Key person: Doris Nkausu
We have been in contact with Doris over a few weeks, asking questions as to how the partnership activities have been progressing.
FarmingIn January of 2024 Doris requested funds to train another 20 farmers from the local community. US$260 was approved and sent.
The training went well, and the timing was very useful to show the farmers the current crops in the ground, that were planted in November 2023. They were very encouraged to see what could be achieved by following the training they received in Foundations for Farming. The photo shown was taken in early January.
In February the government of Zambia declared a national drought, which has severely affected farmers.
Doris says that “threequarters of farmers in our community have maize that has been destroyed by the drought. In our demonstration fields the late maturity maize like 719 seeds did not produce good cobs because of the drought, but the medium and early maturity maize have done well. We will harvest the maize but not the way we were expecting. The soya beans and sweet potatoes are doing well. We don't know how people in our community will survive whose crops have failed but are thankful for the techniques of Foundations for Farming God has shown us for the harvest that we will have”.
The ladies are continuing to learn how to read the bible and know more about it. They are learning how to pray and have time with God. Practically, they teach them what their duties are as mothers in their homes, with how to look after their families, children, and their spouses.
Reading the bible has made the ladies to grow spiritually and understand God's word so that they turn from their old ways of living.
Prayer has helped them to build their relationship closer to God and has helped them to pray for their families. The ladies are now able to teach their own children about having a relationship with God.
Some of the ladies used to live a cursed life of not taking care of their families, so this course has made ladies change their mindsets.
Many things they have learned in the book “Knowing and Doing” that has helped to change their lives.
They started the programme in June last year with a total capital fund of US$1,200. These capital funds were distributed to 20 people to help with existing businesses that they were running. The timeframe for people to repay back their loans was after three months.
The loan programme is really helping people although some used the profit they made to buy fertilizer for their maize fields and then unfortunately, the maize was later destroyed by drought.
The number of people who have repaid their loan is 16 out of 20.
There were reasons why these other four did not pay back and they have been discussing the way forward with them. Mostly the business went well but they had some serious challenges on the way. One lady said when she made the profit so that she can repay her loan her son died, which they confirmed, and she had used the profits for the funeral. She has started again with the same loan amount to help her through this time.
Rice Trader:
One man was given a loan of ZMK1,500 (US$60) to buy a bag of rice. The bag of rice he purchased had 20 medas or tins. He was selling it at ZMK170 per tin so for 20 tins his income was ZMK3,400 (US$130), making his profit in a month ZMK1,900 (US$70).
He said that he is so thankful because the loan has helped him so much to put food on the table for his family and other household supplies.
Kapenta Trader:
Another lady was given a loan of ZMK1,000 (US$40). She bought a 50kg bag of kapenta (dry fish) which has 12 tins. Each tin was sold for ZMK280 giving ZMK3,360 (US$130) as income and a monthly profit of ZMK2,360 (US$90).
After three months of trading, she has profit of ZMK7,080 (US$280). She has paid back her loan and now the business has increased as she is able to buy and trade three bags per month. A few months on, she now has a stand in the market and has expanded her business to buying and selling pots.
She is very thankful because the business has really helped her to buy school supplies for her children, like shoes uniforms and books.
We are asking Doris if she wants to increase the successful loan programme, if she has the capacity to do so.
The discipleship programme finishes at the end of this year, and we will communicate to see if a new course can be run in 2025.