For years, refugees have come to the United States seeking an escape from political repression and unsafe environments. In 2007, the U.S. government announced they would connect 60,000 refugees to new homes in the United States. Since then, nearly 700 refugees have settled in Baltimore, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Before coming to Baltimore, many refugees worked agricultural jobs, and now they are often found working factory jobs. The sharp contrast between the rural environment refugees once lived in and the urban space where they now dwell makes the adjustment a harsh and difficult experience.
This inspired sophomores Anna Wherry, Kaetan Vyas and Bridget Harkness, as well as junior Jared Katz to create and spearhead the MicroFarming Project.
The MicroFarming Project aims to create a community garden that is intended for, but not limited to, Baltimore refugees. It originated as a class project for the Intersession course "Leading Social Change," taught by William Smedick, the Director of Leadership Programs and Assessment Initiatives for the Dean of Student Life.
Along with learning about social entrepreneurship and non-profit work and listening to guest lecturers, the class concluded with a business plan competition in which students pitched their ideas to a panel of judges. Seven groups from the class presented a proposal, and the top three projects each received a grant worth $5,000.
With a $5,000 grant in hand, the student group is ready to bring a garden and a community to refugees who reside in Baltimore resettlement housing.
The project's purpose is two-fold. In addition to the garden's actual harvest, the team wants refugee relationships with the greater Baltimore community to grow. Ultimately, the students hope to create a self-sustaining, multi-purpose garden used to fulfill the dietary or economic needs of refugees.
"We wanted to create something that would be functioning on it's own and have economic value," Katz said.
Refugees involved in the project are provided the opportunity to use skills learned in their homeland, and, at the same time, they are further integrated into the Baltimore community by collaborating with the Project's prospective partner organizations.
So far, the project has garnered the support of several organizations including the Baltimore Urban Farming Community, Johns Hopkins Sustainability Office, Baltimore Urban Agriculture, The Goodnow Community Center and the International Rescue Committee.
This project was inspired by Wherry's high school experience of working with Bhutanese refugees to create a community garden in Frederick, Maryland. Wherry wanted to build off of this idea to address the needs of refugees in Baltimore.
"We want to adapt the project to the different interests of the refugee communities," she said. "We want to work with them on this project and not do it for them, it is a collaborative effort."
Wherry worked with Bhutanese refugees who found the garden environment to be a positive experience. Adjusting to the sights, sounds and other characteristics of city life is difficult enough, but the project eased the adjustment, according to Wherry. The garden invoked memories of their native land and served as a way to pass on traditional aspects of their culture to posterity. The garden that the four students are presently working on will provide refugees with a similar sense of home.
However, to acheive this, the group has to do a substantial amount of planning. The responsibilities have been distributed amongst the group. Anna Wherry serves as General Manager of project operations; Kaetan Vyas and Jared Katz manage the project's business model; and Bridget Harkness serves as Communications and Marketing Manager.
Currently, the students are working on obtaining the materials necessary to build the farm and networking with interested organizations. They have also started to search for potential plots and found a possible location on Moravia Park Drive in East Baltimore. The land is two acres and close to the refugee resettlement housing. The land also falls under Baltimore's Adopt-a-Lot program, a city program that allows residents to obtain for free an empty plot of land for the purposes of converting it into a community-managed open space.
The group anticipates that the land will require clearing, as well as testing and nourishing the soil to ensure that it is fit for production. In order to get the best sense of how to serve the refugees and greater Baltimore communities, the team is conducting surveys of refugees to address issues and fulfill needs.
What originated from a three-week course, has become a long term, lasting project. With all of the resources, this group of students is making strides in their progress to achieve the goals of the MicroFarming project.
