Growing food for a growing family

Florinda Sose Mali is a mother of five children - all under six years of age. While a large family is a source of joy for many, living in the poorest region in Timor Leste meant that Florinda feared not being able to feed her young children. Timor Leste is one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia and the majority of people survive from subsistence farming. This means their food supply is vulnerable to even moderate changes in the weather or even the farmer’s health. 

Thankfully, Florinda and her family are not at the mercy of these uncontrollable factors anymore. She is a member of a kitchen garden group formed through CARE’s nutrition enhancement project. The group of 20 women share a kitchen garden, tools and newfound knowledge which has allowed them to increase their production, improve their health and earn an income.  

Florinda explains, “I have learnt how to prepare land and how to prepare seeds. I have also learnt about nutrition – how to prepare good meals for the children like putting some vegetables in their porridge.”

The group work together to grow more than twice the amount they used to produce as collective individuals. Their garden sprouts a variety of vegetables all year round – including corn, sweet potatoes, mustard and peanuts.  

The women also receive hygiene training on the importance of washing hands and covering food. “Before I got this information about health, my children were often sick. They would have a fever, cough and diarrhoea. Now I know how to keep them healthy and they are sick less often.” 

In conditions where contracting diarrhoea may be fatal, it’s with an enormous sense of relief and pride that Florinda admits that her new skills now keep her children safe. With all of the skills and knowledge that Florinda now has, she is able to provide a nutritious diet for her family and help to keep them healthy. 

She smiles as she explains that the process of learning these skills has been rewarding in more ways than one. “The best part of the project is learning to work in a group,” she says, as she looks over to the garden where the other women are working and laughing. “‘It’s very good, the burden and work load is reduced,” she says with a grin.