12 Jun 2018
Over the past six months, the Loreto Rumbek community has been working in tandem with Misean Cara and the local community of Maker Kuei on their new Seeds of Knowledge project.
This project focused on helping 100 participants who have come from families that have been affected by local and national conflict. These families were struggling with severe poverty, and those participating in the project would have had very few resources to survive the upcoming lean season.
The Seeds of Knowledge project combined agricultural training and health education, with a “food for work” aspect which meant that each participant’s household received very welcome food and income.
The project finished at the end of April, just in time for the beginning of the rainy season. Each participant left the programme with two watering cans, one jembe (hoe), a small stock of seeds (including sorghum, groundnuts, kudra, and other vegetables), and a number of fruit-tree seedlings.
Many food security initiatives in South Sudan focus on increasing access and intake; the Seeds of Knowledge project, however, was the first to introduce early recovery and resiliency techniques in this area. In the face of the ongoing food crisis, this has given the households involved the tools for increased self-sufficiency, and vital resources in the face of hunger and poverty.
For the past year, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been working in partnership with Loreto Rumbek to bring hope to the people of Maker Kuei. We are proud to be able to support the Loreto Rumbek community in their ongoing work in South Sudan, and we extend our sincere thanks to our mission friends in Ireland and around the world for continuing to care.
For more news and updates from Loreto Rumbek, please visit their website.