[ [link removed] ]Mercy Corps

Dear friend,

Every day, women around the world are breaking barriers and creating
meaningful change for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Today, on [ [link removed] ]International Women’s Day, I’m reflecting on all of the
incredible women I have met through my life and my work.

As Mercy Corps’ Africa Communications and Media Manager, I want to tell
you about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC
has the highest number of internally displaced people in Africa and is
experiencing one of the world’s largest hunger crises.

For more than 15 years, Mercy Corps has been providing urgent relief in
DRC and working with the Congolese people to build longer-term security
and stability. [ [link removed] ](Click here to learn more about our solutions to hunger
in the DRC.)

I want to introduce you to Adrienne Rubabaza Nzigre, a farmer and mother
whose children were often sick due to malnutrition and anemia. Through our
food security program, she learned how to grow a permagarden to provide
more reliable, nutritious food for her family.


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Adrienne’s permagarden allows her to prepare affordable, nutritious meals
for her family. "I enjoy eating vegetables, especially when I add spices.
They taste delicious," she says.


A permagarden is a small, at-home garden focused on water management
practices and building healthy soils to enable a variety of vegetables to
grow year round. [ [link removed] ](Click here to learn how to create a permagarden —
also called a keyhole garden — in your own backyard!)

But Adrienne’s garden produces more than just vegetables. It’s a source of
health, financial security, and community. Today, she can provide her
family with a variety of healthy foods — beans, cassava, maize, soy, and
sorghum — while the money she used to spend purchasing food can go to
other expenses.


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Adrienne says the Mercy Corps program has "taught everyone to work
hand-in-hand as a community." Here, Brigitte, a neighbor and program
participant, teaches a cooking class to other women in the village.


In addition to permagarden training, the Mercy Corps program provides
information about nutrition, cooking, personal hygiene, family planning,
and medical care during pregnancy.

The program’s participants are now teaching other women in their
community. “I am proud to see my fellow women changing their lives,”
Adrienne says. “When I visit them two or three times and realize they are
practicing what I taught, it gives me such pleasure.”

When faced with some of the most complex challenges in the world — hunger,
poverty, and conflict — women rise up with strength, determination, and
perseverance. When women do well, everyone benefits.

Thank you for being a part of our global community as we
partner with women all over the world to expand
opportunities, drive innovation, and make progress toward a brighter
future. Together, we can help advance women’s rights and challenge harmful
gender norms.

Thank you — and [ [link removed] ]Happy International Women’s Day,

[8]Wairima Ndungu Wairima Ndungu
Mercy Corps Africa Media & Communications Manager

Wairima taps her 14 years of experience — and her passion for telling
authentic, inspirational African stories — to provide strategic
communications support to 19 country offices, while connecting newsmakers,
donors, and policy makers to the information they need.


P.S. For more stories of inspiring women creating meaningful change in
their communities — [ [link removed] ]check out this collection of our top articles from
the past year.

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

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