Grace Tom is a 31 year-old wife and mother of two children, and she is from the Mutweba village in the Mugali payam of South Sudan. 'My hope was to start growing and living off of my own food', she says. She enrolled in FARM STEW training back in April 2020, two weeks after coming from a refugees’ camp in Uganda. Prior to the training she had no knowledge or skills about effective agricultural practices.

'As I received regular training by FARM STEW, my thinking and behavior changed', says Grace. 'I learned the benefits of soybeans, as well as vegetable management, composting and healthy cooking methods. '

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Today, Grace is happy to say that she no longer struggles to buy food to provide for her family. She has a kitchen garden in which she grows food. And soon she plans to start growing soybeans so that she can feed her family with nutritious soy products such as milk, eggs and snacks. In addition to all of this, FARM STEW's message has enabled Grace and other women in the community to save money for school fees for their children since they no longer need funds to buy food.

Instead of buying produce Grace now sells produce from her garden to make a profit. Some of the produce she sells include eggplants, green pepper, and tomatoes, and soon soy beans. 

'I am thankful for the knowledge that I've received through FARM STEW. It's helped improve the health of my family members, especially my son, who was once admitted to the Nimule hospital for a feeding program due to malnutrition. Also, FARM STEW's approach of directing people to God as a source of abundant life has rekindled hope in many desperate people. My prayer is that the FARM STEW will spread and in doing so, promote resilience among women like me.'

Thank you to our donors in the FARM STEW Family for making this possible!