I had it in my notes that I wanted to talk about sustainability and what it means to the girls being served by Hope for Hearts. Well today is World Food Day, no time like the present to dish out details. The premise behind World Food Day is through education and action, we can improve world hunger, create a better understanding about how foods we eat impact our world, and work to lessen the environmental impact from the global food system.

Did you know there are an estimated 870 million hungry people on the planet? To feed this many people, we need to increase production of basic staple foods by 60 percent.

At St. Elizabeth Girls Academy (SEGA), we want to do our part. The proposed new campus includes increased sustainability with a farm to table strategy. We will implement an animal husbandry and agriculture curriculum, currently not available at SEGA due to lack of land. These careers in Uganda are among the top sought out fields employing more than 80 percent of the labor force in Uganda.

The outcome of this plan will be beneficial in several ways.

First, the majority of the cost to run the orphanage – approximately $4.30 per child per week ($2500 per month) – is food and bare necessities. The SEGA expansion from one acre to approximately 45 acres includes farming the new land, thus, removing one of our largest expenses, food purchases.

Second, Hope for Hearts provides girls with valuable vocation skills so they can help themselves. The agricultural program will challenge girls to learn new abilities that will provide them with future vocational opportunities.

These are direct benefits of our mission. The focus on raising $4.5 million, the funds to purchase land and build a new campus, moves us towards this goal, and future food sustainability.

Now I challenge you to think about food more critically and how you can make a difference. Here are some ideas to get started.

  • Break Bread: gather friends and family for a World Food Day meal. (See September 5 Blog) Talk about how you #hungerforachange.
  • Organize a food-drive for the needy.
  • Start a community garden.

Peace and Love,

Cristen