The following blog was written by Juliet Molife, a 17 year old 57kg lifter and local change maker from the community of Epworth, Zimbabwe.
Hi! l am Juliet from the community of Epworth. It has been a while since l did an update on my community gardening as l have been busy with my final exams which l will be completing on the 5th of February. We also find ourselves in another COVID-19 lock down again in Zimbabwe.
Currently l am nursing some peas and onions which l hope will start showing up in the next three weeks. I recently harvested tomatoes, and l planted maize since it’s currently the rainy season this side.
I recently bought some chicks for the garden to keep me going with my charity work. These would be mostly for egg production which will compliment the gardening. This was an afterthought since l was having water challenges. So l came up with this thought of having some laying chicks. I already have 15 chickens which are currently laying eggs. Sometimes I sell the eggs so I can buy feed for the chicks so that they lay more eggs. With remaining profits l continue to buy sanitary pads for the girl child and the underprivileged.
Since we are on lockdown l am using the telephone system to send some cash to underprivileged families and the girls for their sanitary pads and some basic products. This telephone cash system is called “Ecocash”. Currently l have 7 families which l am taking care of and 26 girls whom l am currently supporting to have sanitary pads. Some have already benefited for reusable pads but others did not.
The challenge that l am currently facing now is l need to construct a chicken fowl or buy chicken layer cages (photo below of a sample of how it looks like) which holds a capacity of 48 chicks and l require two of them. This will help as the chickens will then not lay their eggs haphazardly.
Since we are on lockdown, the government has restricted movement of people and there is a curfew imposed starting at 6pm and ending at 6am for essential workers only and the rest should remain indoors. As a result l no longer have girls who used to come and help me with my gardening, but l would like to thank my mother and two little sisters who are assisting as my dad is working far away from home at this time.
This is a summary of what l am currently doing, with the hope that when it gets to summer season l will have at least enough funds for my borehole. I am seeking to purchase a borehole for water as we run dry during this time and l would not want to struggle and have to reduce the size of my garden. It is my goal to dig a borehole before the summer season. Thank you.
Juliet jumping for joy in the community garden.