Giving FoodsDay
Give a (wo)man an fish, she eats for a day; Teach a woman to fish she eats for a lifetime.
Food is our most basic need. Traditionally the Batwa people were hunter/gatherers. When they were evicted from the forest during the government’s early efforts to protect the Mountain gorillas around 1991, the Batwa way of life was upended.
Hunger has been a reality since then. From its inception, Redemption Song Foundation has addressed hunger, operating an "Educational Soup Kitchen" for children. We continue to further this mission by teaching agriculture practices to families so they can not only grow their own food, but create businesses based on agriculture — from animal husbandry of goats, rabbits, and chickens to vegetable gardens and honeybees —depending on personal interest and other skills!
What does undernutrition look like? We have all seen photos of the distended bellies of children who don’t receive enough protein and develop kwashiorkor. The World Health Organization lists four specific subtypes of undernutrition: deficiencies in vitamins and minerals, stunting, being underweight, and wasting.
Each type has a specific cause and individuals can experience more than one type. Children who experience undernutrition are more prone to disease. They also can’t learn as well as those who receive sufficient food.
In the vein of "Give a (wo)man an fish, she eats for a day; Teach a woman to fish she eats for a lifetime" we are teaching sustainable, organic agriculture business projects to the indigenous Batwa of Kalehe Village in Uganda -- one of the poorest, most marginalized tribes in the world.
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