{"id":3243,"date":"2015-11-08T11:11:30","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T16:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/?p=3243"},"modified":"2015-11-08T11:11:30","modified_gmt":"2015-11-08T16:11:30","slug":"ckc-encouraging-food-security-in-gemena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2015\/11\/ckc-encouraging-food-security-in-gemena\/","title":{"rendered":"CKC encouraging food security in Gemena"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am very happy for what I learned as a part of this [gardening] group.\u00a0 Now I am able to give my kids some food in the morning before they go to school.\u00a0 They also have some food to sell to help pay their school fees.\u00a0 It used to take us 10 days to process our manioc and now we\u2019ve learned how to process it in only 3 days.\u00a0 The way we process manioc now also makes it much more appetizing for my children.\u00a0 They like it, eat well and go to sleep with full stomachs.\u00a0 I am very grateful for World Vision.\u00a0 I used to live in darkness and now I live in the light.\u201d\u00a0 Mama Marie<\/p>\n

\"Marie<\/a>

Marie explaining what she has learned<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cI have four sponsored children.\u00a0 [Before the child sponsorship with World Vision] I lost 2 children to malnutrition.\u00a0 Now my kids are healthy and can complete the school year because they have money to pay their school fees.\u201d\u00a0 Mama Ambana<\/p>\n

\"Ambana<\/a><\/p>\n

Ambana sharing<\/p>\n

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\"Ambana<\/a>

Ambana with part of her vegetable garden<\/p><\/div>\n

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The CKC (Covenant Kids Congo) team visited the group of women\u2019s gardening associations that are working to combat malnutrition and poverty.\u00a0 They call themselves: MAEPASA or les Mamas des Enfants Parraine dans le Security Alimentaire (the mothers of sponsored children working for food security).\u00a0 Over 60 women were there to welcome us and tell their story.\u00a0 The women came from 10 farming associations throughout the city of Gemena.<\/p>\n

\"women<\/a>

women leaders<\/p><\/div>\n

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The initiative started when the development NGO \u201cLa Foi\u201d or Faith was asked by WV to teach mothers of malnourished kids.\u00a0 They started in the Saza neighborhood.\u00a0 First they taught mothers about cooking and then about nutrition for infants and very young children.\u00a0 When these mothers saw their need they got the initiative to do small gardens.\u00a0 WV and La Foi helped they learn about raising the best vegetables to feed their families.\u00a0 As they implemented what they learned they found that their kids were healthier and they had money for medical care and school fees.\u00a0 WV helped the group in the Saza neighborhood with hoes, seed and watering cans for a larger garden.\u00a0 They are growing manioc, corn, rice and vegetables in their gardens.\u00a0 Other women saw what was taking place and decided to do the same on their own.\u00a0 And they did.\u00a0 There are now women\u2019s groups in 10 Gemena neighborhoods including 350 heads of households.\u00a0 They are producing crops and vegetables on 17.5 acres spread across 16 different sites.\u00a0 WV\u2019s role has been to teach and encourage and help with a few tools from time to time.\u00a0 All of the women are making a profit from the sale of their produce.<\/p>\n

We visited the Mombonga group of MAEPASA which includes 28 heads of households.\u00a0 These women told us:<\/p>\n