Ketrina feels the pangs of hunger as her family’s crops fail
Ketrina (8) with her mother Abigail in Onga, Malawi.
“There is no harvest to even speak of. It’s so hard to keep going when you have no food in the first place.”
At just 8 years old, Ketrina knows all too well what it feels like to go to bed hungry. And when she wakes in the morning there are no guarantees she’ll be able to eat before she goes to school.
In her community, Onga, many people rely on farming. But soil erosion and old farming methods make it hard to earn enough to provide for a family.
Ketrina’s loving single mother Abigail is struggling to feed her daughters.
“I have a piece of land measuring three-quarters of an acre. This is where I grow some maize and pigeon peas,” says Abigail. “But even then, the harvest from this land is not enough to sustain my family for an entire year.”
Abigail takes on odd jobs to try and earn more money – doing laundry for other families, ferrying water for builders to make bricks, and helping on other farms. But the work is unreliable, and she never knows if she’ll have money to buy food.
Then there’s the weather, which can wreak havoc.
“This year things have been worse. For starters, we had late rains. The seed we planted at the beginning of the rainy season was wasted due to lack of rain. Then the rains became too much, and we lost all our crops due to the cyclones,” says Abigail.
Ketrina knows that a bad harvest means more hunger for the year ahead.
“We’ll eat cassava when the maize is finished, then we’ll alternate with buffalo beans, then sometimes we’ll resort to eating maize bran,” says Ketrina. “Whatever it is, we’ll eat just to have some strength.”
It’s hard for Abigail to see how things can get better when she can’t afford to buy fertiliser or tools to improve her crop production.
“There is no harvest to even speak of. It’s so hard to keep going when you have no food in the first place.”
Right now, your kindness is reaching farmers like Abigail and children like Ketrina in Onga who are facing hunger and losing hope. Your love and care will set up saving groups and make vocational and farming training possible. You’ll help parents start small businesses and farmers to improve their production so they can feed their families. With you by their side, Ketrina and other kids in Onga can build a brighter future.
At just 8 years old, Ketrina knows all too well what it feels like to go to bed hungry. And when she wakes in the morning there are no guarantees she’ll be able to eat before she goes to school.
In her community, Onga, many people rely on farming. But soil erosion and old farming methods make it hard to earn enough to provide for a family.
Ketrina’s loving single mother Abigail is struggling to feed her daughters.
“I have a piece of land measuring three-quarters of an acre. This is where I grow some maize and pigeon peas,” says Abigail. “But even then, the harvest from this land is not enough to sustain my family for an entire year.”
Abigail takes on odd jobs to try and earn more money – doing laundry for other families, ferrying water for builders to make bricks, and helping on other farms. But the work is unreliable, and she never knows if she’ll have money to buy food.
Then there’s the weather, which can wreak havoc.
“This year things have been worse. For starters, we had late rains. The seed we planted at the beginning of the rainy season was wasted due to lack of rain. Then the rains became too much, and we lost all our crops due to the cyclones,” says Abigail.
Ketrina knows that a bad harvest means more hunger for the year ahead.
“We’ll eat cassava when the maize is finished, then we’ll alternate with buffalo beans, then sometimes we’ll resort to eating maize bran,” says Ketrina. “Whatever it is, we’ll eat just to have some strength.”
It’s hard for Abigail to see how things can get better when she can’t afford to buy fertiliser or tools to improve her crop production.
“There is no harvest to even speak of. It’s so hard to keep going when you have no food in the first place.”
Right now, your kindness is reaching farmers like Abigail and children like Ketrina in Onga who are facing hunger and losing hope. Your love and care will set up saving groups and make vocational and farming training possible. You’ll help parents start small businesses and farmers to improve their production so they can feed their families. With you by their side, Ketrina and other kids in Onga can build a brighter future.