Programs and Events
Press Release -- U.S. Consulate Honors Memory of Terrorist Victims Through Service
September 11, 2009
Mumbai - In honor of the 9/11 Day of Remembrance and Service, members of the U.S. Consulate will work with girls at WeCan (Women's Empowerment Center and Network), a girl's orphanage in Mahim, to help plant a garden. Indian and American staff of the Consulate worked with the girls last week to clear four small plots of land. On September 12, they will plant the vegetables and fruits-watermelon, ladyfingers, tomatoes, and cucumbers-that the girls themselves chose.
Congress approved a law in April 2009 that requested the observance of September 11 as an annually recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance. In a September 10, 2009 proclamation, President Obama said: "I call upon all Americans to join in service and honor the lives we lost, the heroes who responded in our hour of need, and the brave men and women in uniform who continue to protect our country at home and abroad."
"The garden offers a chance to teach urban youth about caring for the land and nature, as well as an opportunity for our staff to serve the community in which we live," Consul General Paul Folmsbee said.
Both the girls and orphanage staff are excited by the prospect of a vegetable garden. "I've always wanted a garden for our girls and they are so happy learn to grow their own vegetables and flowers. It is great that the Consulate's program teaches them not only how to prepare the land and plant the seeds, but also how to take care of them as they grow. It has become a lesson in botany and environmental protection as well as a practical lesson in growing food," Miriam Batliwala, one of the trustees of WeCan, said
WeCan will be joining the White House in having its own vegetable garden. First Lady Michelle Obama planted a garden at the White House earlier this year to help teach America of the value of home-grown foods which are both nutritious and produce less air pollution than vegetables that are trucked to market.