Taqsima is a 65-year-old woman originally from Damascus, who was forced to leave her home due to the Syrian conflict more than a decade ago.
“We fled because youths were being abducted and forcibly recruited into the military,” she says. “Due to the lack of shelter, tough financial circumstances and limited job opportunities, we decided to migrate to Kurdistan in 2013.”
Although Taqsima always had a passion for agriculture and growing plants and flowers, she had little outdoor space and no way of being able to further her interest.
However, earlier this year we opened a community garden at Domiz 2 camp, which was part of our She Leads in Food Security project, delivered in partnership with CARE Iraq through funding by GIZ. The garden aims to improve food security, with raised beds for growing fresh vegetables and plants, and Taqsima is one of its beneficiaries.
She enrolled in our agricultural training course, saying: “Despite my age, I participated in the course, and after two months, I now cultivate parsley, rocket and other vegetables and plants. I spend most of my time taking care of my garden.”
It’s a well-known fact that getting outdoors and gardening is hugely beneficial to our physical and mental health, and Taqsima adds: “My health and wellbeing have improved significantly. I've made new friends, I walk more, and I’ve gained more interest and knowledge about vegetables and plants. Visiting the garden brings an indescribable sense of mental peace.”
It’s feedback like this that makes what we do at the Lotus Flower so rewarding, and why we’re so keen to reach women of all ages.
And with food security and climate change posing such a severe threat to Iraq, we believe these sorts of initiatives will become increasingly important in the coming months…
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