Esther's daily fight for survival against hunger

Esther, 20, had a lot of responsibility from a young age. As the eldest of six siblings, she would look after her brothers and sisters while her parents worked on a farm far away. But like almost half the population in her home of Karamoja, northeast Uganda, her family faced dire food shortages.

‘If you don't find food, it means you go to sleep hungry.’

With the possibility of starvation, Esther ventured out to find food under the hot sun. Inside the thorny bushes of the balanite tree, Esther would cut herself picking leaves to collect for her family's single meal of the day. But the vegetation of the dry Ugandan land didn’t provide her young siblings with the nutrients they desperately needed, leaving them vulnerable to illness and malnutrition.

How Tearfund is responding to the hunger crisis

At Tearfund, we believe Jesus’ love leads us to people and communities whose lives are being destroyed by hunger and food insecurity.

In Uganda, Jesus’ love led us to work with Esther and many others in her community suffering from hunger. When she started attending church, she heard about the agricultural training that was being offered at the church’s co-operative farm through one of Tearfund’s local partners in the area.

Esther joined the training programme and learnt life-changing skills in sustainable farming, meaning she can now grow vegetables year round. And with water tanks and irrigation systems supplied by Tearfund and our local partners, the community’s crops and kitchen gardens are more resilient – even able to last through drought.

The training didn’t just give her temporary relief from hunger; it’s given her family the resilience to escape the hunger crisis.

‘Hunger won’t touch us again,’ says Esther.

Esther's family have gone from hungry to hopeful. She wasn't just given a meal. She was given the recipe to escape starvation.

Thanks to the training, she’s able to grow her own vegetables to give her siblings several meals a day. Esther even has extra vegetables to sell at the market to make more money and help her siblings go to school.

‘The way the training has changed my life, it has also changed our home.’

Help us transform more communities in Jesus' name

Esther’s story is an inspiring example of what’s possible when people can flourish and experience their God-given potential. Tearfund’s Transforming Communities training is a primary driver of this transformation, helping people who have felt powerless take control of their own futures.

Following the love of Jesus, we work with local churches to support communities to drive lasting change. Together, they build an action plan. In Karamoja, this meant agricultural projects taking root. But around the world, it also means schools get built, health clinics open, and roads are laid. And over time, whole communities lift themselves out of poverty.

This is only possible thanks to our faithful supporters. People, like you, led by Jesus’ love.

Your gift could help people overcome hunger and other global crises.

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