Tuesday, December 20, 2016

ZAMBIA CHRONICLES DAY 7 - The Community Farming Cooperative

The farming co-op has been the most comprehensive part of the MVEVI project. This required the most research, the most advanced planning, the most volunteers, and it provided the greatest challenge and opportunity as far as village dynamics is concerned. Having said all that, I couldn’t be more pleased with our results for the week. My faith was tested and strengthened as the Lord showed himself strong in EVERY detail. After my introductory meeting with the leadership committee on Monday afternoon, I went to bed that night with my head in the clouds because of the verbal commitment made by ALL of the committee members. Once the bore hole was installed we could set our sites on clearing a portion of land for our community garden. I proposed to our local board of directors that we begin the project with a smaller demonstration plot of land that would be 30 square meters. This size would be more than manageable for the 7 families involved in the co-op. Miraculously, God made available a large tract of land right in front of the bore hole. This particular tract was part of the 17 acres that had been donated by its owner, Blackwell Mwanza, 2 years ago when I had my initial meeting with Chief Mnukwa. Blackwell had been farming soybeans so the land was partially clear, with the exception of a few small shrubs and stumps. The bulk of the back breaking labor had already been done, and I just marveled at the Lord for going before us and moving in Blackwell’s heart to be so supportive of our efforts.
The distinguishing feature of this plot of land is a lone, random mango tree located in the southeast corner of the garden plot. I’m so glad we decided to leave the tree in place. It provides a lovely bit of shade and focal point of interest. Even though most of the farmers are men, I couldn’t resist the addition of something pretty and distinctly feminine in the garden. Doreen Zulu has pledged to design this small portion of the garden with lilies, ferns, decorative stones, and a sitting bench.
The bore hole was installed on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we cleared the land. I spent the bulk of Wednesday night laying out the seed plots, and dividing the garden into seven portions. I met with the farmers every morning at 8/8:30am. On Thursday morning I was almost in tears. The men has spent the early morning clearing a walking path from our school building down to the garden (remember the property is completely undeveloped). They also cut fence posts by hand to make a hedge row around the garden to keep the cattle and critters from trampling the crops. They even had all the post holes dug. These are some of the hardest working men with whom I’ve been pleased to work. Their days start at 6am and end when the sun goes down. Zulu Kennedy is a born leader, and all the members respect him as their group foreman. Their dynamic and camaraderie is a beautiful thing to behold.
The cement around the base of the bore hole wouldn’t be set until Friday, and the water wouldn’t be available until then. So, on Thursday, in between my sewing classes, the men and I divided the garden into 7 equal portions. Each person was responsible to maintain a 3 x 30 meter tract of the garden. That was my plan, but God showed up again, and had a better plan in the works. Somehow, despite my careful calculations, there was a ½ portion of land remaining. I decided it would be appropriate to give this portion to Pastor Jere and the people of Big Tree Baptist Church. They could sell the crops grown on this portion and bring some income into the church, or they could use the crops as benevolence for those in need. I discussed the details with Pastor Jere, and he was agreeable to this plan. God is so good.
The wind had been relentless all week. There was a consistent cloud of rust colored dust that kept blowing through the village. However, on Thursday evening the sky filled with ominous rain clouds, thunder clapped in the distance, and the temperature dropped. I convinced Pastor Jere to help me spread the fertilizer before the rains came. I experienced my first wet sprinkles and was running from row to row trying to get the fertilizer spread before the downpour. Guess what? The rain clouds faked me out. As soon as we finished spreading the fertilizer, the skies cleared. I could only laugh!
I didn’t have a sewing class on Friday morning, so the members and I got an early start with planting. We worked in the hot Zambian sun all day (my arms are about 3 shades darker than the rest of my body ). We are growing 12 varieties of vegetables in the garden from seeds that I shipped from the states. I hand counted every seed the night before and divided each quantity by 7. I gave everyone a little seed pouch to hold the seeds because some of them were so small and easily lost. We kept fighting the wind all day, and the planting was tedious. At one point in the early morning a “whirlwind” formed out of nowhere and blew through the garden. A whirlwind is a small tornado like phenomena that one can see form from the ground and watch it’s erratic path of movement. I’d never witnessed anything like it. A creepy feeling came over me, and I asked Pastor Jere to pray that the Lord would bless our efforts. By the late afternoon we were all exhausted, but we didn’t stop working until all the seeds were planted. While the men filled their watering cans at the bore hole and walked back and forth to water their portion of the garden, I sat under the mango tree and just praised God. The whole process felt surreal, and I couldn’t believe the Lord was allowing me to be part of this project. Five days earlier we were just making plans. By Friday, they had all been executed. God’s hand was all over every detail. I couldn’t praise him enough.


Me and Zulu Kennedy, the foreman of the co-op. I LOVE this bore hole. Thank you to each of you that gave of your treasure to make this a reality for these wonderful people.

My lovely, lone mango tree. There isn't another one anywhere near this one. I'm convinced the Lord set it here just for our refreshment.

Primitive tools, homemade garden spacers, and seeds. My little "girl" hammer was bought just a few days earlier.

Land tilled, rows set, garden markers in place, and we're ready to plant

Hand setting each seed. The garlic chive and tomato seeds were microscopic. The process was tedious, but I pray the harvest will be bountiful.

This is what you do when you've been working in the field for 8 hours and you're waiting your turn to fill your water can at the bore hole. We were so tired!

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