A story of change

When you need food for your family, you probably head to the supermarket, takeout restaurant or food pantry.

Things are a little different for families in Indonesia, where Church World Service efforts have positively affected more than 17,000 people in 16 communities this year.

Twelve women in West Timor, Indonesia, recently got together to form a farmers’ group. Their goal was to be more selfreliant and create a new source of income and nutrition for their families.

“What motivated us to establish this group was a desire to be more selfreliant, particularly ... for vegetable gardening," said Antonia Liunokas, the group’s treasurer. "This not only helps us meet our families’ food needs, it also helps us increase our income when we sell vegetables in the market.”

With motivation and new knowledge from being part of Timor Zero Hunger, group members grow a variety of vegetables  morning glory, shallots, spinach, tomatoes, and chili  in a garden that covers about twothirds of an acre.

“We are grateful for the information, new knowledge, mentoring and guidance from CWS staff and our agriculture extension workers. (We learned) not just about vegetablegrowing, but also group management and how to handle our finances,” said Ketura Selan, the group’s secretary. “Group members make between $5 and $8 in profit each harvest. We use $2 to buy new seeds and the rest we use to buy rice, salt and cooking oil,” she added. “For the future we will cultivate even more land with corn, beans and nuts. We also are planning a savings group.”

Essentials here in Monroe

The Monroe CROP Hunger Walk is a partner with Church World Service in efforts to bring a better life to people in Indonesia, victims of natural disasters in the USA, and to people in Orange County in need of food assistance.

Join or support the Monroe CROP Hunger Walk on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m.

To find out how you can be a part of this effort, call 7828386 or email fredsc@juno.com.