Utete, TZ – YM Family Home – 4 Apr 2014

YM works for the KCM Garden Shop in Kindwitwi, and is a member of an egg laying business.

He was raised in a very rural community in the Rufiji area of Tanzania.  Education was never a huge priority for his family growing up because they needed the help in the fields, so YM has basic primary education only.  After moving to Kindwitwi and starting a family, he worked hard to find some land to start some agricultural activities but was met with moderate success because of no access to water.

He managed to find work with various labor intensive activities around the village and was eventually hired as a night guard for the local guesthouse making ~$24 a month.  I first met him in 2010 when he was working at the guesthouse, and it soon became apparent what a hardworking quick-learning person he was.  Any task that he is set gets done with brute efficiency and he is not afraid to let you know if he thinks anything could be done in a better way.  After developing a close relationship with YM, I also learned through many trials that he always speaks straight and honestly.  It was good to meet a motivated and trustworthy person who we found to be an ideal candidate for a job helping us to start a FAITH Garden shop in Kindwitwi.

During his training, he picked up all of the new ideas such as; compost making, organic fertilizer and pesticide making quickly.  So far YM and the Kindwitwi FAITH Garden Shop team are taking the opportunity to start their own agriculture business in great stride and have been able to consistently manufacture all the FAITH Garden inputs in preparation for the start of the garden program.  YM and the team are now teaching and mentoring other poor local families about how to start a productive FAITH Garden to help their families gain family food self-reliance and additional income from selling vegetables!

Although YM has never received extensive education, he is determined that his children; 12 year old L and new born S get a good education.  L has been able to take her father’s energy and focus it into her studies at Siasa Primary school.  YM’s wife, P, was able to finish her studies as a nurse and get employment at the local dispensary.

Since working with us, YM has been able to build a new house, connect it directly with water, and support L’s education as well as provide consistent food for his family.  He has just realized his dream of connecting his house with electricity so that his children will be able to study comfortably at night.