Morning Day 7
~ by Sally Stuart ~
From the very beginning agriculture has been an important component of Shalom’s plan to bring healing and wholeness to the Rubavu community.
One of the first steps was encouraging women to build small kitchen gardens to grow fresh vegetables. A young woman named Clementine took charge of that program and was so proud that her salary allowed her to purchase health insurance for herself and her children for the first time. That was 9 years ago. Six years ago, the St. James VBS kids raised funds to buy tires for many women to be trained in building gardens using old tires, stacked and filled with soil. We see these now at almost every home we visit, and they are also showing up at schools to provide vegetables for the school lunch porridge.
Today Clementine manages a large demonstration garden showing all people in the community how to grow vegetables, fruit trees and two plants introduced by our previous mission teams. Chaya is a perennial shrub that produces leaves year-round that can be cooked and added to porridge and soups, providing a huge boost in nutrition. Propagated by cuttings, we now see Chaya growing all over Rubavu and also at LWA. Vitamins growing at your doorstep. The second plant is the Moringa tree. The leaves of this tree are even more densely packed with amino acids, vitamins and minerals. At Shalom the leaves are harvested, dried and ground into a powder that families can use to add to any food they are preparing. It has incredible benefits, especially for young children and pregnant or nursing moms. They are now propagating Moringa trees to give out to families.
The second part of the agriculture program focuses on raising animals. Shalom raises rabbits, chickens, pigs and cows. Piglets are regularly given away to women to be raised at home. The women who have received pigs have formed a support group to keep them encouraged and help them address problems as they arise. Local pigs produce 3-5 piglets per little but the breeds Shalom has introduced produce 10 or more. A single 2 month old piglet can be sold for $45, so they are a good income generating project. The women also give away one piglet per litter to another family in need.
Agriculture is one way Shalom is helping everyone in the community gain knowledge and confidence so that they can provide for their own families in a sustainable way, creating Shalom!
6 responses to “Shalom Agriculture”
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for day but teach that man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”; so glad to see the agriculture piece and the sharing with other families.
The plants look so healthy! What a giant step for this community! The pictures always speak a thousand words. Thank you.
What a wonderful program teaching the community how to grow their own nutritious food. Clementine has embraced her job well… and teaching others to do the same has to be so gratifying! The garden looks very healthy. Love the tire planters!
I say a praye for you people and I hope at hope you
It is so wonderful to see how the gardening has “grown” and bringing about self sufficiency.
Sally, what amazing fruit you have produced through God’s will for you. You have introduced agricultural solutions for Rwandan families for years now and look where it has taken them!!!! May God continue to bless your work and the people of Rwanda. I have a very special place for them in my heart. Maybe someday I will go back to Rwanda on another one of your trips!🙏 Be safe and rest well.
Love Bonnie