In South Sudan, many people depend on food aid to fill in the gap between what they can produce and what they can buy. However, food aid was not enough to prevent hunger amongst Frado Ayor Athuk’s family of 10 in the village of Makur Agar. To help families like Frado’s, Misean Cara supports a project of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans), which empowers women in agriculture to become self-sufficient in farming, ensuring that they have a sustainable income and food in the future. “Joining the project has empowered me,” says Frado, who after participating in the project is now the primary provider for her whole family. “Before the project, some days I could only collect leaves from the forest to make sure I had at least one meal a day. Now I harvest my vegetables twice a week, sell the extra, and use the profits to buy other necessities, including medicine for emergencies. In addition to growing vegetables, I have planted sorghum, maize and ground nuts to harvest and keep seeds for the next planting season.”

Photo: Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans)