The Karabeleko estate is located in Hernani (Gipuzkoa). Agifes (Association of Family and People with Mental Illness in Gipuzkoa), the Blasenea Ecological Seminar and the gardening and landscaping company Kimu Bat joined in 2014 to launch a non-profit project.

They research horticulture and socialize the philosophy of agroecology. In addition, Karabeleko is a psychosocial rehabilitation center for people with mental illness and other groups at risk of exclusion.

Social skills and self-esteem

Agifes is responsible for the rehabilitation area of the Ekonekazaritza estate. One of the programs preferred by the users of the Association is that of Karabel, and only the one who wants to cultivate their lands. As Oier Iurramendi, a member of Karabeleko, told us, over the week some 40 people of the association pass through the house, but every day those who work are about 18-20: “Agifes has its own psychologists and monitors to work on the therapeutic aspect. At Karabeleko we teach them how to dynamize the activities and to work the garden.” Working as a team in the garden, social skills and self-esteem work. Autonomy and personal development are the basis for promoting rehabilitation and improving quality of life.

According to the capacities of each

The members of Agifes who approach Karabeleko are mainly dedicated to the vegetable garden: planting, harvesting vegetables, arranging the harvested... They also prepare the baskets of the Karabeleko consumption group or collaborate with the Ekodenda of the farm. “In the group there are very different people by age, by curiosity, by capacity. Each one is offered different works,” explains Iurramendi. He sees every day the benefit that the garden brings to Agifes users: “After seeing the lettuce planted and irrigated by them grow, it is picked up, prepared and taken to a house to be eaten there. They see that their work has a positive effect, that they are offering something to society, to other people.” A vignette signed by Stani said: “An hour of the orchard equals a hundred hours of psychoanalysis.” You can't deny that the orchard can be a good therapy for anyone...