Harvest

Slide 1: 

Our time will come. We will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.

Slide 2: 

Ally Ouedraogo is celebrating being able to harvest enough millet to feed his family. It seems like a simple, ordinary story. But nothing could be more extraordinary. Christian Aid/Karen Hedges 1

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Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. Life expectancy at birth is just 51 years. Most people rely on agriculture to survive, but climate change has brought a 30-year drought to the region. The drought is hitting poor communities hard. 2

Slide 4: 

Fifty years ago Ally’s land was full of greenery. Sadly, by the mid-1980s climate change had turned his land into a desert. But when Ally looked at his land, he chose to see something different – possibility. Ally worked for 20 years to bring his land to life. Christian Aid/Sarah Filbey 3

Slide 5: 

Ally used Zai farming to turn his desert to a harvest: Small holes are dug in the land. Grain is planted in the holes with organic fertilisers. Rainwater is retained in the area around the grain. Christian Aid/Karen Hedges 4

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Ally also used rock belts to irrigate his land: Rock belts follow the contours of the land. The belts hold in water, the source of life. Now Ally’s land is fertile again, and Ally can provide for his family. Christian Aid/Karen Hedges 5

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Ally is not content to stop here. He is working with Christian Aid partner Reseau Marp to test drought-resistant seeds and help other communities. Now many communities in the region are using rock belts and the Zai technique to give their land new life. 6 Christian Aid/Karen Hedges

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Reseau Marp helps whole communities harvest the desert: Offering training on how to use Zai farming and rock belts. Providing farming equipment, such as ploughs and wheelbarrows, and fertiliser and seeds. Developing new seed types that can better survive the harsh conditions. 7 Christian Aid/Karen Hedges

Slide 9: 

Christian Aid stands alongside people like Ally, mourning with them when times are tough, working for their future, and sharing their joy when they harvest. N’Dogo Karambe used to play to celebrate harvest. Lack of rain in the Sahel region means his flute is now rarely heard Christian Aid/Sarah Filbey 8

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As an individual: £7.50 could provide enough drought-resistant millet seed for a farmer in Burkina Faso to harvest a year’s food for four people – from the desert. Christian Aid/Karen Hedges 9

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As a congregation: £62 could help a poor community in the Sahel region turn their desert into a harvest. This money could provide a trainer to give a day’s instruction on drought-resistant farming techniques. Christian Aid/Karen Hedges 10

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As we grasp God’s bigger picture, we see an end to poverty and suffering in sight. And we are strengthened as we work to change mourning into dancing… and deserts into harvests. Christian Aid/Sarah Filbey 11

Slide 13: 

Thank God for the hope of harvest. Thank God for the gift of ‘eternity in our hearts’, for God’s vision of a world without suffering. Pray for the places at the heart of that vision – for Burkina Faso and other places where harvests are becoming more scarce. Pray for the people at the heart of that vision – for Ally and others like him who work so hard to feed and care for their families and for those who support them. Pray that God’s vision might settle in our hearts, and move us to commit long-term to those that suffer. 12

Slide 14: 

Father of creation We thank you for the miracle of growth You have provided. Give us eyes of faith to see what a seed can become And hearts of hope that don’t give up until it grows. May we give freely to those in need – Sharing their sorrow when crops fail; Their resolute vision for change; And their joy when they harvest. And help us to be constant in prayer Until we see every poor community reap the harvest You long for. Amen. 13

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© Christian Aid 2008 UK registered charity no. 1105851 Company no. 5171525 Scotland charity no. SC039150 Northern Ireland charity no. XR94639 Company no. NI059154 Christian Aid/Karen Hedges