Mr. Kolo Ipanga, from the Kamonia health zone in the Kamabonza health area, is 38 years old and married to Nadine Kolo. He is the father of five children: Ngalula Kolo, 17; Hupowo Kolo, 14; Mpuyi Lipasa Kolo, 8; Mamie Kolo, 6; and Lyly Kolo, 1.
The Kolo’s are beneficiaries of the Burkea project in the food distribution sector; VSLA and Agriculture because they are from the village of Muasamba in Kamabonza.
Here is Kolo Impanga’s Story:
When the war came to our village, we were forced to flee into the forest with our families. As a result of our displacement, we left all our belongings in our homes, and the armed groups pursuing us destroyed the doors and took everything we owned. Life became bitter after our return, and even finding food became difficult; with my children, we sometimes slept without even having anything to eat; we were living a life of suffering.
No teníamos acceso a buenas semillas y no sabíamos cómo sembrar en orden, así que sembrábamos en desorden y la producción era muy baja; en un campo de 0,5 hectáreas de plántulas de maíz y caupí después de un largo y arduo trabajo.
We only harvested two basins of maize and one basin of cowpeas. I was disappointed that farming was not assisting me in better supporting my family.
ADRA provided us with identification when they first arrived in the community and during several food distributions they brought us corn, oil, beans, and salt.
Nothing is better than farming; After a while, ADRA brought us maize, cowpeas, vegetable seeds, and agricultural tools to assist us in improving our agricultural activities that were not performing well.
Thanks to ADRA, we now know how to seed in rows, weed at the appropriate times, rotate our crops, and clear the forests from around our fields to fight pests and other illnesses.
We have applied the training to our fields. I used strategies I had acquired from ADRA’s lessons in my 0.5-hectare field. Today I harvest between one and two bags of cowpeas and more than 4.5 bags of maize. This excellent production and provides food for my family for many months. I am even able to sell part of my crops to earn money to deposit weekly in VSLAs to pay my children’s school fees. I am even able to save for next season’s seed. Right now, I have food at home, and my family and I eat more than twice a day.
In this regard, I am truly grateful for ADRA’s assistance in my life and in the lives of my family; I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving us from death, and we ask you not to abandon us, to continue to assist us because we are not yet fully recovered.