American parents may bond with their children by taking them to farmers’ markets or showing them how to grow potted plants, but in other areas of the world, growing plants may literally help keep families together.
In Ecuador, for example, children were often left alone while their parents went into the city to work. Because children had to take care of the home while their parents were away, many stopped going to school. ChildFund International, an organization that focuses on working with children, as well as with families, local organizations and communities to create environments in which children can thrive, decided to take a unique, community-wide approach to solving this problem — by growing a garden.
