Julienne Kukangisa Nyambudi is coming to Sweden on Saturday on April 2. In the Church calendar, the topic of the first Sunday of her stay, April 3, is ”the Bread of Life”. And this will be the main thread throughout her journey in Sweden. The goal of her trip is to raise SEK 75 000 in gifts and/or loans to the Nsanda farming project.

The Nsanda village is located about 20 kilometers from Matadi, on the other side of the Congo River. Nearby the village, the Nyambudi family owns 315 hectares of arable land. The soil is very fertile. You can grow peanuts, corn, soy beans, manioc, vegetables and many other utility plants. The fields have not been tilled since 2003, when the last harvest was gathered. That year, the Nyambudis visited Sweden during three months. They had hired a man to take care of the fields and the crop. He reaped the crop, sold it and embezzled the money. He even sold several farming tools and kept that money too. When the Nyambudis came back to Congo, the former employee was reported to the police and he was sentenced to two months in prison, and to pay back what he had stolen. He served the time, but the money was never returned.

Since this setback, the Nyambunis have let the land lie fallow. The capital needed to continue farming was gone. Squatters, total strangers to the Nyambudis, have moved into their house in the village. In front of the house, their Toyota jeep and a BM Volvo tractor are parked under a tarpaulin. The Nyambudis live in Luozi, about 150 kilometers from Nsanda, and the distance makes it difficult for them to manage the property.

A new beginning
The current plan of the Nyambudis is to set up leases with the eight people mentioned below who will become their tenant farmers. To begin with, each of the tenants will lease between 2 and 5 hectares. All of them are going to take our entrepreneurial course”Business plan – a first outline”. And all of them will produce a profit, which will make their business able to grow. In the long run, they will lease the entire acreage, all 315 hectares. By then, the project will support up to fifty families.
Tutondele Nyambudi, Luyobisa Jacksson, Mauris Ekaba, Mukiese Mwimba, Mavakala Steeve, Nsakanda Catharine, Mabufa Richard, Mangitukulu Nyambudi

The plan will be put into action as soon as we have raised enough money. The soil will have to be prepared for the sowing, which will take place in October in connection to the beginning of the rain period. We are going to explore the possibility of having volunteers prepare the fields.

The Church calendar topic ”Bread of Life” stands for the faith, hope and love of God and humanity that Jesus Christ gives to everybody. But to be able to receive this gift, our material needs must be met. This task has been assigned to us. You and I have the possibility to provide a material foundation for our fellow men and women. We are about to embark on the Nsanda farming project and initiate the production of Bread of Life in Congo. Your contribution will make a difference.