I went to one of the communities today with Jon. We drove along the main road, which, right now, is under major construction. He drove fast, and I – unlike most people it seems – put on my seat belt and hung on for dear life.
Because of the drought everything is brown. But the community Jon took me to was green. He has implemented with them an irrigation project, as well as agricultural training, where farmers get to go around and learn by seeing other farms that have mixed crops, as opposed to just one cash crop. This is to help soil quality, biodiversity, and of course to be less vulnerable to the ups and downs of the market.
The farmer and his daughter, who were both working away when we got there, let me take photos, and gave me fresh sweet passion fruit, that had fallen straight off the branch.On the way we got stopped by many people who wanted to talk to Jon, a well-known face (and truck) in the area.
Jon and the farmer in the background:
On the way out I took pictures of the roads to show the difference between the new and old roads in the small community. With the money raised by Lewa the people had chosen to fix the roads, seeing as they literally lead the way to making everything else accessible – market, schools, healthcare, etc. Jon told me that now not only are people able to sell in their local area, but they are also producing enough to sell to the big market in Nairobi.
Jon and the farmer in the background:
On the way out I took pictures of the roads to show the difference between the new and old roads in the small community. With the money raised by Lewa the people had chosen to fix the roads, seeing as they literally lead the way to making everything else accessible – market, schools, healthcare, etc. Jon told me that now not only are people able to sell in their local area, but they are also producing enough to sell to the big market in Nairobi.
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