Betty - a very welcoming individual with a gorgeous crop of potatoes started from our clean potato seed project. Showcasing two different plantings, these potatoes will provide both clean, high quality seed and ware potatoes for her hoursehold. Her hard work in the field following the training she received as part of our new potato plantlet program has really paid off! After unearthing some really nice potatoes in the field Betty took us on a tour of the rest of her farm. Proudly showing off her chicken coop and improved chickens; Betty reflected fondly on the chicken training she received from Victoria Bowes last year and spoke of how the chickens brought nutrition for her family and income with the sale of some eggs. She was proud to be a past participant of FHF dairy training, excited to hear of our new small ruminant work and was incredibly grateful for her water tank, the basis of her connection with FHF.
Stephen - the school gardener at King’O primary school. I was blown away by both the quality of the cabbage Stephen was growing and his nearly fluent English! We left Mwenda, our translator and longtime FHF horticulturalist behind to chat with the cookhouse staff, and we took a stroll through Stephen’s FHF sponsored screen house together. We discussed how farming is seemingly easy on paper but much less so in practice. Stephen spoke of Mwenda’s guidance and recommendations as the reason for his incredible garden’s success. Modest as he was, the proof of Stephen and Mwenda’s teamwork is certainly paying off, which I saw first hand amongst the children enjoying their super githeri for lunch - chock full of extra veggies!
Pasqualina - one of the cooks at Ruuju primary school wore her FHF hat and jacket with pride as she chopped cowpea leaves to add to the super githeri they were preparing for the students’ lunch. She told me how grateful she was of the knife she was given from nutritionist Colleen Walton on a prior visit from Canada, that it reduced her kitchen prep time. She was excited to hear that Colleen and more of the nutrition team would be returning again in May and was hopeful to be able to participate in more training for their FHF improved cookhouse.
Ester - a thoughtful farmer with a gorgeous bougandelia tree and blue shutters I recalled fondly from my last visit to Kenya. Ester is grateful to be an early adopter of the plantlet/rooted apical cuttings she received as part of our clean potato seed project. Despite battling cutworms in part of the field (a challenging pest and a learning opportunity for all of us), Ester was pleased to reveal well-sized, virus free seed potatoes to us. We will carry forward Ester’s learnings to our training sessions with hers and other women’s groups across Meru County in the next couple weeks.
These portraits just skim the surface of the smiling faces we encounter as we walk into shambas, school gardens and meet with women’s groups. Every one of them with a story to share of the impact FHF is having. To think, it’s only been one week here! As we gather around the dinner table each night I can’t help but think of all the other faces behind the stories I hear from the others around our dinner table. Then I extrapolate that to include the rest of the group staying elsewhere too, 19 of us total. I’m so grateful to be surrounded by such hardworking, passionate, dedicated people, Kenyan and Canadian alike!
Asante sana,
Kendra
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