I can grow flowers and vegetables!

Place a handful of earth in a plant pot, add a seedling, and tamp down the soil; though this seems like an easy thing to do, the students at New Taipei City Special School (新北特教學校) require repeated demonstrations and assistance from teachers and volunteers in order to achieve it. New Taipei City Special School provides various vocational training courses aimed at equipping students with independent living skills and the ability to earn a living on graduation.

However, with varying degrees of severity in the intellectual disabilities of students, many of the students are “rejected” and unable to enter the workplace, forcing them to be cared for at home or sent to a nursing home. Therefore, outgoing president of the parents’ association, Chen De-cheng (陳德成), believes that it is important to provide students with a place to continue training after graduation, or cultivate the ability to work independently while still at school.

 
To this end, Chen De-cheng raised funds from a wide range of sources and set up a small-scale work operation, allowing graduating students to continue working at school. In the second year, he combined the forces of the Green Life Association (綠耕生活協會) and various other organizations, as well as introducing a simplified aquaponics system with a mode of operation suitable for special education students. Through repeated training and learning, students can not only quickly familiarize themselves with the system and learn farming skills, but also increase their sources of income with the production of fish, vegetables, and flowers.

I can grow flowers and vegetables!
URL:https://www.peopo.org/news/287187

(以下是中文對照)

我會種花種菜了！

照片

抓一把泥土放到植杯、補上一棵菜苗、將植杯泥土壓實，這樣看似簡單容易的事，對新北特教學校的學生而言，卻是需要經過老師和志工一再重覆示範或協助才能完成，新北特教學校雖然安排各類職業實習課，盡力培訓學生獨立謀生技能，但智能程度輕重不一的學生卻有極大比例被「退貨」，無法順利進入職場而回家照護或到療養院，因此，如何在學校畢業後仍然有繼續訓練的場所，或還在學校時就能真正培養出獨立作業的能力，這是即將卸任的家長會長陳德成的想法。

於是陳德成找來各方的資源成立小型作業所讓畢業學生能回校繼續工作，第二年則結合綠耕生活協會及其他民間團體的力量，引進魚菜共生系統，並將作業模式簡化成適合特教學生容易操作，經由多次訓練學習學生就可漸漸熟悉，如此學生不但學得農耕技能，產出的魚獲、蔬菜、鮮花都可以增加經濟收入來源。