February Mitongwe Farm Fun
What does February mean to you? Valentines and the chance to celebrate the loves in our lives? Do you notice our days getting longer, do you have added energy and time outside with winter’s hold lessening? These are treats for us in North America.
At Mitongwe February means Rainy Season, high temperatures, and hard work in the fields preparing, planning and planting. But it also means contact, as Dan, Irene and a crew of volunteers travel to Mitongwe. This is a treat for the farm!
Community
Enjoy some pictures of our last "Days for Girls" event, which includes hygiene training and reusable menstrual products for teens in our community schools. Don't underestimate the importance of this! There are no products to buy and no money to do so even if there were. These girls now can continue their lives and activities with dignity and ease.
Faith
More evidence of the biweekly supply of over 200 Seniors in our communities with maize. The trust and accountability of this program have allowed these precious ones to relax with us and begin to accept our friendship as well as our help.
Farm
You just have to love this picture! These are Andrew and Isaiah, two of our amazing staff at Mitongwe. The large item is a Jackfruit, this one is well-travelled. Delivered to us on request by a taxi driver who was coming our way, and now will be harvested for its seeds that we will use in reproduction. We are going to grow Jackfruit!
Our Mitongwe Wormeries are all set to go! The bins have been assembled, the soil
installed, and thanks to the donation of lids, the rainy season "slop" has been remedied.
A big shout-out to our carpentry team for learning new skills and doing a fantastic job creating these lids.
The bins have been allowed to dry out, and now the fun begins! Each bin will receive one kilogram of worms, which will be fed a daily layer of moringa leaves. Three months later, we will have nutritious castings that make supernatural potting soil, all part of God's wonderful design. We'll use this soil, with the remainder bagged and sold. It's wiggly work, but we love it!
It's silage season! It's amazing how fast everything grows during the rainy season, giving us a tight window to harvest. We're cranking out 3 bags of silage a day, thanks to our hardworking team of 21 amazing people. Picture this: the grass-cutting crew in action, the transportation squad hustling, and the silage machine team feeding and bagging the final product. It's a well-coordinated effort that not only gives jobs to 21 people (helping them feed their families) but also keeps the cows happily munching during the dry season. So, here's to silage season—where growth, teamwork, and a lot of hard work come together to make a difference!
Here in Canada, even in the Vancouver area, we had snow. It is the perfect time to see some beautiful flora from Mitongwe. We will get spring soon, but until then, enjoy this.
