Martin Lokwana is one of Kiunga’s key community health volunteers (CHVs), leading two support groups that meet in Epiding community.
When our project officer, Mbae Leon, first began speaking to Martin about starting a kitchen garden, he was reluctant. For one thing, there are negative cultural perceptions about agriculture. For another, the area has been experiencing an ongoing water shortage for several years, so it didn’t seem like a promising endeavor.
But Leon was persistent – and persuasive. He provided Martin with the resources needed to start a garden, including seeds and a grow kit referred to as a gunny bag. He also linked Martin to a service officer from the Ministry of Agriculture, who provided training on growing a successful garden.
Eventually Martin agreed, and pretty soon, he began to quite literally reap the benefits. He not only had a constant supply of fresh and healthy vegetables for his family, he even grew enough to be able to sell the surplus vegetables for extra income.
When his neighbors learned how well he was doing, they began to visit his garden so they, too, could learn how to grow vegetables. They were so encouraged to see a blooming garden in a dry place!
This success motivated Martin to greatly expand his garden to include crops like beans, ground nuts, potatoes and other indigenous vegetables.
Since water is a challenge in the community, Martin used his small monthly CHV stipend from Kiunga to purchase pipes and a generator to pump water from the river to the crops. He now runs a large-scale farming operation!
Notably, Martin donates vegetables to his neighbors who are living with HIV to boost their immunity.
His story is a testament to his own ingenuity and hard work. It also illustrates the incredible work Kiunga is doing. By encouraging Martin to grow a kitchen garden, providing him with the tools he needed to get started, and linking him to training and resources, he is now improving the lives of countless people in his community. From his own family, to his neighbors living with HIV who he supports with fresh vegetables, and community members who have greater access to healthy food in the market, the ripple effects of Martin’s garden are reaching his entire community.
If you are as inspired by Martin’s story as his neighbors and all of us at Kiunga are, we would love for you join us in making this work possible.
Would you consider making a gift so that we can continue linking people like Martin to the resources they need to make a difference in their communities?