Utete, TZ – OAM Family’s garden success – 23 Apr 2014

Mama OAM (second from right) along with other members of the Kindwitwi Garden Shop Team.

The OAM family in Kindwitwi was the first family in the village to start a garden in August 2013. The family is made up of Mama OAM and her four children. Mama OAM has been one of the garden shop’s biggest supporters and allies. Her hard work and dedication was noted by the garden shop team, and in November she was offered a position working part time with the shop. She now looks after the garden at the local kindergarten and also does community outreach work for the garden shop, identifying families who are interested in gardens and helping them apply. With her own garden, she leads by example by following best practices and maintaining one of the most productive gardens in the community.

The OAM family garden.

The family has implemented a new crop rotation schedule that is designed to maximum garden productivity. Half of their garden has leafy greens and legumes in it, and the other half has a variety of vegetables including hot peppers, okra, eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes, and corn.

Since starting their garden the family has been able to eat vegetables every day and often has extra vegetables to sell. Mama OAM has sold 39,600 TZS (USD $24.75) of vegetables, which she used to pay school fees for her four children. She also bought a bed, so she and her children can enjoy a safe and comfortable night’s sleep off the ground.

Mama OAM has been saving as much as possible from the money she makes with the garden shop purchasing items to build a home. Right now her family lives in a small mud house with Mama OAM’s mother, but she would like to move her children into their own home with block walls and a steel ceiling. She has begun slowly purchasing the materials she will need to make this dream come true.