Money raised for grow bags, vegetable seeds, solar lights, school gardens and fuel-saving stoves
by Ilse Peters-Ching
Tough economic times dominated the headlines in 2023, and Islanders struggled to buy groceries, heat their homes, and fuel their cars. Even though times were difficult, our generous supporters dug deep in their pockets to ensure that the basic needs of many Kenyan women, children and families would be taken care of through the Holiday Campaign. There was $100,997.83 raised for grow bags, vegetable seeds, solar lights, and fuel-saving stoves. Funding was given to establish three school gardens, provide 25 flocks of chickens, and build one biogas digester. These meaningful gifts will impact lives for generations to come.

Coordinator Teresa Mellish was incredibly grateful for the donations for dairy cow loans. This Holiday Campaign item has made an incredible impact on communities.
“We want to thank the five people who donated a total of $3400 during the 2023 Holiday Campaign to purchase a dairy cow for a family,” said Mellish.
“The funds which were donated for dairy cows in 2022 were given to the Destiny Women's Self Group to be loaned out to their members. Farmers Helping Farmers has worked with the Destiny Women's Group since 2019; it is a community group of approximately 50 women who live on farms with their families near Kiirua in Meru County. They were delighted to receive these funds because, in this area where loans are very difficult to get, they can make interest free loans to the members."

"When we were in Kenya recently we visited the members of the Destiny Women's Self Help Group to follow-up on the disbursement of these funds. We learned that 7 women had bought cows. Each of these women had completed the training offered by the two FHF dairy trainers. We were shown one of the cows at the farm we visited. They also contributed some of their money to buy a few more cows. The women who bought the cows were in the process of repaying the loans and the group will loan out the funds a second time after the funds are repaid. They said they were willing to manage the cow money donated in the 2023 campaign. So we decided to grant the funds donated in 2023 to this same group and I am attaching a photo of Salome presenting the cheque for 360,000 Kenya shillings to the Chairlady of the group”.
