From Hopeless to HopeFULL

Beatrice, 11, and her family benefit from agriculture, one of the primary projects in Moyo Area Programme in Zambia. In 2014, her stepfather, Patrick Nzala, was one of the first beneficiaries of goats with World Vision’s Animal Give-back program. The goats were an immediate benefit because the family could sell them for food when they multiplied. 

During that time, Patrick experienced muscle spasms and then it wasn’t long before couldn’t move. “I had given up. I thought, ‘This is my end.’ I thought I would die.” Before, he says, “I used to sit on a mat made of sacks. All day. Every day. I never used to go to church.” 

“We saw how they were struggling. He was vulnerable but viable,” says Eugern Siawala, who directs World Vision’s agriculture programs in Moyo. “We saw how he could grow vegetables. He was working in a group with his other friends.” 

Eugern suggested that Patrick borrow money from VisionFund microfinance program to buy a treadle pump. “I’ve been working with him to ensure he moves from the level where he is to another,” she says. Patrick got a better pump in 2017. This year he took out another loan to buy and sell seed. Today the family is financially and food-secure. Patrick grows sunflower, beans, okra, tomatoes and maize. “We now have plenty of food,” says Patrick.