April 2008: harvest of the maize planted at the school
In December 2007, we planted maize around the sports field of the Jacaranda school, in an effort to develop a spirit of self sufficiency among our students. Four months later, the maize had fully developped and we were able to harvest it. The children did the harvest in no time; they are indeed used to work in the fields along with their guardians and families. Maize flour is cooked into nsima, the staple food of Malawi, and throughout the country, literally everybody is growing maize. It is even planted along the roads... The six bags of 50KG maize we harvested at the Jacaranda school will be used towards our porridge program: everyday at 10.00AM, each student gets a half liter cup of phala, a porridge made with maize flour, sugar and groundnuts.

We are planning next year to develop this maize planting activity and further encourage students to participate in the program. We have also turned a small parcel of land into a permanent school garden, where the children learn how to grow various crops.