Sustainable Living
Land
Baraka Academy II has land but is now closed due to unrest in the area. Their valuable farm land is abandoned for now.
Some land at the Peace Center compound has been cleared for widows to have a small garden to produce food. Land in Rwampara and Chabusiku was also purchased through donations to HEARTS FOR THE CONGO for more widows or families to cultivate. An offering from one partner church funded the purchase of hoes and seeds.
The displaced in the camps, mostly widows and orphans, have fled from their homes because their houses, livestock and whole villages were destroyed by warring militias in northeastern Congo. Returning to these areas is unsafe. Farming is the life they know but now land is not available to them. How can we help them find alternative means to support themselves and their families?
BCHC has productive land in Shari at the site of Baraka Academy II. Previously crops were grown there to feed the orphans in the schools and to sell to sustain the work of the school. As this area is currently unsafe, sustainability for the school must come from attracting more tuition-paying students, less than half of the 1002 students attending.
Goods to sell
Pray for peace so villagers can return to their farmland.
Classes at BCHC and the PC have taught sewing and basketmaking. Beautifully sewn clothes and tablecloths have been created . Students at Baraka Academy are taught woodworking, carpentry and craft skills. Selling these marketable items in Bunia markets can provide a source of much needed funds for IDP families, orphans and widows. We hope to provide materials to support these and similar initiatives that will enable refugees to support themselves.
