Nafisa Tabassum wraps up her time with Onondaga Earth Corps.

I was very conflicted to end my time at Onondaga Earth Corps (OEC), but moving forward was the right decision for me. My last working for OEC … sometimes when it is a last week of a job or an experience, it can go by in the blink an eye and leave you breathless wondering, where did the time go? Or, it can go on forever, dragging day by day through each of the motions until finally it’s over.

This week was not like either of those instances. It was not too fast or too slow; everything happened in its own time and pace. I spent the majority of the week pruning trees and getting caught in multiple much-needed scattered thunderstorms.

My last day had to have been the most bittersweet. OEC Founder Eli MacDonald made the most beautiful and delicious cheesecake–it was an honor to get to try this specialty of his! I spent half the day at the Rahma Edible Forest Snack Garden, which is part of the Rahma Health Clinic in Syracuase. This clinic provides free healthcare services offered by doctors who volunteer, often on weekends.

Peaches! At the Rahma Edible Forest Snack Garden in Syracuse, a project of the Rahma Clinic, which provides free healthcare to the community.

The Rahma Edible Forest Snack Garden is filled with various fruiting trees and shrubs: plums, peaches, paw paws, black raspberry, pears, and more. We pruned back many fruit trees from the walking path and ate a few semi-ripe peaches and delicious plums. This garden is very special to me because I used to volunteer there as an undergrad, weeding and collecting litter that accumulated over time. I also used the Rahma Clinic from time to time, as my access to adequate healthcare was limited.

The rest of the day was spent at the Brady Farm, part of the Brady Faith Center. This urban farm is 5 acres of awesome. They offer a CSA and are present at the Regional Market and other small markets around Syracuse. A true gem. I attended a short seminar on proper nutrition presented by a woman from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP); it was informative and at the end, we had the chance to make a nutritious snack with some fresh fruit from the farm. Long story short, I had my fill of peaches that day!

It was the perfect day, 85 F and breezy, with fluffy cumulus clouds floating past the hills towards the city skyline. A wonderful way to begin the next chapter of my journey.