By Warren Te Brugge | Founder and Chair
You've heard us talk about how important having access to good, nutritious food is, to breaking the cycle of poverty for many rural communities and communities in the developing world is before. We're taking the next steps in connecting the access to that food to the sustainability of the community itself, by creating economic activity around our vertical food gardens, named My World in a Garden.
It's a system
My World in a Garden is connected directly to the GirlStuff.Period project because the menstrual kits get girls back to school, and it’s the food from our gardens that keep girls in school after they return.
The connecting key to making these projects work, is water.
Without water, we can't grow the gardens and without water our girls can't wash their reusable, washable menstrual pads to help keep themselves healthy. So, as you can see, it's all connected. Each of the projects and initiatives we are running and supporting for the long term, give the women and children in the community a hand up and a way to earn money from what they are doing to help themselves, their families and their community ultimately grow and thrive.
It's a long road, and it's worth it
By connecting the gardens to the other activities in the community it reminds people of how important each aspect is. As Maria, one of ladies that works in GirlStuff.Period and also helped build the first vertical garden in Bergnek says, "I'm not just a worker or a gardener, I'm a nourisher, a care-giver, and I love all the children in my community because I was once them, and I didn't have someone to look after me."
If you look at the other causes in My Arms Wide Open you'll see how each contributes to this project, My World in a Garden - Sister Walls, and how we're listening to the community and addressing the needs they have prioritized. The latest projects here on GlobalGiving are 'Pads AGAINST Bullying' and ‘A health Clinic for 1,200 Women and Children’ and they each have an aspect that connects them back to the My World in a Garden – Sister Walls project such as in the case of the Bergnek Clinic, the water catchment system will support another Vertical Garden and the number of vertical gardens will thus grow again and feed more children.
We ask that you at least take a look our other projects and perhaps forward the projects to 2 friends or begin your own fundraising page for the cause here on GlobalGiving.
We are always grateful for you our supporters, and especially for those of you who give to the My World in a Garden - Sister Walls project every month. Thank you for your contributions, your messages and for sharing the work we do with the wonderful people of Bergnek. We appreciate you and the people of Bergnek most certainly do too.
We won’t give up, and we know that you won’t either!
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