Sitting Under a Tree

It was that familiar feeling of sitting under a tree wondering if anyone would come and join you.

Tim was near Kayenze, in the sub-village of Lutale, ready and waiting for a village meeting in which to raise awareness for the upcoming next phase of the conservational agricultural project. We are looking for a group of around thirty from this new village who will receive training at the seminar in September. From this group, we will then work with a focus group of 15-20, kicking off with planting in October.

But Tim was just sitting there under the tree with only Pastor Amon, Esther and the agricultural officer of Lutale.

About 45 minutes later, they heard that another village meeting was currently underway at another location in the village. Few would bother to walk over to this tree for another meeting when that one ended. So Tim, Amon and Esther walked across the village to find them. Perfect! Fifty people already assembled and as soon as they arrived, the agenda shifted to satisfy the crowd's curiosity about what Tim and co were about!

Under the trees in Lutale

Tim opened the meeting and then Pastor Amon talked about the important principles of the agricultural project and then shared about its benefits from his experience on his own farm. Esther talked about our expectations of the farmers, about partnership, hard work and preparation needed. And as they shared, the crowd grew. So in the end, at least 80 people heard about the project.

Amon shares about the project

We are pleased with the number of people, both men and women, keen about the project; many were interested with lots of questions. This village is more rural and impoverished than other villages we have worked in. The predominant crop is cassava and there appears to be very little done in the way of crop rotation! We are looking forward to getting a group together, people that we can get to know and come alongside, and with them watch the harvest grow!

We are really pleased to be working alongside the Lutale agricultural officer. It is exciting to be able to work with him, both to gain from his expertise and also help him in this role in the village.

The meeting ended well. The village chairman asked for a gift for himself but did agree that the village government would take registration of interested people. The first thirty to apply are in.

And coming up next week, it will be time for a Kayenze village meeting to form a second group of farmers training there. Back to sitting under a tree for a while methinks.