Davina was born in a barely accessible village in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, where women are vulnerable to violence and exploitation. She spent most of her life believing that there was no hope for her family. The solution? Here’s a clue: you might fancy spreading it on your scone...
Davina relies on farming to provide for her six children, but they can scarcely harvest enough to feed themselves, let alone sell on. ‘Life around here is hard,’ she says. ‘We do not have a market for our produce, so we are short of money.’
Short of money is an understatement. The family’s poverty means that Davina can only send one of her children to school. It can feel impossible for people like Davina to dream of a brighter future.
GUAVA FROM HEAVEN
Hope came to her family when a Tearfund staff member and our partner Action Entraide invited Davina and the other women in her village to a very unusual workshop…
Sabine from Tearfund had noticed that an abundance of guava fruit was growing there. A lot of the fruit was going to waste, as it couldn’t be stored. Whatever wasn’t eaten would be left to rot.
Sabine came up with a plan to utilise this God-given – and free – resource. It could be made into jam – which keeps for much longer and can be sold for a profit in the nearby village of Marabu.