Overcoming generational struggles
In an effort to give her children a better and brighter future, Christine now harvests 70-80% more than ever before with Tearfund’s help!
From the dry, unforgiving soil of her farm in Kenya, Christine has cultivated not just crops, but a future of hope for her 6 children.
Growing up, Christine was unable to complete school and further her education. Her parents died at a young age, making life very difficult.
Eventually, she married a man named Anthony, and the two of them worked together to give their children a brighter future. It wasn’t always easy, and for years, the family lived in poverty. Christine tells us that they couldn’t even afford plastic chairs for people to sit on when guests came over. She pulls out a wooden stump used for pounding flour into dough and tells us that this is what someone would have to sit on!
Together, they worked to cultivate their land, and for the past 22 years, Christine has run a small produce shop. There, she sells many things including beans, maize, mangoes, and eggs. Some years were better than others, but even the good years were hard. She explains with traditional farming, “there’s a lot of soil deterioration. The nutrients are deficient because of overcropping.” As a result, the soil becomes tough, and roots cannot break through. Access to water is expensive. The way farming is currently done is not working.
Then, she learned of a new technique called Conservation Agriculture (CA) from Tearfund’s partners at her local church. After countless years of meagre harvest, this way of farming has improved her yields by 70-80%! She explains that “an increase in yields is an increase in income, and also there is restoration of soil fertility in conservation agriculture.” This change has brought in a far more steady income, allowing her to buy land for her shop.
Additionally, she is now part of a Village Savings and Loans (VSL) group that teaches people to save money, borrow loans, and build community. Any extra money she makes from her fruitful crops she invests into the VSL, and this has allowed her to send her children to school! Her eldest daughters are all thriving in college, for medicine, social development, and business. It is because of this group that Christine’s children are able to learn, grow, and gain valuable skills to sustain themselves. Their future is bright, and so is Christine’s with her independent shop and plentiful yields.
The name of her VSL group means “forever, no turning back.” For Christine, this is monumental in her life because she is now able to sustain and provide for her family to live, eat, and go to school. There is no turning back to the old ways of farming, and the future is bright!
Before we leave, Christine insists we see something. She drags out a stacks of bright, blue chairs! Thanks to donors like you, now everyone has a seat.
