Food Security Congo, Democratic Republic of the Project #19123

Livestock for Orphaned Children in Congo

by American Foundation for Children with AIDS

Project Report | Aug 30, 2023
Grandfather Raising Six Orphans Becomes A Great Farmer

By Dougan | Beneficiary

This story is an interesting one from my family about the help I received from AFCA for the six orphans I am raising at home as their grandfather, since they lost both parents because of AIDS.

My name is Dougan and I live in a village called Bokuda which is five kilometers from the city of Gemena. I was selected for the project in April 2022, I was trained for two days on agriculture, where I was taught the agronomic techniques of planting things well. I did not know how to plant or cultivate things in line before and sometimes I did not have good results.

Through this training I was given tools such as: a machete, a spade, a hoe and a watering can as well as corn, soybean, peanut and cowpea seeds to allow me to have a good garden which will help feed the children well so they can be healthy and study well.

After planting seeds that AFCA gave me, it made the way my family was living better because before being selected in the project, I did not plant much even though I have a large piece of land. I did not have good quality seeds and also raising lots of orphans would not allow me to purchase good seeds because of the cost of raising the children. So after receiving seeds from AFCA, I had the chance to plant a large peanut and corn field. The results helped the children to study well. Maybe some children in my family could have become malnourished because feeding all of them was difficult for me but through the support of AFCA, no child was ever malnourished.

What is remarkable about the things I had received from AFCA was that I saved enough money so that I could buy 50 sheets of metal roofing for the house. At this moment, I have already harvested more than 15 big bags of peanuts for this season, and I will keep 4 bags which will allow me to plant for next the season of this year. I know they will help me and the family a lot to live well.

Thank you very much for what you have done for me and my family because the training has given me a lot of knowledge. Today I am among the best farmers in the area and my family is so happy. The photos you see are images of the sheets of metal and seeds which are the result of the field work. God bless you!

The team here at the American Foundation for Children with AIDS thanks you for supporting this project and the work we do for the children in Africa. As you make decisions regarding your giving for the rest of the year, please keep us in mind so we can continue our good work through 2023 and beyond. If you would like to learn even more about what we do or how you can meet some of the children you have helped, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@AFCAids.org.

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Apr 24, 2023
Caring for an Orphan and Her New Family

By Sam | Beneficiary

My name is Sam. I live in a village called Boyambi, which is very close to the city of Gemena in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am one of the beneficiaries of the AFCA project.

We thank the Almighty God for the grace He granted us to meet with the AFCA project as we are very grateful for this project. I had the chance to enter the project through orphan, Lisa, when her father died in June 2015 when she was 3 years old. Her parents both contracted AIDS in 2007, making them so weak that they could not even work. Lisa’s parents died, one after the other and I, as a youngest brother, took her to keep her at my house with my children. At that time my family and I were spending roughly $1 for food for the whole family per day and between that and the cost of schooling my children, we faced very intense difficulties. Sometimes the children did not study because of lack of means for fees and food. Thankfully, in 2019, we started the project where we were trained in agriculture, gardening and animal husbandry.

We had been fortunate to be provided by AFCA with working tools such as a hoe, spade, machete, watering can, and seeds (cowpea, peanut, and corn as well as vegetables for the garden).

As far as livestock is concerned, AFCA gave us 4 sheep, including 3 females and a male. From late 2019 to 2023, the animals have multiplied and right now, we have 10 healthy sheep. Regarding the reimbursement of the animals at AFCA - I have already reimbursed 2 females at AFCA and I know that next year I will do everything possible to reimburse the last female sheep to facilitate other families to become beneficiaries of AFCA because I want them to experience wealth, too.

Through the sale of extra vegetables and corn we grow, I built a sheet metal house with bricks, the children go to school and everyone is in good health because they are stronger. The little girl who came to us when she was 3 years old is now 12 years old. She is doing well and she is in 4th year of primary school. We have gone from spending $1 for food per day to $3, meaning we are all healthier and not hungry anymore. I can say this project to changed our way of life and we are very happy.

The team here at the American Foundation for Children with AIDS thanks you for supporting this project and the work we do for the children in Africa. As you start to make decisions regarding your giving this year, please keep us in mind so we can continue our good work through 2023 and beyond. If you would like to learn even more about what we do or how you can meet some of the children you have helped, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@AFCAids.org.

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Nov 29, 2022
Goats and Rabbits Change Nathan's Life

By Mandaba | Partner in Africa

This story is about a man named Nathan and his family, beneficiaries of AFCA’s Livelihoods Program in Gemena, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Nathan entered the project because of a child named Bennett whose father passed away due to complications of AIDS. Bennett was adopted by Nathan's family, joining a rather large family of 5 other children, some adopted and some biological.

According to Nathan, before being a beneficiary of this project, they had approximately 75 cents for food for the entire family per day. They obviously couldn’t eat well and the children were to weak to go to school. When he has been selected to be part of the project, he was trained in agriculture, in animal breeding and in financial management. AFCA gave him peanut, beans and corn seeds for a field, vegetable seeds for the house garden and three rabbits to breed in order to allow them to live well.

With the knowledge that he has acquired from AFCA, he has been able to change his way of feeding his family - his field productivity was good and helped him to well live.

After one year, he gave back three full grown rabbits to AFCA (for another family) and he traded a bunch of rabbits for two goats. Before long, he kept trading up and now has seven large, healthy goats. Some rabbits were sold for cash, allowing him to send his children to school. When somebody in his family is sick, he is able to bring him or her at the health clinic. This was all unheard of in the past and Nathan is so happy to know that his life is different now.

According to his calculations, from the 3 rabbits that AFCA originally gave him, he returned three to the program, he has sold approximately 180 other rabbits and the family has eaten many more. Now he is living well with his family because, while before they consumed 1300 FC per day but now they consume 6000 FC ($3) and all the children are doing well in school.

Nathan thanks AFCA’s project because it has changed his life and he asks for AFCA to continue with its good work to help those who are vulnerable in his community. “May Lord bless all the people who contributed to the evolution of my family.”

Everyone here at the American Foundation for Children with AIDS, and our partners in Africa, thank you for your continued support of this important project. If you would like to learn even more about this project and others, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@AFCAids.org.

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