Sack gardens in the city

Mado in her garden

Mado lives in Kigali with three children. She has a small alleyway along the side of her home, a sunny spot, though small for vegetables with poor soil. With her home garden package from Gardens for Health, Mado has filled the small space with sack gardens. Her favorite vegetable is amaranth, known as “dodo.”

Mado credits the vegetables she receives from her cooperative’s community garden and her own home garden with improving her appetite and her well-being. Her involvement in nutrition and agriculture has not gone unnoticed—her neighbors have taken note of her flourishing home garden and have requested her help in starting their own. Recently, Mado was also elected a community health worker, and she now assists others in the community with improving their own health. She is indeed  a life-affirming example of ‘positive living’, a proactive testament to how one can live well HIV.