The Tongan SDA Garden City Fellowship congregation are right behind an initiative to create their own backyard vegetable gardens with the results set to benefit the entire community.

Members of the Tongan Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Garden City Fellowship have started their own backyard vegetable gardens to help their community learn about healthy food.

Pastor Siaosi Kei says the entire congregation is now growing their own fruit and vegetables after being encouraged by two of their young “health champions”, Ailine Kei and Teuila Saafi.

“This is a result of the work Healthy Families Christchurch is doing (with the Tutupu Project),” he said. “They have given our two young people the knowledge and information to come back and encourage us to start our vegetable gardens in our own backyards.”

A collaborative approach between Pegasus Health, Etu Pasifika, Community and Public Health, Rural Canterbury PHO and Healthy Families Christchurch, the Tutupu Project aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of Pasifika people through mentoring church champion groups.

While adults grow the bigger vegetables, children are getting involved in the project by growing their own strawberries.

The progress of each garden is checked during a weekly Sunday walk and photos are taken to chart the progress.

Pastor Siaosi says the aim is for church members to have a better understanding of what healthy food is and where it comes from, but it’s also an opportunity to give back to the community.

“When the food is ready we will also donate it to those who are struggling or the elderly.”

He says seeing two of his younger congregation members take a leadership role in the initiative had made him “very proud”.

“The younger generation need to feel like they can take the lead because they are our future and this is their church, their community.”