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FROM THE FIELD

Martina of Momoria Village
03 Nov 2008 07:35:00 GMT
 Source: Lutheran World Federation (LWF) - Switzerland (Department for World Service)
Jenny Pfitzner - Australia Lutheran Service

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Martina displays sample of groundnuts she expects to start harvesting in the first weeks of November
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Martina displays sample of groundnuts she expects to start harvesting in the first weeks of November
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Martina Ikanga lives in Momoria Village about 8Km from LWF project site in Ikotos, South Sudan. She is one of the thousands of refugees who decided to return to their original locations after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudan Government and the SPLA/M. Martina spent 19 years in Adjumani Refugee Camp in Uganda. She takes care of a family with seven members including five grandchildren survived by her late daughter. The 53 year-old woman was identified as one of the 4,000 households benefiting from the LWF project to receive seeds and agricultural hand tools.

When visited in her tiny hut shared by all family members and asked about the seeds given by LWF, Martina responded with extreme happiness pointing at the gardens planted with sorghum, cowpeas and groundnuts, which are not far apart. She mentioned that there was no adequate foodstuff for her family and never thought of having seeds for planting when the first rains came in April. It was a very difficult moment for her and her family because life in the Adjumani Camp was much better compared to the state of life her family was faced with. Martina narrated that her hope was revived and became optimistic when she unexpectedly received the seeds from LWF towards the end of June. The seeds were planted in late July to early August and the performance of the crops that she is preparing to start harvesting makes her confident that she will this time have enough food stuff for herself and the family. The cowpeas, which are fast growing vegetables, did very well and rescued her family from famine which hit her village during cultivation time. e during cultivation time. Martina plans to preserve some seeds from whatever she will harvest for planting next year.

When told about the source of the seeds, Martina was sincere to express her gratitude to LWF for the support rendered to her which has made a positive impact on her livelihood.

Response to Prayers

The UNHCR-organized repatriation program carried out in April 2008 from Bweyale Camp in Uganda included a woman called Naboi Sabina and her dependents. Like many households in South Sudan, Naboi left her village in 1992 to take refuge in Uganda. After spending 16 years in exile, the family decided to resettle in Lotome village in Losite payam in Ikotos County. The family consists of six children, two dependents and her husband.

As the new life was started by closing the chapters of hardships in refugee camps and returning back home, Sabina was faced with new challenges. Most of the relatives and friends whom she counted on to seek support with seeds for planting, did not have enough even for themselves. The months of May and June were unusually dry for planting even if the seeds could be accessed from anywhere.

According to Sabina, her prayers bore fruits when the Almighty God sent LWF to Lotome village at the beginning of July. Every returnee household in the village, including Sabina, was provided with 5kgs of maize, 2 kgs of sorghum, 2kgs of cowpeas, 1kg of sesame and 5kgs of groundnut seeds.

Sabina was able to plant all the seeds provided and she is so happy with the way the crops are doing in the gardens. But she is worried about the excessive amount of rains still being received. Too much rain is not good for sorghum more especially when they are at flowering stage and for groundnuts which are ready for harvest. The maize gardens are being disturbed by monkeys which are so many in the area. Cowpeas were the first to be eaten by the family because they grow very fast and vegetables are more palatable when they are tender. Sabina is happy with the harvest of cowpeas which serve as complementary to the insufficient food supply the family had.

Without the provision of seeds by LWF, Sabina does not know what she would have done to sustain her family of 8 children and her husband. Hoping that nature wouldn't turn her face against the villagers by extending the inconvenient rains, Sabina is confident that she will have harvested most of the crops in the field by the end of November. "Thanks to the response to my prayers through and LWF," Sabina concluded. "I don't think I'll have to worry about feeding the ten mouths including myself until the next planting season."


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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