This is Olin Lawolo. Olin’s grandmother,
Silisa, is a farmer in a small village called Biouti, on the Indonesian
island of Nias. Silisa grows mainly corn and peanuts, and Olin enjoys
helping her with the harvest.
Many of the people in Biouti work as farmers,
rubber tree tappers or small-scale traders, but the closest market is in
a town more than 27 miles away, and transportation is scarce. Even
before the tsunami in 2004, people struggled to make ends meet.
Traditional farming and animal husbandry practices limited the amount of
crops farmers grew and left their crops and livestock susceptible to
disease.
The tsunami made their situation even worse,
destroying roads, farms and other local assets. After the tsunami,
Lutheran World Relief partnered with local organization Yayasan
DaTafahea (YDT) to help the people of Biouti recover.
Olin’s grandmother received tools and seeds to
help her grow crops; training on more effective agricultural and animal
husbandry methods; and a piglet to raise and help to renovate her
pigpen. Today, her crops have improved and she is earning more income,
which she uses to help support her family. Other farmers in her
community report similar improvements.
By supporting women farmers like Silisa, LWR not
only ensures that families have food and income to support themselves
today, we also plant the seeds for a better, stronger future for girls
like Olin.
