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We’ve never been more grateful to be farmers than now: being able to still supply healthy food to our friends in time of crisis has been like a life dream fulfilled! And you all have been so patient as we quickly adapted to new delivery locations and order methods! As you know, our family’s heart is in providing nourishment to others.
So it pained us deeply to hear our adopted family in Uganda tell of the local villagers who literally have no food. Many of you are familiar with our family’s Ugandan connections: you’ve met Frank & Tom serving at market, you’ve drank some of the Ugandan coffee we import, you’ve read the farm updates on our yearly farmer-training visits there . . . Our family entered into the coffee import biz to provide the locals with a reliable market for their cash crops. But in times of crisis that’s not enough.
We’ve been pleased that we can report NO PRICE INCREASES on our Bauman’s products through this crisis. In Uganda, there’s no such protections. Our sister Ketrah has a rural grocery there and she reported that prices from her suppliers tripled in a 2-day span, and have continued inching upward. The long supply chains in America have all reminded us on the blessings of home gardening . . . Our rural community in Central Uganda is largely subsistence agriculture, so they seem much better situated to weather a food supply crisis. Until the rains stop. Equatorial Uganda has been battling a changing climate. Their gardens are withering. I carried some heirloom seeds to Sylvia last month but she reports their gardens will likely be completely dead if it doesn’t rain next week. Here, we have social services, food pantries, and food kitchens that provide a safety net for the truly destitute. In Uganda such programs are extremely limited. We have assembled a list of the 100 neediest families in a two village area: We’ve crafted a budget that will purchase two weeks of simple groceries for them: 4 kg rice, 3 kg beans, 3 kg corn flour and 1 bar of soap. Even at inflated prices, this translates to $14 USD per family. As were were assembling this list of needy families, the word came that one of the widows on the list had died. Cause of death has been attributed to starvation. We were shocked. We honestly didn’t know the problem was so advanced. Now we bear the burden that we should have organized sooner.
So. We’re not a non-profit; we’re Kansas farmers engaging in social enterprise. We’ve developed strong friendships in this rural region of Uganda over the last 5 years. We can’t explain why we love the people, but it may be that God had prepared this connection “for such a time as this”. But the need is greater than what we can personally respond to. Help us help our friends by contributing food in the midst of a global crisis. It seriously could save a life. (Stop by our booth at the markets this weekend to leave us cash or a check. Or click over on the buttons at the top or bottom of this article to leave a donation via PayPal.) As local Ugandans, our family there has ran one of Uganda’s most respected community development organizations (KYEMPAPU) for 12 years without outside partnerships. We know that they will do exactly as they’ve proposed and the food will go to the folks named, regardless of religion or politics.
All contributions go 100% towards food supplies.
All donations arrive in Uganda in less than 24 hours.
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Thank you!