Rafera and his wife, Bekelech, are typical of many of the families that Send a Cow works with in Ethiopia.  They live with their grandchildren in a remote rural area of Ethiopia to the north-west of Addis Ababa.  Like so many people across Africa, they struggle to make their land produce enough food to feed and support themselves.  However thanks to their Drought Kit assistance, they are now breaking free of the cycle of hunger and poverty.

We have been working with Rafera and his group for the past 8 months and they are already seeing big changes.  We have provided training in how to grow and store fodder for their livestock, to feed them during dry periods. They have also received training in how to grow vegetables in special gardens and to conserve water to make use of every drop when it rains. 

The family had thought it was impossible to grow vegetables but now they are tucking into new foods such as spinach, beetroot, carrots and cauliflower.  For the family, it is the first time they have had a choice of food to eat.  In the past they only had dry bread and struggled to get enough to eat, particularly in the dry season.

Its thanks to our training, that the family are now able to make best use of what they already have available and it is already benefiting their health.  Tesfaye their grandson had dropped out of school because he was too weak and hungry to walk there.  Now they have vegetables, Tesfaye is a lot stronger and has returned to school, as well as being able to help his grandparents on their farm.

It is still early days for Rafera and his family, but in future they hope to have enough income to improve their house, educate their grandchildren, buy more tools and even hope of having running water and electricity one day!

"Before the project the land around our house was not productive, it was only grass for animals.  Now it is converted to productive land so that we are food secure.  Before we ate only local cabbage and enset.  In October to November there was no harvest and we didnt eat all day.  It is the hidden hunger time."

Every £40 you raise over Lent will help us provide another family with the training and support that Rafera has received.