Big Harvest From a Small Ditch
Photo by Peter Kaizer/CRS
NTCHEU, Malawi — As Shedrick walks visitors up the narrow path from this village, through maize fields withered for want of rain, his stoic expression gradually turns to quiet pride. And just around the next bend in the path, the reason is apparent, planted in perfect green rows. Potatoes.
This potato crop is special because it's a second planting in a country where subsistence farmers usually resign themselves to just one planting. It's also special because Shedrick is an orphan and the head of his household.
Since he lost both parents to the AIDS pandemic several years ago, Shedrick's two brothers have depended on him for their care and support. They are not alone. AIDS is having a devastating effect in Malawi, where one out of every three children under age 15 is an orphan.
Shedrick is one of hundreds of orphans in the Dedza Diocese taking part in a project supported by Catholic Relief Services. An agricultural advisor showed Shedrick and other villagers how to dig an irrigation ditch from a nearby stream to their fields. Now the advisor comes to the village once a week to teach them farming practices that will boost crop yield and help them feed their families.
"Farming is all I know," Shedrick says. "Now it is possible for me to earn living money from farming. If it wasn't for this potato crop, I don't know what I would do for food and money at this time."
A Comprehensive Approach to the Challenges of AIDS
Catholic Relief Services takes a comprehensive approach to helping people cope with the challenges of AIDS in Malawi. Through local partners, CRS is providing home-based care to patients while assisting affected families to reduce their own vulnerability. The program helps with the distribution of food and seeds, orphan care, and productive initiatives such as vocational training.
The Dedza Diocese Integrated AIDS and Food Security project provides support and training for home-based care volunteers, who reach out to the chronically ill in their communities with basic medications, counseling and support.
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