Uganda: Orphans grow vegetables thanks to greenhouse
The Child Redeemed Mission (CRM) home located in Bwasi, Uganda is home to forty-one children, all from diverse backgrounds. Each of these forty-one children all share a painful and tragic beginning to their lives as orphaned children. The home's mission is to care for and support these children until they complete high school, and provide trade training or vocational education. Each child is fully cared for and provided health care, water and nutrition, clothing, education, and a positive lifestyle in a nourishing environment.
Located on three acres of fully fenced-in secure land, the CRM's grounds include facilities where the children can enjoy safety, gardens and room to play. In January of 2018, a greenhouse was added to the orphanage's compound, giving the home the ability to grow vegetables in a more protected environment.
In Bwasi, Uganda, temperatures are always high and the harsh equatorial sun is often brutal as it beams down on the unshaded compound. Such conditions restricted the ability to grow crops like tomatoes and peppers outdoors and presented the optimal opportunity to initiate the construction of a greenhouse, which would prove to be an enriching project for the missionary team and children at CRM.
"Although CRM is in the child raising business not the tomato raising business, learning how to plan and execute a successful project is an important lesson for children in rural Uganda especially. All of our children can go through a lot of produce each week as well,” tells Bob Hillebrand, Founder at Mission Servants Ministries.
The greenhouse which utilizes Solarwoven Ultra donated by Svensson, includes raised beds and drip irrigation. The Solarwoven Ultra plastic covering allows the Child Redeemed Mission home the ability to grow crops under protection and extend the growing season.
The construction of the greenhouse was just one of the many projects aimed at improving the operations and productivity at CRM. In addition to providing a valuable learning lesson and improving the sustainability of the operations at the compound, the project was also enjoyable and fun for everyone involved in the project. "Kidpower came in handy when we needed several dozen pairs of hands. Now that it is done... I will say that I had a blast doing it," writes Bob Hillebrand.