They walk so far, and work so hard to gain a handful of coins and tummies full of nutritious food! And now this!
My long time Fulani friend, A, along with the members of her ag co-op, have learned that growing veggies is a good thing. Growing up in Fulani culture, all she knew was cattle herding, not farming. Her family and clan were wealthy with cattle, and any food they needed beyond the meat, milk, yogurt, and butter their livestock provided, they could buy from local farmers, ie non-Fulani. Now that she is living as a refugee, across the border from her home of more than 50 years, abandoned by her husband, losing her eyesight, plagued by a seemingly incurable wretched skin disease, no longer a cattle owner, she realizes the need for subsistence farming. She and her co-op had been growing all sorts of veggies and greens, peanuts and corn, on a small parcel of land they were renting. They had been able not only to feed their families from their harvest, they were able to sell some produce in the local market. Then came the attack. One day recently, as A was working in the garden, she got a call from her daughter who lives just up the road. She was told that there was a group of people heading for her plot of land. She and her helpers grabbed their machetes and ran, leaving their watering cans, hoes, rakes, and shovels behind. We are not clear on the why or who, but the short story is that the co-op lost everything. The garden was ransacked, the tools were stolen, and they now are afraid to go back and start up again. The sad news is that this may have been a non-Fulani vs. Fulani attack, or it might just have been that the locals, probably the landlord of the field, saw how successful A’s co-op was and they just decided to take it back. Please pray for peace and understanding between peoples, please pray specifically for A, for healing and comfort.
