Alivera has been living with HIV for fifteen years, and on anti-retroviral treatment for the last four. Her husband died with the disease and she takes care of five children. Though she says that her poverty makes eating well difficult, the fresh fruits and vegetables that will come from her home garden will help ensure good nutrition and health. Thanks to Heike, Alivera will be planting a home garden soon.

Mary Rose’s brother died and she cares for his HIV-positive son, and she says that providing fruits and vegetables to her adopted son and her six other children gives them good vitamins and growth. She has a small field for a home garden at her house, and has also convinced her local church to give her a small parcel of land to cultivate, so eager is she to garden. Thanks to Adrian, Mary Rose will be providing plenty vitamins and vegetables to her family.

Jeanette is a single mother with 7 children, and she began antiretroviral treatment just six months ago. Thanks to Strand’s
support of Gardens for Health, Jeanette is now able to turn some abandoned space near her home from a trash heap into a fertile garden that produces food for all her children. Many thanks, Strand!

Bernadette lives in a tiny room in the middle of Kigali with her children, but is managing to grow her own food with the help of Agustina and Gardens for Health. She found some old tires and turned them into mini-gardens for beets, carrots, amaranth and spinach. Her next plan is a vertical garden made from salvaged water bottles. Thank you to Agustina for her support which allows Bernadette to take the inspiring initiative.

Francine is a single mother taking care of ten children, six her own and four orphans. One of her children is severely acutely malnourished, and while he is fortunately receiving medical treatment, she is now committed to helping him grow over the long-term, with the growth from her garden. With many thanks to Jo, she is able to grow fruits and vegetables to feed her large family. One of her favorite fruits is the tree tomato–or tamarillo. She began treatment in 2006, and she knows that, “If I eat well, and I take my medicine properly, I no longer have fear of being HIV-positive.” Thank you, Jo!

Annociata’s husband was a driver and died in the genocide along with two of their children, but he had been sick of something before. She knew she was HIV positive a few years later, but it wasn’t until 2004 that her status was confirmed, and in 2007 when she began antiretroviral treatment. She founded her cooperative, Dukundane, to mobilize and support those in her community living with HIV. She frequently speaks in front of groups and gives her own testimony to encourage others not to be afraid of their status. She is truly an example of living positively with HIV, and now with the help of Robert, she is growing food for her two surviving children, now teenagers. One of the vegetables she likes to cook is eggplant, pictured with her here. Thank you Robert!

Thanks to Robert, Donacien has planted many vegetables and even sunflowers on his small piece of land in Kigali. He lives alone with his teenage son, who he is trying to encourage to eat more vegetables. Donacien loves to cook, and thus loves to participate in the Gardens for Health cooking demonstrations and nutrition classes. In the last class, Donacien suggested a new recipe to try using a new vegetable from their home gardens–beets. He mixed matooke (starchy bananas, a popular staple food in Rwanda) with beets and beet greens to create a new colorful dish–pictured here. He recently began antiretroviral treatment, and recognizes that his efforts to grow, cook and eat good food as integral to his treatment success.

Seraphina lives alone with her two teenage daughters. In the tiny space surrounding her home in Kigali, with the support of Robert, she has filled it with her favorite vegetables–here she is pictured with her newly planted and mulched “dodo,” or amaranth, which is a highly nutritious indigenous vegetable. She cites lack of food as a major challenge to adhering to her antiretroviral medication, but affirms that the food she is now able to grow at home as making a difference.

Genereuse’s husband recently died from AIDS, and she supports seven children. Before the support of Gardens for Health, she wasn’t growing any crops at her home in Kigali. Now with Rob’s donation she will be growing a fruit tree, a moringa tree and a mixture of vegetables to feed her children. Many thanks for your generosity, Rob!

Thanks to Digvijay, Catherine will be planting a home garden this season to support her own good health and nutrition as well as that of her husband and their seven children. She is pictured here with her papaya seedling and her bag of vegetable seeds–ready to plant. Thank you Digvijay!