A bountiful garden
When Janefeki Hlaping returned to his village in Lesotho with a degree in Industrial Engineering from South Africa, there was no work and his people were starving. “I had to start something,” he recalls. The project he started with a few friends committed to helping mitigate the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS on his community has grown into a thriving fruit tree nursery and vegetable farm. In addition to providing food for orphans and people living with HIV and AIDS in the area, the vegetable gardens are a source of employment and training.
The Peka Development Group grows cabbages, tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes – such a variety of good things that there are around five harvests a year. The Global Fund financed the irrigation system that makes it possible to grow such an array of fresh vegetables and continues to provide support to the farm. Patients from the local HIV/AIDS clinic are given the opportunity to earn a monthly wage from working in the fields growing the cash crops – some of which are sold to keep the project sustainable. More than 320 temporary jobs have been created since Peka was established in 2003. With Global Fund money pouring in since 2005, the gardens have grown and the project is leasing more land from the local government to keep up with demand.
Most of the harvest is given to poor orphans. Children can be fussy about eating their greens, but nearly 3,000 lucky kids who have received fresh vegetables from the project can’t get enough of the butternut squash and other goodies that Peka grows for them. Janefeki visits schools, orphanages and the poorest houses in surrounding villages to deliver goods to those who need them most.
Peka’s peach trees produce luscious peaches from October through June and the project’s peach tree nursery provides saplings for schools and poor families to enjoy year after year. More than 1,760 people have been trained by Peka on how to tend plants and harvest crops, and have been given seeds and small trees to start a vegetable garden of their own. “Whatever we’ve got we give,” says Janefeki. “People have seen that this thing is working. Even orphans and vulnerable children in the village, we give them seeds, they plant them and they are selling the vegetables, so it is accelerating their income and it is good to supplement their food.”
Man repairing a roof for the Peka Development Group.
Orphans’ homes can easily fall into disrepair – with only the mother or elderly relatives to take care of heavy chores and no money for maintenance, poor houses can disintegrate to the point of being uninhabitable. The Peka Development Group fixes up orphans’ houses – and if they’re beyond mending, they build new ones.
Typical repairs include broken windows, doors that won’t close properly against the winter chill that can be bitingly cold in mountainous Lesotho – and leaky roofs. Peka concentrates on orphans and once a vulnerable child’s house has been identified, a craftsman from the same village is dispatched to do the work – plus he gets paid for it thanks to Global Fund financing. In turn, he may employ a few helpers. That way, not only the children, but also the local people benefit. In total, with Global Fund support, Peka has fixed up more than 220 houses and built 40 new two-room homes.
Once the windows and doors are repaired, children who may have had to move away to stay with relatives are able to sleep in their own home, they’re more comfortable and sleep properly so they do better in school as a result. “It’s good for them to have something new,” agrees Janefeki. Besides, it’s easier to keep clean when living in a house in good working order. The handymen’s work helps to restore the orphans’ self esteem, by making home improvements so they stay in a place they are proud to call home. |
