A local Community Owned Project: Nyatyityu Nutritional and Herbal Garden
by The Editors
This photostory was produced by Tendayi and Cynthia Kureya; PANOS; SAFAIDS Zimbabwe and photography by Tendayi Kureya
My name is Hegger Ndagurwa. I am a care facilitator with Holy-Ghost Home Based Care (HBC) programme. The programme is based in Nyachityu village in Mutare South District in Zimbabwe. This is a predominantly dry area. Our programme offers multiple on-site services to address family needs more holistically. We cater for a total of 6,011 orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). Five hundred and one of these beneficiaries belong to child- headed households.
We also look after people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. The programme has a grinding mill and sewing projects which enable income generation. For the young people, we run projects like carpentry, welding and sewing. Currently, the project supports 16 people who are on Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART). In this story, I will focus on our nutritional and herbal garden shown below.
Emerging issue: Community ownership
The climate in my village is very dry. We receive low annual rainfall and thus water availability is a big problem. Subsistence farming is our main source of livelihood and many of us cannot afford water pumps. Our garden serves a community where most members have little income and cannot afford formal health remedies. Furthermore, a large proportion of our community are apostolic faith believers who do not seek formal medical remedies.
Identifying Responses
As a support, our local authority donated a piece of land, which is more than two hectares. Complemented by assistance from Irish Aid, we managed to fence about three acres of this land. Currently, we use the fenced portion as our nutritional and herbal garden. Irish Aid also supported us with a borehole and bush pump, which is the main source of water for our garden.
The garden is divided into two portions. We use the first portion to grow herbs, including lemon grass, garlic, Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra. The most popular herb is Artemisia annua, which is used for colds, coughs, influenza, fever, loss of appetite, colic, headache, ear ache, malaria, intestinal worms and clearing eye cataracts, amongst others. After harvesting our fresh herbs, we dry them and send them to the Diocese of Mutare Community Care Programme (DOMCCP) Herbal Centre in Mutare for processing. The herbs are processed into soaps, ointments, cough mixtures and capsules. We use the processed remedies to help our HBC clients.
Impact on the Community
We use the second portion of our garden to grow vegetables. The vegetables we grow are proving effective in feeding child-headed households and giving nutritious food to HIV infected HBC clients. A portion of the garden has been allotted to some HBC programme clients. The beneficiaries also grow vegetables, which they use as relish and sell the surplus for income generation. Also below are testimonies from some of the beneficiaries.
Nutritional and Herbal Garden at Holy-ghost Nyachityu. In the insert is the herbal garden at the Diocese of Mutare Community Care Programme (DOMCCP) Head Quarters where propagation of herbs is done
Care givers standing by the bush pump in the garden, preparing for the demonstration of planting of Artemisia annua seeds by the M&E Manager for DOMCCP HQ Herbal Centre (wearing a sun hat)
Demonstration of propagation of Artemisia annua
Two care givers with one holding artemisia afra. In the insert are Hegger (in White T-shirt) and caregivers displying assortment of processed herbs
Podzamoyo Gatura getting covo from one of her five vegetable beds. “”My name is Podzamoyo Gatura. I am 26 years old. I have five chi sister-in-law?s child. I was once bedridden and the herbs from the garden revitalised me. I have five vegetable beds in the community garden. I use the vegetables to feed my family. I sometimes sell surplus and use the money to buy books for my children. When I have plenty, I share my produce with vulnerable children in the community. I am happy because the garden changed my life. My husband, who is not well, also gets relief by using herbs from the garden.”
Majory Chewing lemon grass. “My name is Majory Chitambira. I was sick for five years and could hardly do any physical work. I could not work in the field or walk to the shops, which are hardly a kilometre away. My condition changed when I was introduced to lemon grass. The herb is now my favourite beverage. I enjoy and take it twice daily. My husband who is HIV positive benefits greatly from Artemisia annua.”
Lovemore Tafirei milking his cow. “My name is Lovemore Tafirei. A cataract in my left eye cleared after applying juices from Artemisia annua. The cow I am milking had a similar problem and I used the same herb to treat it”.
Mrs. Tafirenyika applying the chilli ointment to her legs. “My name is Mrs. Tafiranyika. My husband is the village head for Bemhiwa. My family belongs to the apostolic church and we do not believe in or use formal medical remedies. The natural herbs from the community garden are proving to be an alternative source of therapy in managing several aliments in our community. For years I had severe pain in my legs. I could not work or even stand for long. I was never diagnosed so I do not know what the exact problem was. The chilli ointment I got from the caregivers cured the problem.The ointment is made from chilly powder, cooking oil and bees wax. A number of people from my church followed suit and are also benefiting from the garden. The whole community is happy with the nutritional and herbal garden. My husband, our chief and a bee-keeper, contributes all the wax he gets to the community programme. As community leaders, we have witnessed people with skin problems, eye cataracts and stomach ache recover after using herbs. The herbs are proving effective on our livestock too. Artemisia annau actually cleared a cataract on one of my own cattle.” In the inset is her husband chief Tafirenyika showing some of his bee hives.
Granny Hilda Kapfuyawanza looks after four orphans including Ngoni 13. Ngoni has been using Artemisia annua for a month and the granny claims to have noted marked improvement on his skin problem. Insert Ngoni watering a family garden at his homestead. “My name is Hilda Kapfuyawanza.? I have lost children to HIV and AIDS. I look after my four?grand children. The eldest child of the four is Ngoni who is 13 years old. Ngoni is a good child who helps me with household chores. Ngoni has a terrible skin problem which covers most of his face.? His condition improved greatly after using Artemisia annua I got from the community herbal garden. The garden is very helpful. I get several herbal remedies from there when my grand children get sick.”
