Partnering for an abundant future
The young people at Kuda Vana learn early on principles of sustainable farming and healthy eating - a recipe for an abundant life!
Kuda Vana is intentional about entering into strategic partnership that benefit the children in our care, and in our community. One such partnership we are thankful to have is with Farm STEW, an organization that works to improve the health and well-being of poor families and vulnerable people by sharing the recipe of abundant life throughout the world .
Last month, a volunteer from Farm STEW visited the young people in Kuda Vana’s Youth Transition Program. Every 2.2 seconds an orphan in the world ages out of care at 18, and are legally required to leave the Children’s Homes they have grown up in. Of these, 40% become homeless, 70% commit a crime and 60% are forced into prostitution.
This is why Kuda Vana ‘s Youth Transition Program provides:
Temporary housing and adult oversight to young people 18 and up
Tuition for high school, trade school or college until completion or through the age of 22
Income-generating opportunities such as agriculture or livestock cultivation
Farm STEW’s volunteer focused on this third aspect of our programming: training in nutrition, farming and entrepreneurship over a three day course. Among other things, young people learned:
Young adults in Kuda Vana’s Youth Transition Program listen diligently to a Farm STEW volunteer as he teachers them important concepts on nutrition, farming and entrepreneurship.
The importance of a balanced diet, with lots of fruits and vegetables, and healthy lifestyle.
Various recipes for making healthy food, such as enriched porridge and soya milk - the boys especially liked this!
The importance of growing a variety of foods as a balanced diet starts from the field.
How to build soil structure as this not only helps to increase yield but the nutrients in the food we grow.
The importance of rotating the crops to improve the soil and fight pests.
Depending of the first farmer who is God.
“I never studied agriculture at school and I have never done it but now I feel like a farmer”
Kuda Vana is so thankful for the opportunity to come together with like-minded organizations. When we work together, we can do so much!
“I learned to eat food as medicine to avoid taking medicine as food”