Many children in RAIN’s partner communities are semi-nomadic, and will likely grow up to become farmers like their parents. As in all partner communities, the school garden in Lemdou of the Tillaberi region of Niger acts as a living classroom where children, teachers and parents come together for training in sustainable, organic farming techniques.
Children and adults alike learn by practicing these methods, including drip irrigation, in order to better prepare them as stewards of development in their community. RAIN gardens provide nutritious food for students, help to keep the school in operation, and are a direct initiative to building a better future with and for the children through access to education, both inside and outside the classroom. Starting in 2012, RAIN will establish an experimental program in certain communities to instruct children, with a special focus on young girls, the principles of sustainable farming. In West Africa, it is the women who are often the primary planters and caretakers of crops. With this new educational program, RAIN hopes to effect measurable increase in food production within this generation. Your donation is not only increasing food security for schoolchildren and their families, but supporting a new generation of women who will teach the next techniques that will enhance the lives of all members of the community.
Our staff in Niger are just now concluding their most recent tournee (field research) to identify new garden sites in the coming year. Soon, those gardens will begin growing, transforming the surrounding community with the tools for a more food secure future. Happy New Year to all of you, from all of your nomadic friends!
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