On her journey through Uruguay in March 2024, Kolping Sister Sabine Brummel visited the Kolping Family Santa Clara in the small town of Tacuarembó and made a fascinating discovery:
“Behind the small church in the parish of Señora de Lourdes you will find a small paradise: A lush green organic garden was planted by the local Kolping Family a few years ago and has been lovingly tended ever since. Today, an incredible variety of fruit and vegetables grow there.
The small organic garden is maintained by the members of the Kolping Family of Santa Clara as a community project. Every centimetre of the approximately 100 square metre garden is used. The project also serves to impart knowledge about the cultivation of plants and the use of organic fertilisers and to implement this knowledge in the community garden, but also in domestic gardens.
Young plants are grown in a greenhouse, which are then later planted in the beds. In addition to beetroot, tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, spinach, pumpkins and peppers, there are also orange and olive trees and much more. Thanks to the applied compost, everything grows and thrives magnificently.
The garden and the Kolping House, including the kitchen and workshop, are provided by the parish of Father Juan Costa Rocha. The garden was originally created in 2017 according to a plan by horticulturist Gustavo Montemuro and with financial support from the Diocese of Passau https://www.kolping-dv-passau.de/, with which there is a close dialogue to this day.
The Kolping Family of Santa Clara only has just over 20 members, but it carries out a number of activities: In addition to the organic garden, it also offers an extensive training programme. The programme includes carpentry, blacksmithing and welding courses, cooking and baking courses as well as weaving and sewing.
The motto ‘Together we are Kolping’ is actively practised in Tacuarembó. The garden is a very nice project to foster the community within the Kolping Family. The members meet up for work assignments and of course also harvest together.
Tacuarembó is a remarkable example of how even a small Kolping Family can achieve great things. The courses offered by the Kolping School are so successful that other cities are now also considering adopting the training concept.”
The Kolping National Association Uruguay was founded in 1989 and now has more than 1,000 members organised in 25 Kolping Families.
