CONTACT:
Cara Pattison
Executive Director
Bola Moyo
Phone: 503-508-8899
E-mail:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Nonprofit Launches Community Garden
in Famine-stricken Malawi, Africa

November 8, 2005, Portland, OR—As Southern Africa faces its fiercest drought in a decade, along with high fertilizer costs and low seed supply, one Portland-based nonprofit is distributing hope, resources, and a hand up. Local nonprofit Bola Moyo launched a community garden late last month in the southern African country of Malawi, helping one community of women and children rise above the hunger that currently threatens nearly 40% of Malawi’s population.

On two acres of land in the village of Kazimoto, just outside of Balaka, Bola Moyo’s Malawian In-Country Director, Margaret Nandoli is training a number of widows and their extended families on growing maize, pumpkins, and peanuts. Bola Moyo began this project in earnest last month by providing the training, land, seed, and fertilizer in time for the October planting season and pending rains. The widows will maintain and harvest the crops to benefit their own extended families, the AIDS orphans many are caring for, as well as other vulnerable children in the community.

The small community that benefits from this project is a far cry from the five million Malawians the UN World Food Programme warns are threatened by starvation in the coming year. But this project is likely to serve as a starting point for future Bola Moyo programs, says Cara Pattison, the organization’s Executive Director.   

“The community garden is a small but important step toward our future agricultural programs,” she said, mentioning plans for greater women’s empowerment through micro-loans. “We weren’t intending on launching this project so soon, but had to respond to the current crisis.”

Bola Moyo, which means, “better life” in the Malawian language of Chichewa, was started in November of 2004 by Ms. Pattison and her husband Dustin after the twenty-something couple graduated from college. A summer volunteer trip to Malawi the year before had impressed upon the couple the warmth of the Malawian people and the human catastrophe unfolding there.

The organization's goals are to support and mobilize communities in response to poverty, suffering, and inequality. The current focus is primarily on improving the lives of children impacted by HIV through economically empowering their caretakers, assisting and funding their educations, and through opening greater discussion on gender and health issues via the creative arts.

“If you want to work with people you have to listen to them," said Ms. Pattison. "The Malawian people, particularly the women, have made it clear that food and opportunities to grow their own food, are their number one priorities. And we'll do whatever we can to support them.”

A number of recent high profile news stories have helped to bring the growing food crisis to the attention of the West. Last week, the New York Times ran a three-part front-page feature on Malawi’s famine, deforestation, and prisons, and the Washington Post published a front-page story on the drought that was then syndicated in many major markets. In its Nov. 14 issue, Newsweek will run a 1,000-word article on the confluence of Malawian politics and the food shortage.    

Cara Pattison has been amazed by the increased media coverage. “Africa is all too often overlooked in the national news, especially places like Malawi,” she said. “These stories have rightly brought this tiny country into the national consciousness.”

Cara and Dustin Pattison, who currently divide their time between working in Portland and Malawi, must raise an additional $50,000 by their next trip in late January to fund the upcoming agriculture, skills training, and education programs.

“The news stories must translate into action. People here in Portland can act by visiting Bola Moyo’s website, donating online, and contacting us about getting further involved,” said Ms. Pattison. “We rely on the help and generosity of this community. As we approach the holiday season, we should not only be thankful, but give more people in Malawi something to be thankful about.”

www.bolamoyo.org

Photos available upon request.

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