Seeds for Life in Zambia

Not a drop of rain has fallen on the parched Zambian terrain since April. Streams are dry, rivers are low and shallow wells are empty.October is the time to start thinking about planting before the onset of the rainy season in November.

Food is in short supply, the stored maize is rapidly dimishing and children are hungry. Many children have to walk ten miles a day to get to school, leaving home at 4am to arrive for lessons at 7am, often on an empty stomach. The World Food Program is supposed to supply morning porridge for evey school, but this is intermittent and often a whole term is missed out.

Providing seeds for school and rural communities is a way in which groups and individuals can have their own garden to grow food and become sustainable. Donations from the Seeds for Life project have enabled this to happen in remote areas of Zambia. The Butterfly Tree has helped twelve schools,  but many more need you support.

If a school has a maize field and a vegetable garden, and the yield is good, not only is there is sufficient food for the children to have a daily meal, anything surplus to their requirements can be sold to the community. The extra money is used to buy additional supplies and help with the running costs of the school. Some schools with the profits they made this year were able to hire transport so that the pupils could participate in the District's Sports Competition.

The poverty levels in these remote village communities are very high, there is a great deal of unemployment and a number of households are headed by women.

Please help us to provide further support to these vulnerable children, many of them orphaned due to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. A small donation could buy a packet of seeds or a bag of fertilizer and help to alleviate hunger. 

Links:

• Seeds for Schools