My World in a Garden - Sister Walls

Meeting needs

As we enter winter and complete this growing season fro now, Franz who heads up the My World In a Garden, Bergnek operation is looking to increase engagement in the community as well as production. He's doing that with a very limited budget and so diversifying the methods used to grow food have been playing a big part in his strategy.

Open beds

This year he tried some open beds to take advantage of the land available while being extremely conscious of the very low water supply.

"Although our success with our wall has been good, I decided to try some open bed plots this year, while we still have some rainfall, to increase our production without putting any additional strain on our very limited water supply", says Franz. "The good news is we are able to do a small plot and attract more people in the village to get involved", adds Franz.

Strategy for the Spring and rainy season in October

Franz has been thinking about how to increase production enough to create a surplus over the needs of the community, so that he can turn the My World In a Garden undertaking into a viable business. This is important if he is to turn the project into a sustainable business and not just keep it as a ‘garden pantry’ for the community.

We are impressed at how well Franz designs his strategy and how conscious he is of not just get output but creating the outputs originally designed into the program. The outcomes included a sustainable business and employment for 3-7 full time people. Franz is well on his way.

How about making a new donation today? Making a donation of $25 right now, will help children and families in need, in the Bergnek Community. Making it a recurring donation will feed the children of Bergnek all year long.

This coming year we are determined to build three more walls in Bergnek at strategic locations in the community that enable the elderly community members to tend the walls and get their vegetables without too far of a walk.

Each wall costs around $3,500 to build, in rural South Africa. We really need your support!

Let’s keep Franz growing in 2016 by DONATING NOW!                  

The Bergnek community needs us to get this project done. We need a total of $5,000 to get the full funding released for the project.

GRATITUDE

Whatever you decide, please do it today! The girls, women, men and children we serve extend a warm smile and heartfelt ‘thank you’ for your support. We are all grateful for your support.

With our deepest Gratitude,

The My Arms Wide Open Family of Communities

Healthy Food = Healthy Brain = More Opportunities

The next step in the My Arms Wide Open’s My World My Garden cause and program aims to make more food available to more children and the seniors within the Bergnek Community, My World in a Garden, vertical gardens. 

Seniors?

Yes, we specifically called out Seniors in the Bergnek Community. Why? Well, it is more often than the Grandparents who are looking after and raising the children on a day to day basis. The GoGo’s (As Granma’s are affectionately known) really do keep the community alive and running. They look after all children, not just their own relatives and it is critical that they have healthy nutrition to be able to meet the challenge. It is also crucial for children to maintain the bond between the aged and youth, helping children to ground themselves and know that they are taken care of by their GoGo’s.

No small task 

At this time of the year, it is peak summer in Bergnek and with the lack of water the community is struggling to keep the gardens going. South Africa in general is experiencing a major draught across the country to the point that even Johannesburg metro had to go with out water for a few days last month. We are asking you to support our 'One Brick at at Time' and the My World in a Garden projects as we need the water project to be completed so that we can help the community feed more of the children and families in the community.

With that being said we need additional vertical gardens in Bergnek so that we can ultimately turn the gardens into a full time entrepreneurial opportunity for members of the community, as well. It is by no means a small feat to build and sustain these gardens systems that until now are supported and maintained so willingly members of the community who give their time and scarce financial resources to support and sustain the My World in a Garden vertical gardens.

How about making a new donation today? Making a donation of $25 right now, will help children and families in need, in the Bergnek Community. Making it a recurring donation will feed the children of Bergnek all year long.

This coming year we are determined to build three more walls in Bergnek at strategic locations in the community that enable the elderly community members to tend the walls and get their vegetables without too far of a walk.

Each wall costs around $3,500 to build, in rural South Africa. We really need your support!

Let’s start 2016 with a huge effort and DONATE NOW! 

GRATITUDE

Whatever you decide, please do it today! The girls, women and children we serve extend a warm smile and heartfelt ‘thank you’ for your support. We are all grateful for your support.

With our deepest Gratitude,

The My Arms Wide Open Family of Communities