Maasai Widows Farming God's Way Training

DAY 1

Clearing land for the plot without turning over the soil -
cutting the weeds in a way that takes less effort and is better
for their crops then using the cut weeds for God's Blanket,
which prevents soil erosion, rapid evaporation, and water runoff

Cutting foilage for God's Blanket to cover the field

Using the jembe hoe to cut the plants as well

Gathering manure from the corrals

Our manure-gathering crew

Our oldest widow is one of the fastest and hardest working in the bunch!

Learning that termites are a blessing from God, not a burden -
we can use termite mounds if there are no other means of fertilizer

Working together to transport the termite fertilizer

Building the rope so we can accurately measure 60cm between each hole for corn
(this was the first time for the women to use pliers - fingers got pinched only 2x)

Talking about what they learned at the end of the day

DAY 2

Our instructor, Joshua Moose, did a fantastic job of teaching the women the
Biblical, Technology, and Management aspects of Farming God's Way.
This meant lots of time in the classroom, but the women soaked in the knowledge!

The women were always worshipping and praying together - at every break,
instead of sitting around talking, these women were singing to the Lord
and praying powerfully for Him to break the yoke of poverty in this land
THEIR FAITH INSPIRES ME!

 DAY 3

Josh used awesome visuals to show the differences between ways of farming

This is the runoff from a field without God's blanket

Now the same amount of water rains on a field with God's Blanket

Now look at the difference in the amount of water and soil runoff

Neema chooses the FGW field that keeps the soil and moisture where it should be!

Now here he puts soil from a plowed field in the left water and we watched it disintegrate

This is soil in God's creation that has not been plowed - it held together and
had lots of bubbles showing great soil structure

Through these experiments, the women were so excited to see that FGW really works!

Ending the training on the third day, we gathered together to pray over the land,
each grabbing a handful of the soil, we prayed for His forgiveness and healing
on our plot of land, each woman's land, and the land of Tanzania

DAY 4

Last day of the training, we prepared our demo plot - 6 rows of corn 3 rows of beans
for a proper rotation - each woman had practice preparing the field to high standards

Row 1 is done!

Then we move the rope 75cm between each row

Hands working together!

The ground was hard - but taking turns and working together, we weren't discouraged

Everyone worked hard

And everyone worked together!

Our last row of corn!

Using the rope gives us straight rows and consistency
to plant in the same place every year so we don't waste
Precision Planting at its finest!

Maasai & FGW

Women dedicated to God and reaping all He has for them!

After all the holes are dug, we add 1TBS of woodash to help with acidity in the soil

Then we add the fertilizer (either livestock manure or termite mound soil)
1/2KG per corn hole or every 60cm for bean furrow - and we use what we have,
and every woman uses a cooking oil that comes in a 1/2KG container so we
used those to give them a proper visual - the only thing that the women
don't already have to do FGW is a rope and seed for the first year!

After the woodash and fertilizer are in the holes, we cover
with 5cm left for corn and 3cm left for beans...then we wait
for RAIN to plant the seeds!

We finish by putting God's blanket over every area
except over the holes until after we plant!

Our demo plot!

And our youngest attendee :)

February Widows & Orphans Day

Megan was great at helping the kids understand "smiling" for the camera!

The first weekend of the month, Megan and I went out to Mairowa for our February Widows & Orphans Day!  We had lots on the agenda for the day:

*Pictures & bios for 20 children so they can be available for sponsorship!

The first of 20 children to get their pictures taken!

This entailed lots of Megan being entirely goofy and trying to show the kids where to stand and how to stand and how to smile and how to keep smiling through lots and lots of pictures!

PLUS the people and/or animals in the background really didn't understand the concept of picture taking, so that made for some interesting scenery for the pictures!

Megan being goofy as ever!

And then we had the challenge that most of the kids spoke more Maa than Kiswahili SO Megan mainly resorted to funny faces or crazy dance moves behind me to make them laugh :)


Most people just thought she was crazy!

Some of the kiddos really caught on to the posing Megan was going for!

Overall we got a lot of pictures taken over the course of an hour and everyone did great!  During the time of snapping pictures, we had 4 pastors interviewing the children and filling out a questionnaire about their family, health, age, interests, etc.  We are well on our way to getting all the kids available for sponsorship!

 

 *Letters written for sponsors!

All of our sponsored children write letters to their sponsors at least 3 times a year!  We had a great time showing the kiddos how to trace their hands and use that as an object to color.  Only a few of the kids felt confident to write an update, so I wanted to start something new  -

 I started with the 15 kids I have gotten to know the best over the past 4 months and I drafted an update on the children for their sponsors, I hope they love hearing about their children as much as I enjoyed writing about them!


It is so neat to watch kids, who didn't even know what crayons were a few months ago, go to town coloring a picture for their sponsor!

They love this activity and I love catching the moment with some great photos!

Lomunyak receiving his soap and oil for the month

*Supplies handed out to our widows & orphans in the program!

Each month, the women and children in our program receive some essentials to help them through the month!

Elia smiling big to thank his sponsor for the gifts he received

*Pictures taken for children to thank their sponsors for sending their sponsor child a package!

These are the best pictures because the children are so happy to have correspondence from their sponsors - I don't even need Megan to act weird behind me, they smile all on their own :)

Congratulations to Sapunyu - he was newly sponsored this month!

*Announce recently sponsored children!

This month, we had one child who was recently sponsored!  We call their name and they walk forward to receive a cross necklace.  Sponsorship means and education for a child whose family cannot otherwise afford to send him or her to school.  Sponsorship is one step in the direction of a changed life and therefore a changed community.  This is always everyone's favorite part of the day because this community rejoices in one of their own being cared for in this way!

Though we had lots to do - it was a day FULL of smiles and excitement all around!