2016 has been a busy year for the AusCongo Network. We took the time to reflect on our achievements in October at our AGM. We are particularly proud of the community development projects we managed to run over the last 12 months.
We successfully ran an agriculture project where we were able to get the community working on the 14 hectares of land we recently purchased thanks to a grant from the Entrust foundation. On this land, the community were able to plant 3 hectares of cowpea fields and a further 3 hectares of Cassava. While the harvest of the Cowpea crop was not as successful as we had hoped, it will have enriched the soil with nitrogen, which will be beneficial to future crops. The Cassava will be harvested in November and sold.
Not only were we able to produce crops, but also successfully reduced unemployment in the area by employing labourers to work the land. Over 450 people participated in this agriculture project. The project paid salaries to labourers who were then able to support their families, pay for education, clothes and food for their children and dependents.
Finally, this project was able to help 35 children – 20 male and 15 female – complete their secondary education. By working on the land after school the students were able to earn the money they needed to pay for school.