Opportunity Arises pt 3

Mrs Sibanda

Recently, a Field day was held at Justin Thebe's field in Mablauwuni village. About 25 people from the community there to see Justin's tomato crop which is looking healthy.

Justin shared his testimony about how he, like many other young people, wanted to head off to South Africa hoping to find greener pastures. his mother told him about Ebenezer's  Selection Camp. He was selected and spent 2 years at Ebenezer. He was then selected to continue on the Advancer programme. With all the water at his home, Justin was selected to become a model farmer in the community. he agreed to this and left the Advancer programme. His tomato crop is doing exceptionally well and he is setting an example for the community on how to do things with a high standard. The older men in the community now also want to model what Justin has done.

Justins tomatoes looking healthy

Peter Cunningham also spoke about the vision and the way forward for Beyond belief in terms of using every water point in the community and spoke about Beyond Belief reaching as far as Mtshabezi which is on the Beit Bridge road (quite a distance from Mablauwuni village)

Justin Thebe

Mrs Sibanda, one of the Community Leaders encouraged the community not to be jealous of Justin or the Thebe family for doing so well. She encouraged the community to support him and to chase any stray animal that may venture into his field.

Everyone was totally impressed with the crops.


Well done Justin. I hope you get an amazing harvest from this crop.

By Molly Manhanga

Update on Mkhululi Ncube

Mkhululi Ncube

Mkhululi, better known as Cooper, was also part of the team of 6 in the Beyond Belief Team based out at Mapisa. He has since come back and is now a model farmer in the Wovi area. He is still to sign a lease agreement which will determine his length of stay. Wovi is about 4km from Shalom Camp site. some of the advancers (boys) will join Mkhululi.
They will start off by planting onions before doing chickens which will be a part of Beyond Belief chickens. They will also be renovating the housing so Cooper will be separated from his sweet wife Caroline  for a bit. She will be based in Bulawayo while the renovations take place.

By Molly Manhanga

Update on Brilliant Khoza

Brilliant was part of the Beyond Belief team based in Mapisa for 8 months. However, due to the water shortages in Mapisa, Brilliant has returned to Ebenezer Training Centre and will be working with the apprentices in their fields. His role will be more monitoring and evaluating of apprentices as well as overseeing their fields. He started on the 3rd April 2012 and Brilliant says that the apprentices are now taking ownership of their fields and improving in their work ethic.

By Molly Manhanga 

Farewell to Kevin and Gill Jones

Kevin and Gill Jones have been serving at Ebenezer on and off for the last three years. They are preparing to head back to the U.K next week. Their contribution has been greatly appreciated and they will be missed.

Thank you so much Kevin and Gill.......

By Molly Manhanga

Update on Stores....

Simangaliso Ndlovu is standing in for Pretty Ndlovu who is on leave for the month of April. Simanga was saying that baby marrows, tomatoes, beans and groundnuts are the main crops coming into Stores. The apprentices also purchased fertiliser on Monday - mono photasium phosphate and calcium sulphate and nitrate. Things seem pretty quite at the moment.

By Molly Manhanga

Update on Lorator Nyathi

The last post on Lorator was when she had planted her tomatoes but several didn't germinate and she was about to gap fill.

Her tomatoes are now 3 weeks old and have started flowering and bearing fruits. They really look healthy. Lorator will start harvesting at the end of April. I caught up with her this morning as she was putting calcium on her crops.

Let's hope she has a good harvest!

By Molly Manhanga

What's growing now?

Maize

Groundnuts

Peas

By Molly Manhanga



Meet Siphethokuhle Ndlovu

Siphethokuhle Ndlovu comes from Zwehamba Village in Mapisa. She is 19 years old and lives with her parents. Siphe has 4 older brothers, 3 older sisters and 1 younger sister. There are 9 siblings in this family. She has been at Ebenezer for 9 months. Last year Siphe grew tomatoes and she feels they did well. Currently she has peas in her 30m x 30m field. At first she had problems with the peas as they didn't germinate well and she had to replant again. Now they are doing well.
Siphe enjoys the lessons at Ebenezer especially Spiritual with Stephen Manhanga. She attends the United Pentecostal Church.

By Molly Manhanga

Meet Petronella Ndlovu

Petronella comes from Mablauwuni Village and she is 22 years old. She lives with an aunt as her dad passed away and her mum remarried. She has 2 older brothers and 1 older sister. Petronella has been at Ebenezer for 9 months now. Last year she grew tomatoes which did well and currently, she has peas in her 30m x 30m field. She is very optimistic and hopes for a great harvest. Petronella enjoys farming as well as the lessons and she attends the Seventh day Adventist Church.

Let's hope she has a great season........

By Molly Manhanga