Volunteer