Applause for David Paul Alicha
Feb 26, 2010
I received mail from David Paul Alicha, who studied at the most prestigious Royal Botanic Kew gardens.
I received mail from David Paul Alicha, who studied at the most prestigious Royal Botanic Kew gardens.
How so envious I am! I wish to share with you what he wrote.
“A visit to the UK stirred my passion as I looked at extremely beautiful landscapes.
I went on to study a specialist BTEC National Diploma in landscape design and horticulture, with qualifications in garden design, contracts management, computer aided designing for garden designers, plant identification, garden history of the Mediterranean, European, Islamic, Japanese and Chinese regions.
I visited the UK landscapes like the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, Eden Project, Gertrude Jerkylls drought Tolerant garden, Chiswick Park and others.
Kew Gardens was home to King George VIII and is about 300 acres.
The Kew Diploma is a passport to horticulture for anyone who wants to be a leader in this field.
This three-year paid qualification is the best in the world and offers hands-on experience in managing public landscapes and gardens.
Students are expected to learn how the Royal Botanic Gardens work and then share Kew’s work wherever they go. It is very competitive to get on to, but worth it, as all sorts of people come in whether PHD holders or lawyers.
Each year, about 400 applicants try to get in, but only about 30 are selected for an interview.
Of the 30 only 14 are taken on at Kew and the BBC usually comes around to film the interviews.
I was the only African in my three years.
The Kew Diploma coursework experience involves trips to study Mediterranean flora, two weeks visit to Germany for Botanic Gardens management.
Various fields of practical study included Amenity horticulture, turf culture (sports pitches artificial and natural), intensive plant identification for plants from all over the world.
Machinery such as tractors, cylinder mowers, scarifies and trimmers.
Horticultural management, pests and diseases in horticulture and climate control systems in horticulture. I had a three-week travel scholarship funded by the Royal Horticultural Society UK to Cameroon’s Limbe Botanic Garden.
My desire is to come and help to transform Uganda back to the Pearl of Africa status with Kampala as the greenest city in Africa.
We need strong policies to protect heritage like what is seen in the UK. With good climate, we have what it takes to get this work going, but an appreciation of such initiatives will require training people.
Horticulture needs to be seen as a way forward if Kampala and other cities are to be tranformed.
Yours Sincerely,
David Alicha,
RHS Certificate, NC/ND Horticulture Garden design, Dip. Kew, Bsc. Forestryâ€
This surely calls for applause. Congratulations Alicha, I pray you come back soon to help transform Kampala.
winnieruk@hotmail.com
How so envious I am! I wish to share with you what he wrote.
“A visit to the UK stirred my passion as I looked at extremely beautiful landscapes.
I went on to study a specialist BTEC National Diploma in landscape design and horticulture, with qualifications in garden design, contracts management, computer aided designing for garden designers, plant identification, garden history of the Mediterranean, European, Islamic, Japanese and Chinese regions.
I visited the UK landscapes like the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, Eden Project, Gertrude Jerkylls drought Tolerant garden, Chiswick Park and others.
Kew Gardens was home to King George VIII and is about 300 acres.
The Kew Diploma is a passport to horticulture for anyone who wants to be a leader in this field.
This three-year paid qualification is the best in the world and offers hands-on experience in managing public landscapes and gardens.
Students are expected to learn how the Royal Botanic Gardens work and then share Kew’s work wherever they go. It is very competitive to get on to, but worth it, as all sorts of people come in whether PHD holders or lawyers.
Each year, about 400 applicants try to get in, but only about 30 are selected for an interview.
Of the 30 only 14 are taken on at Kew and the BBC usually comes around to film the interviews.
I was the only African in my three years.
The Kew Diploma coursework experience involves trips to study Mediterranean flora, two weeks visit to Germany for Botanic Gardens management.
Various fields of practical study included Amenity horticulture, turf culture (sports pitches artificial and natural), intensive plant identification for plants from all over the world.
Machinery such as tractors, cylinder mowers, scarifies and trimmers.
Horticultural management, pests and diseases in horticulture and climate control systems in horticulture. I had a three-week travel scholarship funded by the Royal Horticultural Society UK to Cameroon’s Limbe Botanic Garden.
My desire is to come and help to transform Uganda back to the Pearl of Africa status with Kampala as the greenest city in Africa.
We need strong policies to protect heritage like what is seen in the UK. With good climate, we have what it takes to get this work going, but an appreciation of such initiatives will require training people.
Horticulture needs to be seen as a way forward if Kampala and other cities are to be tranformed.
Yours Sincerely,
David Alicha,
RHS Certificate, NC/ND Horticulture Garden design, Dip. Kew, Bsc. Forestryâ€
This surely calls for applause. Congratulations Alicha, I pray you come back soon to help transform Kampala.
winnieruk@hotmail.com