Written by Laura Reinhardt; Edited by Leanna Parekh
Patrick is a farmer in Moyo, Zambia. His eleven-year-old stepdaughter, Beatrice, helps him water their sunflowers, beans, okra, tomatoes and maize. Together, they maintain the produce to help the garden flourish.
“We have plenty of food,” Patrick says. “And we still have maize from last season.”
Laura Reinhardt/World Vision
But it wasn’t always this plentiful. We asked Patrick to share his story.
About eight years ago, Patrick started experiencing muscle spasms. The spasms continued to intensify until, before long, he was unable to move at all. His mobility was so limited that he could not even make it to church, a spiritual practice he always enjoys.
“I had given up,” he remembers. “I thought, ‘This is my end
.’ I thought I would die.”
Not only did Patrick enjoy his garden, he and Beatrice relied on it for food and income. Unable to maintain it the way he used to, and with very little support, he was at a loss for how to provide.
Two years later, Patrick and Beatrice received goats from World Vision’s
Animal Give-back program in Moyo. The goats were an immediate benefit. When they multiplied, he and Beatrice sold them to buy food and other goods.
Still, sustaining the garden with Patrick’s mobility limits was a big question mark.
“We saw how they were struggling,” says Eugern, director of World Vision’s agriculture program in Moyo. She helped Patrick take out a loan from World Vision’s microfinance program so he could buy a levered pump. This helped him maintain his produce, even if he couldn’t move the way he used to. “I’ve been working with him to ensure he [reaches his goals],” Eugern says.
Patrick received the pump in 2017 and has been using it ever since. This year, he took out another loan to buy and sell seeds. The garden is back to its original glory, and even better. Today, the family feels financially stable and food-secure.
Beatrice holds her family's home-grown produce.