We are excited about a new project with our agent in Nepal, The Small World.

We have had comprehensive discussions with the communities we provided with food relief support, and they have requested help in farming, a skill with which many of these families have never been involved or had experience.

Meanwhile, more than two months of lockdown have halted transportation with drastic effects; it is estimated that returning to normalcy could take a minimum of a year or even two for the resumption of normal daily construction work, daily labor job opportunities, and trekking jobs for families.

We have also realized that providing food relief support is not a permanent solution, so we have come up with a support program with the project name, “Seeds Of Hope.”

With this program, we plan to help communities grow their own food by providing seeds, orientation, and basic training by agricultural experts for seasonal farming, cash crops, kitchen gardens, organic compost, and organic pest control.

We are initiating this program in the Solu-Dhudkunda Municipality area, which is divided into eleven (11) wards, and forming mothers’ groups. There will be 30 women in each group and so far, 350 women have requested our support at first phase. Every member will receive seeds and support from agricultural experts; many of our girls from the hostel and their families are also participating.

Our program is actually not a training for individuals – it is in fact a beautiful family program. Every mother or family member who participates in our farming program will take this training and education to their home and share it with everyone there, especially the children. With schools closed and online education not accessible for these children, at this point, we feel the best education for them is to become involved in growing their own food and learning about the new possibilities that farming presents.

Our initial goal is to raise $10K  (USD) as seed investment which can take care of 11 groups in 11 villages and continue promoting programs and extent in other areas of Solukhumbu region where there is high demand.

Budget:

MOTHER GROUP:

• Each ‘group’ consists of an average of 25 women
• Everyone is provided with 10 different seeds
• Seeds are transported from Kathmadu to the family homes
• Instruction and oversight is provided by:
  • A full-time agricultural expert
  • Two HOPE staff (Goma who runs our girl’s hostel and Pema Sherpa)
• $30 USD covers each woman
• $750 USD covers one women’s group
• We have targeted 11 villages for our ‘pilot’ program
• TOTAL: $8,250 USD
• Funds raised to date: $5000 USD
• BALANCE TO RAISE: $3,250 USD ($4,000 CDN)