The Impact of a Unique Gift
“Recently in a pastor’s training session on sustainable agriculture, the pastors told me that Mozambique is a land where everything grows—nearly every variety of fruit and vegetable! Most importantly, staple foods like maize, cassava, beans and rice grow well.
“So why do people in Mozambique suffer hunger?” I asked.
“Because of floods and droughts!” came the quick reply from Pastor Pires. The others nodded their heads in agreement.
Almost every year, many people in Mozambique have to face hunger. The extremes of the weather make an already difficult life in the bush in Mozambique even more challenging. The lack of the right technology, knowledge and financial resources keeps the possibility of change out of reach.
Fields of dry and shriveled corn lie beside full rivers as Joao and I fly with the Mercy Air’s helicopter along the Zambezi river towards Senjal. The church association there had prepared a two hectare garden with a three meter deep well in the middle. All that was needed was a water pump. We were very thankful for the donated manual water pump in our cargo compartment! Approaching the field we saw women working hard side by side with their hoes preparing to transplant small seedlings.
As the helicopter’s turbine came to a stop, we heard them singing in the hot African sun. We were immediately surrounded by many curious children and warmly welcomed by the pastor’s association’s members. Many hands helped us unload hoses and the pump. I could sense that there were huge expectations for the use of that water pump.
We quickly got to work, and after a quick joining of hoses, assembling of the pump and pumping the handle, a jet of water released at the end of the hose 30 meters away. I quickly fitted another hose with small holes to one end and voila, the sprinkler set right to work watering the small seedlings!
Now, as a result, the Senjal pastor’s association is able to produce food for themselves and for many widows and orphans in their community as well.
The six months of dry season still ahead will be a busy time of sowing, planting, and harvesting, but with the hand pump in place there will be less worrying about hunger. The impact of a unique gift like this can be tremendous!”
By Andy Kuret