WORKSHOP - MÔ QUI POUSSE
Mo Ki Pousse was born from a “simple invitation to lend a hand” for the creation of the urban vegetable gardens in Franchise Park under the direction of the Community Action Unit in 2016. It was a great experience where people who are usually excluded were able to demonstrate their skills, willingness to work and desire to be part of society in a participatory way. They impressed the social actors with their work strength, humor and know-how.
1. PRESENTATION
Mô Ki Pousse is a vegetable garden for social inclusion created by the Pastorale des Milieux ouverts (PMo). It is now spread over three areas (Montbrillant, Servette and Sainte Jeanne de Chantal parishes).
The gardeners, people who have been damaged by life and affected by exclusion, work together with neighbors, members of the Ecumenical Community of Disabled People and young students. It is also a space to talk. Together they decide on the work, the rhythm, the size and the plants to cultivate. The meetings around festive meals are essential dates for Mô Ki Pousse.
The particularity of this garden is that the gardeners are compensated, this money allows them to earn a small nest egg with dignity and to get out of a system of assistance.
2. OBJECTIVES
- To relearn how to cultivate, make and invent with the means at hand.
- To associate the different skills of all the actors.
- To create a link between parishioners from different backgrounds, neighbors, people in situations of exclusion, neighborhood associations and professional gardeners.
- Empowerment and inclusion of people in precarious and excluded situations.
- Invite all the actors to live a creative process.
3. OPERATION
The Mo Ki Pousse team consists of 15 gardeners and meets regularly at the three different sites. Each meeting begins with a conversation circle over coffee. Everyone can express how they feel and what they want to do. This is followed by a time of work: building wooden feeders and boxes, creating seedlings, pruning, picking fruit… The meetings end with a time of evaluation and planning.
One or two people are responsible for watering during the warm season on a daily basis and for cleaning and repairing damage on an almost weekly basis. These responsibilities are freely assigned, no one has a permanent task. The commitments are personal and free.
At least twice a year, a festive meal is organized around the garden to widen the invitation to all people who would like to.
