When we look back at how Organic Matters Foundation Soil School began, there are a few organisations that come to mind in terms of their support. Those who welcomed us in and not only received our first series of Soil School training but in turn, provided us feedback and helped us to continually improve our program.
As we dive deeper into our stories, we’ll be featuring these organisations that have now outgrown even our wildest imagination!
If you’ve been a follower of Organic Matters Foundation for a while, you’ll know we began our Soil School training on Taveuni Island, Fiji. One of the places on Taveuni where we taught Soil School was Tutu Rural Training Village. Tutu (as it is affectionately known) has a vision “To be Mary, our Lady of Lura in using her soil to provide joy through the development and empowerment of people so that the door to a hopeful future is open to them”. Their mission is to empower their community. To transform lives. They certainly transformed ours.
How Tutu transformed Soil School
Tutu Rural Training Village changed how we taught Soil School. Our years spent within the village, then under the watchful eye of Father Mike McVerry (pictured), was so deeply valuable. We learnt so much about how our training could impact the lives of farmers in the simplest ways. It was here we shared the curriculum to become a part of the Training Village’s own syllabus as they taught farmers resilience and self-responsibility finding their own pathway to earn a regenerative living.
We’re really honoured to be a part of Tutu and feel its deep respect for nature is woven into every aspect of Organic Matters Foundation ethos.
Check out the Tutu Fiji website and enjoy some of the amazing projects this training centre has going on.
Thanks for having us Tutu Rural Training Village. You changed our lives.