Gardening is about more than food for young people learning English

A school in Wodonga, Victoria, has started a garden project to help young migrants and refugees who are learning English. The students attend Blackburn English Language School (BELS), which helps young people from other countries prepare for mainstream Australian schools. The garden is meant to do more than grow food — it is also meant to help students feel less lonely and more at home in Australia.

One of those students is 16-year-old Albert Lotemo. He was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and grew up in Zambia, where he studied farming and grew crops like maize, cassava, bananas, and pineapples. Moving to Australia meant leaving that lifestyle behind, so getting his hands back in the dirt has made him very happy. 'I was planting the food like maize, cassava ... some orange, banana ... and lemon and pineapple,' he said.

Albert has been at the BELS Wodonga campus for six months. The school has teamed up with Headspace, a youth mental health group that works under a local organisation called Gateway Health. Together, they came up with the idea of planting a school garden to help students deal with the hard parts of starting life in a new country.

Research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows that refugees are more likely to have poor mental health but less likely to ask for help. This can happen for many reasons, such as not trusting the new healthcare system or feeling embarrassed about mental health struggles. Some students also face problems with money, language, or getting around.

Ruby Huang is the cultural connections coordinator at Headspace. She says the garden gives students a safe and welcoming space to share their traditions and work together without needing perfect English. She hopes students will one day grow food in the garden and bring it home for their families to cook.

Science teacher Regina Glass says that almost all of the school's new students have a connection to gardening. The school has 21 students from countries including Congo, Vietnam, Nepal, and India, and they will use the garden as part of their science lessons. Ms Glass also says the garden gives students a mental break from the hard work of learning a new language.

For Albert, the garden has given him something to dream about for the future. He hopes to one day have enough money to run his own farm. For now, the school garden is a small but important piece of home.