A $15,000 investment is revolutionizing food production in Nigeria. Sister Irene O’Neill explains how Sisters Rising Worldwide empowered Catholic Sisters to empower the people. Host: Sister Maxine Kollasch.
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Sister Rejane
This Random Nun Clip is brought to you by A Nun's Life Ministry.
Sister Maxine
I'm Sister Maxine, and my guest is Sister Irene O'Neill, founder and director of Sisters Rising Worldwide, which uses technology and innovative ways to support peace and justice work around the globe. What are some of the programs that have had funding so far? Can you give some examples?
Sister Irene
Oh, my gosh, yeah. One program that is just really fun. I just heard again from the sister in Nigeria. They had a problem, a very severe problem of marauders going across the countryside and in this phase, they are killing farmers and taking their animals. And so the farmers, those that survived, flee, or the ones that don't, the women and children are running down to the main cities where the sisters are gathering them, to house them and feed them and take care of them until they could figure out what to do. Problem is that because the farmers have left their fields or have been killed, there's a food shortage. And the youth are wanting to go back to the farms, and they have this real surge of "I want to feed my people." And the sisters are saying, "Honey, you are going to get killed." So they're really trapped. And so I connected this sister with some people here who do vertical farming. And they had never heard of that. And I said, "Well, do you have walls? If you have walls, there's ways to construct like a ladder, if you picture like a step ladder against the wall, and on the steps, you put troughs for food." And they were just floored at that. And so, for $15,000 Sister Florence was able to have--she had to help the engineer figure out how to make them, because it's a new concept in Nigeria--how to make a contraption, that would be like a huge stepladder thing. She had to made for each of the youth under her care. And they raised food. And they showed pictures and you know, huge heads of lettuce and all different kinds of food growing in these troughs. And the people in Nigeria and around these towns started to hear about it and see it and they all want one, they want one now, and they figured they could even grow food during the dry season, they could figure out how to do that. And the children, the youth, are figuring out "Well, we could sell some of this food for a little bit." So it's just expanding! $15,000 is going to change the food distribution and ability to grow it in Nigeria.
Sister Maxine
And to be such a source of hope at a time when it would be easy to become despondent about everything. And here, to be able to find some hope in the midst of a difficult situation otherwise. That really is wonderful.
Sister Irene
eah, yeah, it really is. And I can tell you many stories. I would say that one of the ripple effects is that the sisters usually have their finger on the pulse of how to make it expand not through them, but through the people they're serving. They extend the wealth and the healing of the of the countryside or whatever it is it needs healing. Yeah.
Sister Maxine
The people are rightfully the leaders of it.
Sister Irene
Yes. Yep.
Sister Rejane
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This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.
