ACT Alliance

As Naboi Sabina stands amid her crop of sorghum, she looks to the skies and gives thanks to Almighty God - and to Australia Lutheran World Service which provided her seeds and tools.

Sabina and her family were forced from their village in southern Sudan by war in 1992, and went to live in the UN Bweyale Refugee Camp in Uganda. It was 16 years after they were exiled that it was finally safe to return home to Lotome village in Ikotos county.

Sabina’s family consists of six children, two other dependents and her husband. While they were overjoyed to come home, new challenges presented themselves. Most of the relatives and friends she counted on to provide seeds for planting had not even enough for themselves. May and June were also unusually dry for planting.

Her prayers, she says, bore fruit when the ALWS seeds and tools arrived in Lotome at the beginning of July.  All 4000 returnee households were given 5kg of maize seed, 2kg of sorghum, 2kg of cowpea, 1kg of sesame and 5kg of groundnut.

Sabina planted all the seeds and she is very happy with the way the crops are doing.  The family ate the cowpeas first because they grow quickly and because vegetables are more palatable when tender. They complement the family’s insufficient food supply.

Like all good farmers, Sabina keeps a wary eye on the weather. She is worried about the excessive rain.  Too much is not good for sorghum - especially when they are flowering - and for groundnuts which are ready for harvest.   Another challenge is the wild monkeys which disturb the maize gardens.

Without the seeds from ALWS, Sabina says she does not know what she would have done to sustain her family. She is confident she will have harvested most of the crops in the field by the end of November.

“I don’t think I’ll have to worry about feeding the ten mouths including myself until the next planting season.”