Sanctuary Inside The New Greenland Farm

to three months to accrue.

According to Miles Lilio, director and chairperson of the Savings Committee, cooperatives received 2% of profit sharing, 30% of the money earned goes to the owner of the rights, while 70% went to the work of the farmers.

They handed forms for students to fill up with their personal information and then they waited in line until their turn. The ophthalmologist who consulted the students’ eyes used a tonometer and phoropter for their eye check up. They also had a chance to choose the frame they liked. And lastly, they’ll list their names. However, they did not get their glasses on the same day.

“I think the main purpose of the event is to give students with poor eyesight the opportunity to have free glasses to make it easier for them to study properly," Majella Solpico, a student from 10-Benevolence said in an interview.

According to Nyah Infante, another student from 10-Benevolence that she was happy and aware the purpose of the event was to help the students with poor eyesight or blurry vision eye glasses for them to have a good and clear eyesight.

Most people think of a farm as a plot of land where crops are grown or animals are kept. However, it serves as a home for farmers. The new Greenland Farm in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City, is the first agricultural cooperative farm established in the city for the purpose of giving an alternate source of income to the selected residents.

The farm was built through the initiative of the Local Government Unit (LGU) led by Mayor Joy Belmonte when she discovered the land after typhoon Ulysses. With the assistance of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the barangay officials, the cooperative aims to teach the residents about the importance of farming. To help with their start-up, the residents receive free instruction in farming and vegetable harvesting.

The city established nutritious foodproducing urban garden distributions as a response to the lockdown’s negative effects on supply networks. As a result of insufficient food supply from other neighboring cities, urban farms help to address the dilemma of food scarcity. Most of the farm’s leafy vegetables that are harvested within a month are typically available for purchase. Fruity vegetables’ profits, on the other hand, take about two

One of the farmers at the new Greenland Farm, Ferlita Daelto, said that one of the challenges she encountered was the lack of machinery that helped farmers to grow more crops in less time and with greater efficiency. She also admits having issues with water flowing from the well. Despite difficulties, she was able to resolve the issue through communication and cooperation among the farmers.

The new Greenland Farm also benefits as a tourism destination and holds immense potential to being a community model. Visitors from various countries make their way to the farm, which serves as a marketing platform for nearby small farmers and results in enhanced revenue.

Considering how well the farm is in terms of income and market, many people have expressed interest in turning their lands into urban farms. The relationship with the stakeholders has continued at New Greenland, serving as a model for possible future urban farms.

However, not all of the students were satisfied with the free eyeglasses because of the lenses that don't suit some students’ eyesight.

Meanwhile, majority of the students are hoping that they could be the next recipient of the free eyeglasses adding that hopefully in their time they will be receiving eyeglasses with correct eye grade.