Africa Scout Day 2011: Fund the Fence

On the 13th March 2011 was the First Africa Scout Day that Scout African Scout participated in and Gauteng scouts focussed on the environment. It was held at Delta Park Camp Ground and there were three projects run in the day. There was a weed project where invasive verbena was removed, feathering of exotic trees and Fund the Fence.

Fund the Fence was an initiative started by Adiero to plant a hedge along the back of Delta Park Camp Ground to increase security. We asked that people donate R25 for a meter of hedge so that we could plant Carrissa macrocarpa which is an indigenous plant that produces an edible fruit and has thorns for security.

This project was a great success and we managed to raise R6700 of the R7800 needed (Delta committee covered the rest) and so the planting went ahead.

A hundred scouts got together for Africa Scout Day and of that about 80 participated in the Fund the Fence project. The troops that attended and helped were: Adiero, White Horse, Rivertrail, 1st Discovery, Florida Sea Scouts, Jan Smuts, 1st Edenvale (girls and boys), 1st Randburg, Fairlands, 1st Halfway House, 37th Springvale, 1st Craighall, 1st Rosebank and North West District Rovers.

We started by digging a trench so that we could loosen the hard soil for the plants to establish themselves quicker. This took a long time as we had to dig 250m. Thankfully one of the parents had a hole diggers and so he managed to make about a third of the required holes.
The planting then began, 250 plants spread over 270 meters, giving each plant compost and fertilizer to help them grow.

Then came the watering and this also took a large amount of time as 270m requires a large amount of water. Watering was done by hose pipe and by a relay system with scouts carrying water bottles to plants further away.

Finally the job was done and it looks that a great hedge will soon develop to provide security for Delta camp Ground especially after the great rain we had for two days after the event.

Thanks to everyone who helped out for making this day a success and getting together just to have fun.


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