Since May 2023, Phison has annually contributed 1 million NT dollars to support the Lovely Taiwan Foundation in implementing the "Shennong Project " at Xinpu Elementary School. Now entering its third year, not only has the school's farmland been fully built and upgraded, but has also yielded significant educational and agricultural results.
Coinciding with the two-year anniversary of the project, executives from Phison led six volunteers to participate in the Shennong Project's classes, joining the children in their activities. The school's director specially introduced that to enable plants to grow well in the relatively infertile coastal lands, all the vegetable patches on campus are designed to be elevated. They also collaborated with Ms. Shuhui, a teacher from Malyi Elementary School, following her guidance on soil preparation and the use of organic fertilizers, which led to a bountiful harvest in the school's farmland.
On that day, the volunteers also joined in a DIY class on making herbal plum jam and creating soil pigments, both of which were arranged according to the seasonal changes as part of the Shennong Projec. The first class was led by Ms. Shuhui, who guided everyone through peeling and deseeding plums, then cooking them down. Finally, herbs grown in the school's farmland was added to create a seasonal jam. The second class was led by two teachers from Ruru Studio, who introduced the soil to the participants. They used the loess commonly seen in western Taiwan and the red soil in Miaoli as raw materials, sifted and ground them into powder, added gum Arabic and oil, to form pigments made from local soil. Finally, the participants combined the popular concept of walking vases, used their own pigments to paint, and then inserted plants from the campus according to their personal preferences to complete a vase postcard that can change flowers with the seasons. After the class, there was refreshing vanilla sparkling water to drink, and all the children gained a lot and had a great time.
By personally interacting with the children and participating in the activities, our volunteers not only gained a better understanding of the characteristics and background of the "Shennong Project", but their hearts were also deeply moved and they regained their childlike innocence.
