Women's Community Gardens in Niger

     Women holding babies close to bosoms one handed, pouring water with the other. Giving life with both, seeds grow towards the sun, food for a plentiful year.  Communities come together like never before to preserve themselves in rows of dirt and soil. They toil in the hot sun, for a better life, crafting that dream with their own kin. Lessons taught, in a drying landscape. To survive is to learn and vise versa.  Hoes scraping cracked ground, creating divots and paths. Little rivers flow from lakes made from little drops. They irrigate for a sustainable future.  The pumpkin, onion, carrots and cucumber reach from the earth to be pulled free, so that hundreds more may gain sustenance.

     Colorful women garbed against the elements stand united. Together they pick and grow, reaping the rewards of days passed, when seedlings were young. Housework, children care, pounding grain, making reed mats a story heard too often.  It is a difficult life, but with the gardens they have hope. They gather and learn, repeating the cycle to reach change. It is not a Sisyphean task, but a fruitful venture.  With hard work and togetherness of community, prosperity is possible.

      “I joined the garden cooperative because we have seen RAIN’s work in the Mari Women’s Garden [3 miles from Tagantassou] and how much the women benefit from the garden. We hope that the garden will help us to work less on the tabarma mats. We want to have more vegetables for our families and to make some money. We want to change our market and have people coming to buy crops from us instead of going to the town.” -Hariatou

      Tangled roots and vines slither amongst the now quenched land. The secrets to a bountiful harvest is to know when to grow, when to yield, and when to not give in. The women have learned these lessons well and demonstrate determination in the garden. Other communities will join RAIN’s women’s gardens so that they also may be sustained. Self-sustaining gardens will create self-sustaining communities. With a strong will, dreams become reality in the garden.

 Donate today to help hundreds of women in several communities come together and feed their families. Women in local rural communities struggle daily trying to find food and income, together we can provide relief, opportunities, and a sustainable food source.