Growing Nutritious Vegetables

“The service we render others is the rent we pay for our room on earth.”
--Wilfred Grenfell

Silas and Betty Atugonza, Horizon Uganda’s National Directors and leaders of its Western Region, have dedicated their entire lives to serving the orphans of their country.

One of the very exciting orphan care ministries that the Atugonzas have raised up is the Ibonde Children’s Home.

Ibonde is situated on 12 acres of land, just outside the Town of Fort Portal. It is home to approximately 100 orphans from Kabarole and Kasese Districts.

The kids attend Covenant Primary School across the street from the Home. This award-winning institution is one of several elementary schools owned and operated by Horizon Uganda, and is attended by 450 students. The principal is, himself, an orphan who grew up sponsored by Horizon.

In order for Ibonde’s team to provide excellent care for our sponsored children and youth, we have worked hard to build the infrastructure necessary to support them.

In addition to building great facilities, the Atugonzas and their team have grown fruit trees, planted crops, and developed sustainable flocks and herds of cows, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs, rabbits, and so on to feed our Ibonde kids.

The next step in the buildout of this infrastructure is to purchase and install a greenhouse for the purpose of growing vegetables in aggressive ways.

Silas’ dream is to grow nutritional veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, green peppers, lettuces, green beans, broccoli, and so on.

“These can be of great health to the children,” he told me recently in a phone call. “We can also sell some of these vegetables at market to raise some funds to help our Ibonde kids further.”

A greenhouse is a great asset to any vegetable plot, enabling gardeners to make the most of the sun.

Even the smallest, unheated structure will allow gardeners, in Ibonde’s case our paid staff and older orphans, to extend the seasons and produce good crops of a wide range of vegetables.

The cost required to purchase and install the greenhouse on Ibonde’s property is $13,800.

The advantages for the Ibonde team to have its own greenhouse include:

• Starting off hardy vegetable plants earlier than outdoors
• Getting earlier harvests of tender plants
• Growing tender crops through the summer months
• Trying more exotic, heat-loving plants
• Making use of the autumn sun to raise late salad crops and so on

Your gift of $35, $75, $150, $300, $500 or whatever you feel led to give will help make it possible for us to purchase and install this strategic greenhouse.

Grateful for God, the Atugonzas, Ibonde, and you,

Bob Pearson
Founder and President

P.S. Your gift of $35, $75, $150, $300, or whatever you feel led to give will move us toward the goal!