Open Garden Thanks!
Harvest Appeal Walk
A Huge Thank you
We want to say a huge "Thank you" to all of you who were involved in raising funds for our Lent Project especially Chalke Valley Churches, Stonehenge Deanery and our many individual donors. You have enabled us to provide 360 refugees from 12 groups with skills and equipment that will mean they can eat more healthily, begin to make money from their agriculture work and so pay important bills like medical and school fees.
The Chalke Valley Lent project this year was for the CRESS Agriculture program, and raised a large amount of much needed funds for this. We targeted the money received on training 10 new savings groups in sustainable organic vegetable production and the tools, equipment and materials needed to start their group and individual gardens.
We are proud to announce that 12 groups have been recently trained, increasing our target of 10. This has been successfully done just prior to the second rainy season so it is very exciting. Each group consists of 30 members with an average family size of 8, so this means that almost 3000 refugees have been helped and aided into better nutrition, a source of income and increased food security.
All the items needed for their gardens you can see in the photo of the lorry load. These consist of what we call a 'Starter Pack' consisting of essential tools such as hoes, equipment such as water barrels and watering cans, and materials such as a mixed variety of vegetable seeds. This is a once off donation to help start up their gardens. The sustainability comes from the cohesion of the savings group and the ability to work together to gain funds for replacement items.
The lorry looks full, but the items are for 12 groups. However, some items such as hoes and pangas, each group member gets their own. This helps in individual gardens and fields, thus ensuring the increased food security at the family level. These items are difficult to source and transport to where the refugees stay. This is why we help them with our 'Starter Pack' after their training; this brings joy and relief to vulnerable refugees.
