Serenje 2013 Update

The project is in its fifth and final year and has empowered 1700 households in food security, 550 households with livestock and the total number of orphans and vulnerable children supported is now 3214.

Unfortunately, the 2012-13 farming season suffered from poor rainfall which affected beans, sweet potatoes and groundnuts. I have attached a photo below of a volunteer inspecting the sweet potato field affected by drought. Despite the poor harvest, 73% of families who received beans were able to obtain enough seed to plant for the coming season starting in November 2013 which is really exciting! Please pray for a fruitful season this year. 

Community volunteers are doing an excellent job in ensuring that livestock is monitored frequently and giving correct advice to farmers. Many farmers are now able to vaccinate their own goats which is very useful. There is a photo below of a boy taking a goat out for feeding. Out of 757 goats received across 4 communities, 403 kids have been born and 342 of those kids have been passed on to other families. That means that 85% of the kids have been passed on and a significant number more are due to be passed on making the scheme really sustainable.

We are also supporting 789 orphans and vulnerable children in secondary school with a contribution to their school fees and 2211 in primary school with five books each and a pen. In addition to this, the project is supporting 6 orphans and vulnerable children with special needs by sending them to a special boarding school in Kasama. Please be praying for these children, that they would enjoy school and have opportunities to come to know God in a deeper way. There is a photo opposite of school children with their books from the project.

Please pray for the amazing group of volunteers shown in the photo who give up their time to support families in the project who are affected by HIV/Aids. Finally, please pray for Leah and the rest of the team at EFZ. She is shown in the picture below encouraging a young girl just returning to school after giving birth to work hard.

Here is an insightful video from Leah and others in Serenje offering their reflections from the five year project.   http://vimeo.com/70788381

Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for a number of blogs with encouraging stories of lives transformed by the project!