Sustainability

 

The Problems

 

The people of Lower Nuimi are farmers and with that come a number of problems:

 

• Poverty
• Insufficient food sometimes and often no surplus to sell
• They only have rainy season (Jun - Sep) to grow enough to sell and live on
• They have few skills and are unable to diversify

 

 

What we are doing

 

The first GLOVE Farm

This is an area of land fenced off with barbed wire with 2 wells and a gravity fed drip irrigation system fed by a 2000 litre water tank set a top of a 4 metre high metal Tower. Now the villagers have the means to grow food year round. The great thing about these irrigation systems is that they are expandable so as the villagers learn to manage them and as funds allow, each system can be expanded. The FARM has also been fenced with local wood and barbed wire and the villagers will start to use it during this rainy season.

Such farms are the key to the whole development of our village. They are the core to self sustainability and poverty reduction allowing the villagers to grow sufficient food to feed them selves year round. The surplus high value crops they grow such as corn and water melon, to sell when out of season. This extra income will enable the local people to buy medicines and education for themselves and their children.

 

The President's Tractor

Posted 22 February 2012

 

The President has donated a farm tractor to the village of Cheesay. This is a most welcome gift!

 

However, there are no ploughs or trailer with it. If it had these things then not only would it make a massive difference to the villagers themselves, it would also be a high income generation project in its own right.

 

Approx cost of ploughs - £1500

Approx cost of trailor- £2000

 

Income Generation
When we take visitors to the village we ensure we pay well for their traditional lunches, for the drumming and tribal dancers and have encouraged the woman to have their organic sun dried hot chili peppers, cashew nuts and peanuts for sale. This is done in rotation so each household benefits directly from those items sold. This has made a considerable difference to each and every family within the village.

Donkeys
We have had 4 Donkeys donated to the village and two carts. One of our Donkeys gave birth to a son, named by his sponsors “RAMBO”. We are hoping the other donkeys will also reproduce. Such animals are crucial farm traction as well as the only means of transportation to clinics and the weekly local market. A great way for the owners to earn a little money by transporting people and goods to and from the weekly market.

 

Posted 14 February 2012

There are now two baby donkeys which will be gifted to other families iwhtin the village.

 

Milling Machine
The purchase of this machine in November 2008 has been a huge blessing to the woman of Sam Mbollet as it has taken away many hours of drudgery of the woman pounding the millet by hand. With more time available to the women of the village they can take on other work such as soap making and tie dye.

A wonderful bonus is that this has become an important income generating project and in its first 9 months generated almost D20, 000 (approx £400), funds which will benefit the whole village.

 

Fertiliser
For 2 years, GLOVE’s founder, Jackie Church has given the villagers an interest free loan of some £1000 per year just before the farming season in order the farmers can purchase much needed fertiliser to improve their yields. This has made an incredible difference to every family within the village and has been a good start for them.

 

Tie Dye & Soap Making

Posted 14 February 2012

We have now trained and set up four woman in Cheesay to tie-dye and another four with soap making.

 

We now need funds to train another 4 woman then each 'compound' will have one woman with her own small business.

Approx cost - £300

 

Future Plans

 

We aim to:

 

• Help people grow enough food to feed their families with surplus to sell through establishing "Community Farms" with small scale gravity fed drip irrigation systems
• Assist with the implementation of small scale sustainable enterprises so rural communities can generate an income

 

For Cheesay

 

GLOVE Farm

A water tower, tank and irrigation system are needed in order to have the basic means to produce food stuffs year round. We also need constant supplies of fresh vegetable seeds from UK, something which visiting tourists can assist greatly with.
We hope by Dec 2010 this will be in place.

Approx Costs - £2500

 

Soap making

To train 4 woman in making soap as an income generating project to help their families towards self-sustainability.
We hope to achieve this by Dec 2010.
Approx Cost - £250

 

Milling machine

The  exhausting physical work the woman have to undertake to pound their millet is  terrible, many hours every single day they pound away by hand, there is no alternative for them.
GLOVE would like to be able to supply a Milling Machine which would not only reduce much of this awful drudgery also as an Income Generating Project in its own right. Also, with less hours taken up on this pounding, the woman will have more time to work on other projects such as the GLOVE Farm, Tie Dye and other such projects.
Approx Cost £2500 - £3000

 

Tapalapa Oven

Posted 14 February 2012

A tapalapa (local bread) oven is very hard to find within the villages in this area. If we could build a suitable oven and buy ingredients to start it off, this would be a good business for the village. They could take the bread to surrounding villages to sell it as well as to the local market in Fass.

Approx cost £550