Long-Term Food Security for 4000 Samburus in Kenya

In this project update, we’d like to share with you Naisherua’s story. Naisherua is a local resident of Samburu County, a tree recipient of Sadhana Forest Kenya (SFK) and an invaluable addition to our team!

Naisherua lives near SFK in a village called Lkisheki. She lives with her father, step-mother, and younger half-siblings. She is a mother of two; her daughter is 3 years old and lives with her, while her son is 6 and lives far away with his grandmother.

When Naisherua was 15 years old, her mother passed away. Her father was often away for work, and his new girlfriend began to mistreat her. Naisherua was neglected at home, only receiving food at school. Any money she earned from odd jobs was taken by her father’s girlfriend. By the time she reached high school, Naisherua was often sick and eventually had to withdraw from her studies. After her father remarried someone else, Naisherua helped care for her new siblings and soon got married herself. Over the following few years she had continuous struggles. Her husband was rarely employed and drank too much alcohol, so she became the sole provider for her own growing family. She worked for others until she started her own small business, but her husband then demanded they move to another town, to live there with his mother. By the time Naisherua had her second child, she was out of work, unable to afford food or her son’s school fees, and her new baby was sick. She had enough. She ran away with her baby and was welcomed back into her father’s home.

Naisherua recently started helping out at SFK. She says she has learned so much and that she has proven she can do anything men can do. She’s learned to use power tools and is involved in all kinds of projects in which she had no previous experience. She loves that SFK never limits her because she is a woman. She is treated as an equal and all the men see her as a strong person. This has made her feel truly empowered for the first time in her life. She has taken what she has learned at SFK and implemented it in her father’s home. She no longer has to buy many vegetables because she can now harvest them from the small food-forest that she herself created. She is fully providing for herself, helping to support her younger siblings, and able to send her children to school, which is very important for her.

Naisherua’s dream is to one day have her very own home and to be able to bring her son to live with her. SFK made her feel, for the first time, that her dream is possible. She says her goal is to be “free” and that Sadhana Forest Kenya brings freedom to women and families.

Thank you for supporting Sadhana Forest Kenya! If you are interested in providing us feedback concerning our project, finding out more about our activities or areas of operation, or would like to volunteer with us, please email us at kenya@sadhanaforest.org. We also strongly encourage you to provide feedback at the end of this report.

Ashe Oleng! (“Thank you very much!” in Kisamburu)

During the last few months we were able to implement several new kitchen gardens at several homes. Prior to SFK coming, all had set aside reasonable sized fenced areas so that the trees would be well protected from animals. As the weather turns drier and all the grass is consumed, both domestic and wild animals become a huge threat to trees and food crops. Without strong and effective protection, everything is easily consumed. This year, the zebras have been quite destructive and goats are particularly adept at getting to anything green!

As families face the threat of COVID as well as other diseases that sweep through the communities, we have heard constant reports that leaves of Moringa trees planted by us are being used in order to boost nutrition and overall health. Since leaves can be harvested soon after planting, most of the Moringa trees we have planted in the community are already being used and benefitting people by improving nutrition. As mature trees are producing seeds at the moment, a few of our staff members have traveled to areas of Samburu County that have incredibly large, productive trees to collect seeds. In the coming weeks, these seeds will be planted in our nurseries so that we will have plenty of Moringa seedlings to plant out later in the year. The Moringa continues to be one of the most in-demand and useful species that we plant and provide to the Samburu community.

We are so grateful to everyone who supports the work of Sadhana Forest Kenya, such as donors, volunteers, and the people at GlobalGiving.  If you are interested in providing us feedback concerning our project, finding out more about our activities or areas of operation, or would like to volunteer with us, please email us at kenya@sadhanaforest.org.  We also strongly encourage you to provide feedback at the end of this report.

Ashe Oleng! (“Thank you very much!” in Kisamburu)