Caring for the environment in which we live is also taking care of our health. In the Municipal Hospital Ronaldo Gazolla collaborators and locals joined the Volunteers of Viva Rio to create a community vegetable garden, free of chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals. A task-force was formed to plant fruit trees, herbs and vegetables on a previously abandoned ground in the backyard of the hospital.
Retiree Alonso Cosme, 60, participated in planting the garden and today helps to maintain the space. “I have always liked taking care of nature but since I started gardening here at the hospital I realized that I have even improved my diet”, he says.
The community garden at Acari Hospital was one of the first ideas that came up in the weekly meetings between managers, professionals, users of the health network and community leaders. The gatherings are meant to connect each health unit with the population in the surroundings to discuss together solutions and exchange experiences.
The meetings at Acari also originated a commission that seeks to promote an expanded environmental education, where the population is motivated to take care of the seedlings planted and accompany them until they are appropriate for consumption.