Finding Water for the People of Africa
I’m Mary Nkondo and live in Munyinda
in the Western Province of Zambia, Central Africa...
You may like to see the benefits of our new well since Village Water were
here last year (2005)...
| Look at that lovely water and what we can do with it! We’ve become market gardeners - it’s always been my ambition to grow vegetables. Everyone knows that veggies are good for our families, particularly for the children to eat a good source of vitamins. They grow up healthier and better protected against the infections and diseases that are common in Africa. |
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He enjoys free schooling until 6th grade, 12 years of age – we are grateful to the government for that much. However, he wants to become a schoolteacher, so that means paying tuition fees for him to attend high school until he’s 18, then two years of teacher training fees. As a single mum, how can I possibly afford that?
The answer is that I can now grow two, sometimes three, crops of vegetables. First I buy and plant vegetable seeds – and we have a wonderful climate for growing things. Then I work hard to keep the weeds down. I grow one crop in the rainy season, but that’s only four months of the year December to March. After that I can get a second, sometimes a third crop during the dry season by irrigating the growing plants from the well and pump that Village Water provided from the donations you were good enough to make last year. Just Look at our cabbages! After feeding my family, I can sell the remainder
in the market for a good price. I believe my cabbages are the best in the
district. Certainly, judging by the income I’m able to generate, the buyers
seem to think so. |
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Everyone tries to be self-sufficient – and we are, but you know better than us, that we all need cash to buy certain essentials that only money can buy – such as my son’s education. So thank you for helping me and best wishes from,
Mary Nkondo