As briefly mentioned in my
previous blog every Wednesday there is a qualified trainer from Lilongwe coming
to teach people in my program about farming God’s way.
When I admit a new child or
family in my program I often supply them for a long period of time with food
because they have nothing to eat. As it is not possible and also not my goal to
just feed them I’m very happy with this opportunity.
Most Malawian families grow
maize, soya, beans and groundnuts. How much of each they grow is mostly
depending of the amount of land available. As most people have a very small
piece of land most families only plant maize and a small amount of soya. Most
Malawians drop out of school at a very young age and therefore farming is not
learnt at school but at home. You copy the farming techniques from your parents
and grandparents. However the farming techniques they are using are very poor.
There is only one raining season per year and families are completely dependent
of their harvest therefore changing these farming techniques is a very
difficult task. Most families harvest nothing or very little food because they
cannot afford the fertilizer. With the current way of farming fertilizer is
needed as the ground is exhausted.
A while ago Daniel started
teaching around 30 people at my house. They had to arrange their own transport
to my house and back home, which means for some people several hours of walking
to join the training. There are no allowances involved. In the beginning people
were not very enthusiastic but because they trust me they decided to join and
listen. One week they would come, the other week they stayed at home. I kept
encouraging them and they decided to join more frequently.
Last week I went together
with the trainer Daniel for a field visit to see if they were practicing at
home what they were learning at the training. I was a bit scared to go because
I thought they would never change their farming techniques so easily. Many
organizations tried to teach the people how to farm different however they
always fall back into their own way of farming.
Last Friday my hart was
filled with joy! Every person we visited did what we asked him/her to do. They
all told me we trust you, without your help we would not have anything
therefore we are not scared to change. We know you love us and you are sent by
God to help us. I’m so proud at all of them! I thanked Jesus so many times this
day because all of this is only possible because of Him. I feel so blessed He
is giving me the opportunity to improve so many different lives. I forever
thank Stand as one ministry from Canada for providing a teacher. He is a very
patient and qualified trainer with a great passion for Christ and teaching.
We asked all people to make
their own compost. They could choose to make a compost pile or compost pit. How
to make the compost they learned at the lessons in the previous months. They
had to collect all materials themselves; grass, leaves, branches of trees,
maize stocks, animal droppings etc. Also we asked them to cover their fields so
the sun is not going to burn on the sand for several months.
Attached some
pictures of the field trip.
Love,
Nicole
