Mother leaders such as Maman Kichochi Makuu in FH/DRC care groups expand the reach of FH teachings about health, nutrition and the importance of kitchen gardens
Maman Kichochi Makuu is a 35-year-old Congolese mother of seven children. She had been earning a meager income from a fishing business, but increased costs and the seasonality of fishing forced her out of business. Then she had no income. She no longer could pay school fees, and her children were expelled.
Kichochi knew that lack of education would destroy her children’s hope of ever escaping from the dire poverty that had consumed her life.
“I had to do something to enable [my children] to go to school again,” Kichochi said.
Food for the Hungry (FH) began working in Kichochi’s community in 2008. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had been devastated by years of a brutal war that killed 5.4 million people, mostly from disease and starvation. When aid groups arrived, they began giving out supplies and food to help the people survive.
Once the relief stage passed, FH formed care groups to teach people about health, nutrition and agricultural methods that would improve their ability to earn a sustained income throughout the year. People at first resisted because they were used to handouts, but FH persisted.
“When FH started its health and nutrition activities in our village, we did not give much credit to it,” Kichochi said. She paid little attention to teachings about the link between healthy children and kitchen gardens … until the loss of her fishing business forced her children out of school.
Maman Kichochi Makuu and her children in their home with a harvest of tomatoes
The next time the FH/DRC Health Promoter taught about kitchen gardens in the monthly care group meeting, Kichochi listened carefully. She was excited to learn that FH would provide seeds.
“I decided to start [farming],” said Kichochi. But then heavy rains flooded Kichochi’s 18-acre farm and destroyed all her cabbages and tomatoes. “I thought I had been bewitched because my farm had looked so beautiful,” she said.
FH encouraged her to try again. This time, she was able to harvest a large container of tomatoes. “After selling it, I earned $19,” said Kichochi. “It was much more than enough to pay the school fees for three of my children.”
Kichochi’s harvests and income continued to grow, and her kitchen garden has blossomed into a 25-acre farm. The crops provide enough income for the nutritional and educational needs for all of her children. And Kichochi is now the mother leader of her care group, a volunteer position that allows her to teach what she has learned to other mothers in her community.
Karen, I love how this post really brings out how hard-working these moms are and I wanted to comment on Kichochi’s thoughts that her garden was “bewitched.” How sad that she lived with a world view that robbed her of feeling pride in her accomplishment — if anything good happened, it must be the result of benevolent witchcraft or unseen spirits. I do hope it goes deep into her heart that her own ability to learn results in success.
You’re so right, Beth! Thanks for pointing out how important a biblical worldview is in helping people overcome cultural beliefs that keep them trapped in poverty.
Beautiful post, Karen. I will think about Kichochi when I plant tomatoes in my own kitchen garden next spring.