A volunteer from Flintshire has raised over £400 towards planting Tanzanian school gardens by sowing and selling seeds in Flintshire.
Catherine O’Farrell, from Treuddyn, is Digital Manager for Tanzania Development Trust & Mboni ya Vijana Group (MVG, Swahili for "Eyes of the Youth").
As a keen gardener, Miss O’Farell began sowing seeds in her garden last year.
She said: “I got a little excited sowing Amaranthus ("Love Lies Bleeding") seeds, ending up with well over 200 plants!”.
She then decided to sell these plants and seeds within the local Flintshire community to “help the birds and bees” as well as help raise money for a Tanzanian community.
The £400 profits from the sale of the plants were donated to Mboni ya Vijana.
Miss O’Farrell told the Leader; “They planted 600 orange trees & 200 lemon trees in school gardens in Kigoma, Tanzania to not only tackle climate change and restore their degrading land, but to also help feed the hungry students in schools and combat hunger and malnutrition.”
Tanzania is facing extreme impacts from Climate Change including extended periods of droughts with short but heavy rainfalls leading to flooding.
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Mboni ya Vijana is a grassroots community non-profit organisation that work on projects that support rural communities that changes people's lives in Kigoma, Tanzania.
Examples of these projects include; protecting the environment and climate change, community development and better agriculture.
Miss O’Farell requested for the money to go towards planting fruit trees to help ease hunger in the communities and “potentially even (help with) income generation”.
She used her personal funds to buy soil for the plants and created posters and cards which were put outside her house for the community to purchase.
After being rushed to A&E and requiring emergency surgery Miss O’Farrell’s mother took up the baton and helped to take the plants to carboot sales and markets.
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The Flintshire local hopes to continue her philanthropic endeavours and hopes to launch a website and corresponding social media accounts.
The website will provide more information about fundraising opportunities to help Tanzanain communities.
The Tanzanian Development Trust accepts donations towards the planting of trees with £5 purchasing 10 seedlings.
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