Blackrock couple raise awareness of hunger in Nairobi

A green-fingered Blackrock couple has been growing vegetables in repurposed containers in an effort to raise awareness of a Christian Aid funded project that’s helping to reduce poverty and malnutrition among low-income families in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

Denis and Cherry Poynton, Christian Aid’s representatives at Blackrock Presbyterian Church, were pictured showing off the strawberry plants they’ve been growing in empty milk containers and tin cans.

Their gesture is inspired by an urban farming project in Nairobi that’s helping people to grow fruit and vegetables in cramped city spaces, enabling them to produce enough food to feed their families and surplus to sell for an income.

With space in short supply, the produce is grown on rooftops, vertically on walls and on any available scrap of land, often using repurposed containers such as plastic yogurt pots and discarded tin cans.

Denis and Cherry’s act of solidarity comes ahead of Christian Aid Week (10-16 May) which this year focuses on the charity’s work to help people living in poverty in a low-income neighbourhood in the Kenyan capital.

In the densely packed streets and alleyways of Dagoretti, almost 300,000 people live in rented one-room homes built from corrugated metal sheets, without basic services such as toilets and running water.

Secure jobs are hard to find, and most people earn less than a dollar a day which means that many parents struggle to buy healthy food to feed their children.

Among them is Fridah Moraa, a mother-of-three who became the sole breadwinner for her family following the death of her husband.

Since joining a Christian Aid funded project, Fridah has been making the most of a small space near her home to grow a steady supply of fresh produce that she can cook for her family or sell on her market stall.

Now Fridah is able to feed her children nutritious meals, as well as pay school fees and medical bills.

Christian Aid Week began in the 1950s and is thought to be the UK and Ireland’s longest-running fundraising campaign.

Each year, tens of thousands of people across the UK and Ireland get involved in raising funds to support the charity’s work to reach people living in poverty and crisis across the world.

For many years, Denis and Cherry have organised coffee mornings and other fundraising events at Blackrock Presbyterian Church to support the aid agency’s work.

Denis also served an 8-year term (2009-2017) on the Christian Aid Ireland board of trustees, representing the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

Christian Aid Ireland Chief Executive Rosamond Bennett thanked Denis and Cherry for highlighting the charity’s work and supporting the Christian Aid Week appeal.

She said:

“It’s only with the support of people like Denis and Cherry and churches like Blackrock Presbyterian that we’re able to help mothers like Fridah to grow food.

“It’s thanks to their fundraising and their donations that Fridah is growing her way out of malnutrition and poverty, and building a more prosperous and hopeful future for her children.”

For more information or to donate, please visit caweek.ie