Viola’s Story

Supporting family and community through climate action

Viola* is the mother of Sharon*, one of the street connected girls supported by S.A.L.V.E. Sharon had left home in search of work because despite searching for work every day, and being willing to do any job going, her mother, a single parent to 6 children, was struggling to meet the basic needs of her family such as food and shelter.

After resettling Sharon, Viola was assessed and enrolled into our Permaculture Business Empowerment programme. The aim was to support her to increase her crop production on the small area of land she had available so that her family no longer had to go hungry. She could use part of the harvest to feed her family and sell what wasn’t needed to purchase other food items. After the training, Viola was supported to start her farm and she saw quick improvements in her harvests. As a result, as well as improving the family’s daily diet, Viola’s income increased 300% thanks to the sale of excess crops.

She was also supported to run two peer training sessions to share her new knowledge with members of her community – in total, 124 community members attended her sessions. Not only did these sessions help Viola’s community, they also helped improve her own self-confidence and self-worth and enabled her to form a network of support within her community.