The Stoney Creek Church partnership with the people of Kamaron ran from 2014 to 2017. Facilitated by World Hope International, Stoney Creek helped to promote leadership development, safe water, hygiene training and education, Ebola prevention education, school rehabilitation, spiritual growth and improved farming techniques. 

Highlights of WHI assistance include:

• Elected community leaders to form Village Development Committee (VDC);
• Trained Village Development Committee on leadership;
• Provided seed loans (groundnuts and rice seed) and monitored farming and harvest activities;
• Established a group of Community Health Peer Educators to teach the community about sanitation and safety techniques during the Ebola outbreak;
• Demonstrated effective disposal of human waste and proper hand-washing technique and distributed soap to families in the village, improving the health of all;
• Constructed a drilled well to provides safe water; and,
• Rehabilitated the community school.

Specifically, WHI assisted with the following:

Clean Water Wells and Sanitation

WHI successfully constructed a drill well that provides safe water to the village. Prior to doing so, villagers used to go to the stream, which was far away. This caused children to be late to school after having walked such a far distance to fetch water before school. In addition, Cholera would occur every year in the rainy season but that no longer happens.

WHI also demonstrated the effective disposal of human waste and proper hand-washing technique and distributed soap to families in the village, which has improved their health.

Agriculture

Seed loans

World Hope International provided seed loans for groundnuts and rice seed. Seed banks provide a constant source of seeds for Kamaron. When it is time to plant, farmers receive a portion of seeds from a seed bank. After harvest, farmers return the amount of seed they loaned from the group with minimal interest. Seed banks mobilize community resources to provide for the common good, strengthening the entire village.

Agricultural Training

WHI assisted with agricultural training and farm monitoring in Kamaron to determine how to best provide assistance in the future. The crop farming season runs from May through December. Peanuts are harvested in September and rice in November through December. When these staple crops are harvested, they are laid on the concrete drying floors until fully dry and then bagged for storage. If the process is rushed and the crop is not completely dried, mildew will form which decreases the future yield if planted or the price if sold. Most residents in Kamaron do not have enough food so teaching and instruction on improved agriculture practices made a dramatic impact on the community.

Isatu, one of Kamaron’s residents shared with a WHI staff member that she now understands why her ground-nuts were rotting. She was losing much of her harvest because she was not drying the nuts adequately and on a surface that would keep them from rotting. These new practices, while seemingly simple, can double the amount of useful harvest for both food and seeds for the following year.

Community Fund

The village also set up a Community Fund under the direction and supervision of WHI staff in order to equip the community to maintain the development Stoney Creek has brought to Kamaron. Every member of the community gives a share of their harvest to the Community Fund as well as a portion of their profit from selling their produce. The fund is used to save for projects in the future now that WHI ended its engagement with the village. For example, if their well needs to be repaired, they will use the community fund to pay for the repairs.

Grain Store

A new grain store was constructed, which will be used by all 600 community members. Every family is involved in agricultural activities; most families grow peanuts, rice and cassava. With the new store, farmers will be able to protect their grains and seeds from dirt, moisture and animals such as rats, mice and bugs.

In the past, most people stored their seeds in their homes where they were exposed to all those negative impacts which resulted in the loss of seeds. The people from Kamaron estimated that in some years they have lost up to 50 percent of their seeds to molds or pest infestation. The newly constructed grain store has thick concrete walls that will keep the temperature even inside and not increase the humidity. The doors close properly and will prevent rats and other animals to come in easily. The community has assigned a caretaker who holds on to the key and who is also responsible to clean the store and check for any pest infestations.

Farmers are expecting bigger harvests which will grow proportionally within the next several years. The extra will be used to sell to cover expenses such as school and hospital fees.

Education

In addition, after rehabilitating the community school, we established a group of community health peer educators to teach the community about sanitation and safety techniques during the Ebola outbreak.

Health and Nutrition

WHI distributed 200 insecticide-treated mosquito nets for pregnant women, lactating mothers and the elderly people in Kamaron. The nets will kill and repel mosquitoes carrying malaria, one of the leading causes of death in Africa. Sarah Kanu, one of the beneficiaries, stated, “My kids have frequently suffered from malaria, but I believe that with this net supply my children will no longer be so frequently sick with malaria.”