Train streetconnected youth in organic agriculture

On 24^th March, 2022, 3 World of Work (WOW) programme beneficiaries had the privilege to be enrolled at Organic for Orphans annual Community YWAM (Youth With A Mission) 4 weeks Wellness Seminar in conjunction with Thrive For Good Institute, whose main agenda has been to equip people facing extreme poverty and the surrounding community with the right Agricultural knowledge, to use readily available plants/herbs to achieve 100% organic health through Life Gardens that nourish both soil and people.

Through the 4 weeks, our team consisting of John, Edgar and Dennis went through 4 main courses which are Organic Gardening, Nutrition Course, Natural Medicine and Income Generation respectively. They were able to perform well in both theory and practical and Graduated alongside other participants.

The trio was able to start various projects on our program compound whereby a lot of highly nutritious crops such as capsicum, carrots, kales, spring onions and chilly were among the crops that did well with the double-digging method that keeps the weeds at bay. The Artemisia plant (Mug Worts) also became famous amongst the rest of the WOW members for its medicinal properties especially in our tropical location with frequent cases of Malaria.

We, as a program, are still consuming produce from the garden beds with additions like cherry tomatoes, cabbage, chick peas and pumpkin leaves. This has been made possible through helping the soil rest and rejuvenate by using sheep manure and kitchen waste compost manure as fertilizer which is organic, sustainable and environmentally friendly. They also plan to do crop rotation in order to balance soil nutrients and the crops will keep doing better with every rotation.

So far, more and more WOW members have shown interest in Agriculture after the trio shared what they had learned. This comes as an advantage as the Western side of Kenya is well known for its wide variety of Agricultural practices. This in turn gives them a chance to have a shot at changing their lives through selling organic produce or offering basic nutrition advice like deworming using papaya leaves, long term food preservation for leafy plants such as kales using the sun drying method, prescribing Tuscan kales for people with stomach ulcers etc.

In conclusion, some boys and girls that are currently with the program are looking forward to when the next seminar will be held so that they can also get a chance to participate and learn. They are very thankful and show great potential as some of them have already made clients with vegetable vendors and small hotels where they supply their produces in small amount depending on season.