2016 walk

Please join us on Friday 20th May at Shanes Castle for our 2016 sponsored walk. We will be there from 11am, the cafe will be open and the barbecue will be on. Please contact us for sponsorship cards.

Growing food in Chad
The full details of our 2016 project are below - we plan to make a difference for 3000 people!

​Sévérin​proudly shows off his market garden (Source: SCMR)

WHY SHOULD YOU GET INVOLVED?

The reason: The people served by this project live in almost constant fear of not being able to feed their families. In Chad around 87 out of 1,000 babies die, compared to around 4 in the UK, many due to hunger or indirectly due to poor nutrition. It is vital that local churches play a central role in training people to overcome the problems they face so they can be lifted out of material and spiritual poverty.

The results: This project will strengthen churches to take the lead in developing and transforming their communities. Farmers will learn to use their land more productively and sustainably to feed their families and earn a profit. Marginalised people living with HIV/AIDS will also be encouraged and supported to start small businesses to earn a living. Money earned will allow parents to send their children to school and to grow their businesses. The project aims to reach over 3,000 people, both directly and indirectly.

This project needs your support: The project year will cost £26,744 and runs between July 2015 and June 2016. Among other important activities, this money will be used to teach communities to farm in keeping with changing climate conditions, strengthen churches to take the lead in transforming their communities and support people living with HIV/AIDS.

WHY DOES THIS PROJECT EXIST?

Tandjilé in south-west Chad is one of the country’s 22 ​regions and is divided into two departments. These departments are split into 13 subprefectures. For the duration of this project, the Service Chrétien en Milieu Rural/SCMR (The Christian Service in Rural Areas) will focus on five of the most needy subprefectures where most people rely on small-scale farming and many struggle to support their families.

The success of cereal crops, such as rice, millet and sorghum, is highly dependent on favourable weather conditions and reliable rainy seasons. But rainfall in Chad is becoming increasingly erratic. Alternating droughts and floods ravage the land, hitting agricultural yields very hard and threatening livelihoods, health and lives. It is a cruel injustice that world’s poorest people are those most affected by climate change, even though they are the least responsible for it.

A lack of knowledge on how to farm successfully in the changing climate is leaving many families in these Chadian communities desperately poor and hungry. A lack of surplus produce to sell is keeping incomes low, meaning that children are deprived of schooling, forced to marry young and robbed of their childhood.

Within this challenging landscape, local churches are reaching out to bring God’s love and salvation to people who desperately need Him. SCMR is working to strengthen these churches to work in their communities, bring spiritual and material support, and enable people to lift themselves out of poverty.

HOW WILL THIS PROJECT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Sévérin is a farmer and a father of ten. He has similar dreams and aspirations for his children as any good father would. ‘I used to grow rice,’ he told us. ‘After harvest, I always used to sell a large part of the yield to have enough money for the children's school fees, clothing, medical care and other family needs. But we couldn’t always make ends meet before the next harvest. At times, I was forced into debt, and this took its toll on the family.

But five years ago SCMR gave us training on how to diversify crops to increase income for our households. I learned to do market gardening and SCMR helped me with vegetable seeds and agricultural tools for working in the garden. Since then, a great change has taken place in my family. With revenues from the garden, I’ve been able to build a house with two bedrooms. I bought a pair of oxen and a cart. I can now pay for my children’s clothing and school fees and if anyone in the family falls ill I can pay for treatment. Our diet has much improved and we are able to store provisions that allow us to cover the whole year without going hungry.

Our prayer is to increase our productivity, so we can live a full life and witness more of God's blessings in my family.’

WHAT WILL THE PROJECT DO IN THE SHORT TERM?

In this project year, SCMR will inspire and equip three local churches to spread the good news of Jesus in word and deed to even more people. With SCMR-trained local churches taking the lead, communities will develop resources and skills they already have to improve their quality of life. This process will give local people a vision for determining their own future with their own resources.

An exciting aspect of this project is Hope Farm, a centre for theoretical and practical training. People will come here to learn about sustainable agriculture - how to invest in crops that are better suited to the changing climate and how to restore their soil using organic matter. Seeds, equipment and sacks of manure will be bought to demonstrate these sustainable techniques. On the farmer’s own land, SCMR staff will help farmers to implement the new techniques and monitor their progress. We pray that these farmers will reap bountiful harvests and be inspired to share what they have been taught with others, multiplying the impact of the training.

Ignorance and prejudice is marginalising and stigmatising people living with HIV/AIDS. A number of people with the virus have organised an association to join hands and tackle the challenges that they face together with strength and dignity. SCMR is following Jesus’ example by standing with these ostracised people and offering compassion and practical support. SCMR will provide this precious group with livestock to give them new opportunities to earn an income.

WHAT IMPACT WILL THIS HAVE IN THE FUTURE?

Through providing technical training and support, domestic vegetable production in the communities will increase. As well as improving families’ diet and health, proceeds from the sale of surplus produce will increase their income levels. This money will enable parents to send their children to school, expand their agricultural activities and increase their productivity.

Communities will take ownership of the project to make sure the work continues to develop and is sustainable in the long-term. Initially, SCMR will regularly monitor the use of new farming techniques so that future work will yield good results. Once funding has ended, the communities will be equipped to continue the work without external guidance.

Lessons learned during the outworking of the project will be shared, and agricultural practice will be improved upon from generation to generation. The sustainability of this project will be further strengthened through the establishment of church-led groups with a heart to serve and love their communities. These groups will share goods and knowledge to equip them to be more resilient and adaptable to climate change. Most importantly, we pray that through the work more and more people would come to know Jesus as their loving saviour.

WHO IS CARRYING THIS OUT ON THE GROUND?

The Service Chrétien en Milieu Rural (SCMR) was formed in 1976. SCMR supports around 500 churches in the Tandjilé and Logone Occidental regions of Chad. SCMR was initially set up by the Eglise Evangelique au Tchad (EET) to improve living conditions in rural areas. Their work includes improving food security, protecting the environment and preventing and treating HIV/AIDS.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

GIVING

This project needs financial support to run. We’re aiming to raise ​£26,744* towards the coming project year.

 PRAYING

·         ●  Thank God for the good work SCMR have been doing in Chad for so many years.

·         ●  Please pray that the local churches will be beacons of hope within their communities. Pray

also that they would play a growing role in lifting the people of Chad out of poverty.

·         ●  Please pray that God would change people’s hearts so that those living with HIV/AIDS would

no longer be excluded, but be accepted, valued and loved.

·         ●  PraythatmorepeoplelikeSévérinwillbeequippedwiththeskillsandconfidencetheyneed

to thrive and reach their God-given potential.