Once again we come to you with stories of exciting victories and breakthroughs in the community of Gihanga. We’ve waited and prayed for so long, and now we’re finally seeing some beautiful and life-changing results! The work is far from over, but we must celebrate these successes as they come!
Buckle up while we break it all down for you below ⬇️
Harvest time!
Harvest season in Gihanga is what dreams are made of! What an incredible joy it is to watch the maize go from little seeds in the ground to tall, strong, and beautiful corn stocks!
When we first gave each farmer their 1 kilo bag of maize seeds, it was a challenge and act of trust to not eat the seeds. Hunger today can make tomorrow’s needs far less urgent. Yet, the farmers of Gihanga trusted us and our team and planted their seeds, and their take-home was as promised!
Another act of trust was their willingness to cultivate the land with a different strategy than they are accustomed to, led by our partner Foundations for Farming. This farming technique was difficult for Gihanga to accept because it is not what they are used to doing. After a trip to a nearby community who were a season ahead of them in planting using this system, they were convinced to try it themselves. Indeed, it paid off, and now they are another beautiful testimony of the work of FFF!
This is such a massive step towards sustainability for Gihanga! The 3 hectares of land belonging to Yada, when farmed using FFF methods, should feed all the families year round!
Let the water flow!
In other exciting news…after a year of waiting, we are so excited to finally announce that the well is up and running! As of early August, Gihanga (as well as 22,000 other people in the surrounding area) now have access to beautiful, clean water! Thanks to pooling our resources with our partner, Amazi Water, the impact of the well has gone much further than we initially had hoped, resulting in 9 taps for the whole area, 3 of which are in the Gihanga community specifically!
We’re already seeing tremendous and far-reaching effects of having clean water so close by! Obviously clean drinking water means hydration, cleanliness, less illness, and fresh smelling clothing, but we’ve heard some amazing stories so far of even further impact:
- A 50 year old woman named Irinata told us how they used to wake up very early before the sunrise and walk to the fields to cultivate and arrive back at the village in the evening. Once home, they found their water receptacles empty, so they had to turn around after a long hot day working the fields and walk up to 90 minutes to go find water (dirty, brown river water), in order to cook their food. This meant going to bed very late. She was excited that now she can come home from work, cook their food, and everyone can get a good night’s rest before heading out to the fields early the next morning!
- Belize, a high school student, told us how she was struggling to continue in school because she kept arriving late to her classes due to her long walk for water in the morning before class. Now she can show up on time and not fall behind in her studies!
- Multiple families have told us that they now feel they can go to church where before they struggled to go because others would shame them or call them names because they were dirty, their clothes were not clean, and they smelled. They are all very excited to be able to go back to church and feel accepted in the church community!
- The community includes multiple tribes of people, who have typically kept a distance and struggled to trust one another. Because of the strategic placement of the taps, each tribe has had to come together around the well – bringing peace amongst previous rivalries.
We’re so excited to see how the blessing of water continues to break this community out of cycles of poverty. Water is life – and everyone is so incredibly thankful and happy to finally have access to this life-saving resource!
Six houses completed!
We’re currently focused on the ongoing task of rebuilding homes for the community’s most vulnerable people. So far, six families have new homes and will no longer be sleeping in the cold and rain, with the potential of their mud huts falling on their families in the night! We discussed the first home, and the details of how we’re building the houses, in a previous blog.
Just to show you the dramatic life change of those receiving houses, here is a before and after shot of one of the widow’s homes:
Here is a shot of 5 of our 6 finished homes:
There are still many families in need of homes. If you or your family want to invest in sponsoring a home, please reach out and let us know.
Here are a few of the homes we’re hoping to tackle in the next couple of months:
We’ve also started to focus even more on the spiritual and relational health of Gihanga. While this has always been an area of intention for us, we’ve realized an even greater need for transformation not just in the practical sense, but in the spiritual atmosphere of the village. Please be praying for us as we navigate challenging conversations between individuals and families.
Thank you so much for your ongoing partnership and support! We’re so excited to see this kind of transformation in Gihanga and the surrounding communities!