Your June Peace Mail from Zimbabwe

Dear Friends,

My name is Martha. I live in Zimbabwe with my children, mother and extended family. I live in a loving community, and we help each other during times of hardships.  

I used to rely on conventional farming. Our neighbours and friends helped us do the work on the farm, assisting with tasks like ploughing and in return we would give them goats as payment. But, even with the help of my community, my harvest was very low and there were moments when we had no food in the home.  

During times of drought, we would receive food aid because we had no other choice.  

Joel Pratley/Act for Peace

I joined the conservation farming program in 2018 because we have no control over the droughts, and we needed to find new ways to help us farm. I was really convinced at the training workshops that conservation farming was a good farming alternative.  

Being part of the conservation farming program has empowered me and changed my life so much. During the time when we were using conventional farming, we could not grow two crops at the same time. This time with conservation farming, we manage to grow maize and groundnuts with the first rains, but those who planted with the late rains won’t get a good harvest.

Conservation farming has helped me a lot. We will sell peanut butter from the groundnuts and be able to use that to pay the school fees for my daughter.

I now teach others conservation farming and some of them have started doing it on their own.

To the people of Australia, thank you very much. You have liberated me in a great way. I now live happily with my family. We have enough food in our home.

I really encourage you to keep giving because so many people are willing to join in the conservation farming program.

Tinotenda (thank you),

Martha


Download this Peace Mail in PDF here.


Local Partner Profile: Christian Care

Pushed to the limit by drought, lower than normal household incomes, and runaway inflation that put basic items beyond the reach of many, families in Zimbabwe were already fighting to survive before the pandemic.

COVID-19 then forced local markets to shut and disrupted the delivery of food aid that people relied on, leaving millions of food-insecure people struggling to provide for their families, and putting them at risk of displacement.

With your support and thanks to our local partner, Christian Care, families on the ground have access to the skills, training, knowledge and resources they need to support themselves and their families. Your ongoing support is also helping farmers to be more resilient to climate change through conservation farming, responding to food insecurity with urgently needed food rations, and supporting peace building initiatives through national dialogues.

Your support is making a difference!  

In April, 954 Act for Peace Partners just like you raised $45,065.64 to support families in Indonesia who are living in one of the most disaster-prone areas of the world. Your kindness is helping communities to be prepared and stay safe during disasters, and you’re also helping people affected by conflict and disaster around the world. Thank you! 

Please pray:

  • For families like Martha’s who are affected by the severe droughts in Zimbabwe.
  • For Act for Peace’s local partner Christian Care, as they continue to train more families in conservation farming.  
  • For unity and reconciliation in a country suffering from deep division and social fragmentation.   

View more Peace Mails

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