Don't Just Give Them Food-Teach Them How to Get It

Buying farmland - what a dream that is... It has been our dream for quite a few years now. The idea of not having to pay rent for the small plot of land that we have been renting to be able to grow at least a small part of the crops that we need to feed the children at the Live and Learn in Kenya Education Center. For €5000 (about $5600) we could buy a nice-sized plot of land and be more self-sufficient. We have the many helping hands of the project children's parents who are so happy to be able to "give back" by working the land. But of course, we also have the older children who come to the Education Center on Saturdays and during school breaks for meals and sports, activities and tutoring. They are also more than happy to be a helping part of the Live and Learn in Kenya community. Giving back is an important aspect - one that should be taken very seriously. It gives the children and their parents the self-confidence of knowing that they are not "just being helped" - but are being given a helping hand to learn to help themselves! A small school garden for the younger children to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, berries, and herbs would be a wonderful and fun way for them to learn how to help themselves at a young age - and how things grow at all.

So, our goal is to raise the funds to buy a neighboring plot of land - or at least a plot of land close by -  and for the seeds and fertilizer - and for a water tank so that the land can be watered.

This is how a dream turns into a goal - and a goal turns into reality!

Asante sana - thank you so much for caring.

Links:

• The Live and Learn in Kenya Education Center

Clearing a field, preparing the land, planting the seeds, weeding - and then harvesting your own food - that's what it's all about. The future is in your own hands when you know how to grow your own food. This is such an important aspect of survival - know how to put food on your own table!

Not all of the children on the Live and Learn in Kenya International project will grow up to be doctors, lawyers, teachers or well-paid workers. Many of them will use the gift of education to be all that they can be and many will not be highly-paid workers and may need to grow their own food in order to feed their future families. Besides it being a huge advantage to the project not to have to buy all of the food necessary to feed the children, it is also a learning experience for all of the children to help with the farm work at some point.

Because it is important to include parents in our Live and Learn in Kenya International community work, it is their task to do the farming on the neighboring plot of land that we have rented. The children watch on as their parents work - and on weekends the older children come and help with the weeding. This is so important on many levels - but especially for the children to see and know that their parents are taking part in the responsibility of feeding and educating their children along side the Live and Learn in Kenya staff.

Besides the rented field - we also have milking cows that were so generously donated through very kind funding so that our children enjoy milk at least 4 times a week.

It would be a blessing to be able to buy the field one day so that we needn't pay rent - and maybe then be able to raise chickens for eggs and meat.

The children have a lot to be thankful for - and so do we. 

Asante sana - thank you from Live and Learn in Kenya Int'l - and of course from the children!