The collaboration project between Perkumpulan Tanah Air Udara (TAU) and The Pollination Project, Sacred Soil, has made yet another milestone since its initial implementation in Sekolah Al-Mansur elementary school in Bojonegoro, East Java, Indonesia, January this year. This April, through the on-going simple farming activities and eco-labs, the students from the school have not only begun growing plants to produce foods, but also growing their connection, sensitivity, and respect towards the soil they stand on.
Starting Off Strong, Calculated, and Well-prepared: A Look Back on Training of Trainers (ToT) to Accompany The Future Farmers’ Journey 👩🏫👩🌾📚
Last January, after discussing with Sekolah Al-Mansur and released our Sacred Soil Module, Perkumpulan TAU trained the teachers of the school to prepare them for accompanying the students on hands-on experience of growing micro-farms, learning cross-generational eco-culture, and journalling about their farming activities.
Perkumpulan TAU emphasized the need to rekindle the youth with their curiosity, sensitivity, and their spiritual connection back to the land they stand on—the soil that brought life, but often getting looked away by younger generations, and treated merely as a resource.
The Sacred Soil Module utilized in the training as a guidance to help children reconnect with the land and experience the joy of nurturing life from seed to harvest.
Little Farmers’ Hands-On Experience: Growing Foods and Connections to Our ‘Roots’! 🧑🌾🌱🌏
The students began their hands-on experience of becoming little farmers this April, started with identifying the origin of foods and the journey they took to arrive at our plates, the anatomy of plants, the ecosystems that support them, simple farming practices, up to the creative journaling activity as a space for them to keep record of not only their micro-farm observations, but also their emotions and unique experience throughout the Sacred Soil project.
The students showed great interest, reflected by their enthusiasm and perseverance on their daily micro-farm maintenance—making Sacred Soil activity the agenda they look up to everyday. This was a heartwarming progress considering that Bojonegoro itself, despite having most of their citizens working in agriculture, have faced a decrease in the number of agricultural workers. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) of Bojonegoro in 2025, 44,63% of their working citizens work in agriculture, showing 0,75% decrease compared to 2024 when 45,38% of their working citizens work in agriculture.
While we wait and watch the Sacred Soil project to continue unfolds, we should always remind our younger generations to treat our land as a living companion deserving of care, reciprocity, and respect—just like how our predecessors have always done to the soil that brought them life.
To see more of the snippets of the Sacred Soil activity in Sekolah Al-Mansur, Bojonegoro, you can watch them here or go to our YouTube channel:
Want to get involved in Sacred Soil project or Perkumpulan TAU in general? Contact us!
Mail: hello@tanahairudara.org
Instagram: @perkumpulan.tau
