Yambasu farm fosters hope in Congo

In eastern Congo, a thriving farm funded through the Yambasu Agriculture Initiative combines vegetable, pig and fish farming to strengthen local food security and generate sustainable income for the community and the church.
Elie Etako Wembo, coordinator of the Yambasu Agriculture Initiative in the East Congo Episcopal Area, and Omanga Sebastien, a zoo technician, inspect a pig with an injured ear at a United Methodist farm funded by the initiative near Kindu, Congo. The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries program has financed the construction of two buildings for pig farming, which can accommodate up to 300 animals. Photo by Chadrack Tambwe Londe, UM News.

In eastern Congo, a thriving farm funded through the Yambasu Agriculture Initiative combines vegetable, pig and fish farming to strengthen local food security and generate sustainable income for the community and the church.

Read more of this story from Chadrack Tambwe Londe.

Share
UMCOR Campaigns

Six Years, No Solution: A 500-Gallon Tank Carries Hope to West Virginia’s Forgotten

McDowell County is one of the poorest in the U.S., and the communities of Anawalt, Leckie and Gary are some of the hardest hit by the current six-year water crisis. All have Methodist churches that are part of the Welch Charge.

To ease the burden of residents who have to purchase many gallons of drinking water weekly, the Welch Charge contacted the West Virginia Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, Jim McCune, for help. McCune’s United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) connection put him in touch with Global Ministries’ Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program. 

A WASH grant allowed them to obtain a 500-gallon “water buffalo.” The conference disaster response team arranged to fill the portable water buffalo from the Welch water system, the county seat of McDowell, and transport it to Gary, where residents have been supplied with refillable containers. Residents of all three towns can come to get water, and volunteers will also continue deliveries for those who need it. Meanwhile, residents, including church members, continue to advocate state and local officials for a permanent solution to their aging, compromised water infrastructure. Full Story