From Garbage to Organic Veg!
The Kibera Youth Reform Group transformed this garbage site
to this lush organic plot!!
105 days from start to harvest!!
Kiberas Youth Reform Organic Farm -Count down to first harvest!!!
The Kibera Youth Reform Organic Farm originally a 3 meter deep garbage dump, is finally only days away from harvest!! The transformation which started in April 2008 has taken a mere three and a half months, prooving anything is possible.
In April, Claire Niala came to me with a proposition. The Kibera Youth Reform Group, a group comprising 70 girls and guys in Kibera who had decided to change their ways of crime, requested assistance with an idea they had. They wished to transform a garbage site into a farm, growing crops for their own consumption as well as for sale if possible.
To begin with, I needed to see the area in question and my friend Wakio Seaforth went into Kibera with Mr Saidi one of the representatives of the group. She returned with the following pictures
From then until now the youth have worked at a terriffic pace to make their dreams come true. Assisted by Dominic Wanjihia who trained them in setting up their drip irrigation system, Johara who arranged the soil tests, Zak who assisted in the early days, Claire who made the connections, raised finance and guided the group with their finances and myself…mainly co-ordinating, planning and advising, the following pictures are a testimony to the youth groups hard work and success.
Appropriate Seeding-Easy Planting Tool?
Dominic always impresses me. No two things are done the same way if he has anything to do with it.
We are growing sunflowers between the veg as part of an experimental solution to cleaning the soil. Rather than the usual stoop and plant , Dom designed an easy planting tool, a plastic hallow pipe with recycled yoghurt pot tied to the top and a stick tied to the bottom. Without stooping all you have to do is jab the stick into the ground to make a hole, take a couple of seed from the pot and drop them down the pipe Done! No back ache farming!
The guys and gals in the youth group are almost fully fledged farmers.
CHECK IT OUT!!
Totally Awesome !! 
Where there’s a will there’s a farm!
The youth are ecstatic!! The farm is almost fully kitted, the first of its kind in Africas largest slum Kibera,
Where there’s a will, there’s a farm!!
Dominic making sure the piping fits!!
