Fredrick Sindayigaya worked alongside other African refugees in the Congo, growing potatoes, beans and corn to make sure that everyone had enough to eat.

This week, he is planting seeds in Holladay with three other families from his native Burundi so that they can put healthful vegetables on the table -- and on sale at a farmers market.

Sindayigaya is part of a community-gardening pilot program, launched by Salt Lake County and other refugee service providers, that aims to give dozens of refugees from Africa and Asia an opportunity for self-reliance and entrepreneurship.

"This might be something they can do to supplement their income or grow large enough to generate a full-time business," said Ze Min Xiao, Salt Lake County's refugee services liaison. Many refugees were farmers in their home countries, Xiao noted, but find few job prospects when they come to Utah.

One refugee from Bhutan plans to use the Holladay community garden to feed his family this summer while he looks for a job, Xiao said.

"They want to be able to work hard and provide food for their families," she said.

Holladay's garden is on Murray-Holladay Road at about 2200 East. The city, which owns the property, plans to place a fire station at the site in the next few years, which will shrink the community garden.

Refugees also plan to cultivate veggies at Wasatch Community Gardens in Salt Lake City and in South Salt Lake at South Parc Townhomes, the apartment complex where 7-year-old Burmese refugee Hser Ner Moo was killed last year.

Sindayigaya came to Salt Lake City from Rwanda -- he has been displaced from Burundi since 1979 -- in 2002 with his wife and three children. He worked in housekeeping at the downtown Salt Lake City Hilton hotel for several years, learning English and eventually becoming a supervisor. Today, he has a job as an interpreter for the state's Refugee Services Office, and he's studying to become a case worker.

Sindayigaya, a one-time school teacher in Rwanda, encouraged his fellow Burundi refugees to sign up for community gardening.

"We are taught to grow our own food. It is a part of our daily life [in Burundi]," Sindayigaya said. "We missed it."

He sees gardening as a healthy activity for refugees' bodies and minds. It's a way, he said, for the newcomers, including those without jobs, to find meaningful work.

"When you see the product from your hands, from your labor it is going to bring joy, happiness," he said.

Doug Stark, co-founder of the Holladay Community Garden, said he's excited to work with the refugees. The gardening program also will help meet another goal of refugee resettlement: integration with the broader community.

"That's one of the advantages of community gardening -- it brings a wide diversity of people together," Stark said, noting nearby neighbors and a troop of Boy Scouts also have plots at the Holladay garden. "It helps build community to get to know people that you wouldn't normally run into."

rwinters@sltrib.com