By Todd Hardesty | Executive Director
Reports coming from South Sudan bear the grim news of a hunger emergency. Millions of people facing catastrophic hunger and malnutrition. Amidst this tragedy, we have good news to share. This August we completed the latest seed distribution for people living in Fangak County, South Sudan.
Our approach to fighting hunger, has always been through helping people grow their own food. In our headquarters village of Paguir, we are the only organization which regularly distributes seeds, tools, and provides training for growing food.
Mid-August is the perfect time for the women and men to plant their gardens. It's still the rainy season so watering gardens isn't needed. The crops will come to maturity in two to three months. Onions, okra, eggplant, carrots, tomatoes, Sukuma and watermelon. When these are supplemented with homegrown rice, or grains provided by relief agencies, the severe hunger and malnutrition faced elsewhere in South Sudan is abated here. Our program works.
We have also begun work on a project which combines fighting food insecurity with providing clean drinking water. Four acres of land given to Alaska Health Project South Sudan for a community garden, will soon have a water tower and irrigation system. The footings for the tower are under construction. By the end of September, we hope to have the tower and related irrigation system completed.
Outside the garden will be water taps for the community to access clean drinking water. Inside the fenced garden will be an irrigation system so that during the dry season there will be water for the garden. This garden area will be primarily for refugees who have been driven from their homes by flooding or internal conflict. It will be a place to grow food to feed their families.
It is thanks to your gifts that this work is completed. We are providing nourishment for the body as well as for the soul. People tell us that our farming program gives them hope for a better future. Thanks for supporting this work in South Sudan.
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