During our visit at the end of May, I was able to visit the Senior Group Chief of the Chamadenga area. As you can see, I may have been a bit underdressed for the occasion! As Senior Group Chief, his position makes him the highest ranking chief in the area: overseeing Group Village Chiefs and Village Chiefs. We have enjoyed a good relationship with him over the past 15 years, and his support is absolutely essential for us to operate in the area. He asked to see me for two reasons: to thank us for the work we are doing in his area and also to request help in repairing his home after some damage in the rainy season. Though he is the most powerful man in the area based on his position, he is not a wealthy man and his standard of living is very similar to the people in the village. We have appreciated his willingness to serve the people of the area and his continued support of our efforts to help children and families in the community.
The huge task of harvesting maize has been completed. Well, sort of. It makes its way from the fields to the kitchen via dozens of ox carts and truck trips. As it dries the process of taking the kernels from the cob begins. And it’s all done by hand! From there it goes into 110 lb. (50 kg) bags and is treated with a mild chemical to ward off the bugs. You can see that there is a lot of maize to work on and it will take weeks to get the maize from this point to safely stored in our offices. The community will come by and do some of this labor for free, though they get to take the cobs home and use them as a substitute for firewood.
Today was our smallest feeding program of 2021, which again, is great news. It means that more and more families have food in their homes after the harvest.
