The Million Dollar Fields

During my first week in Dembi Dollo, an Irish man named Alex was concluding a three-week permaculture course, run with the support of the Daughters of Charity at their fields in Samaro.  The town of Samaro lay down the hill from the eye clinic, and the fields there were vast and expansive.  According to Sister Evelyn, the European surveyors who had assessed the land proclaimed the landowners could be millionaires if they could only make proper use of it.  Though Alex had been training students from the community in the ways of permaculture in hopes that they might be able to harness the land and maximize its potential, he feared that his hopes might not be realized.  The majority of the students had enrolled in the classes entirely for the monetary stipend the Daughters of Charity were offering upon completion of the course, and would often stand on the crops during lessons, oblivious to any of the curriculum being taught.

eggplant, okra, carrots, tomatoes, and other crops being grown

Still, there were a handful of students who seemed to genuinely want to apply their learnings in permaculture to land cultivation, so perhaps there was hope after all.

the steep road down to Samaro

the fields of Samaro

On one of my lunch breaks from clinic, I took the opportunity to explore the fields at Samaro.

Magersa, area coordinator, Sister Kaffa, and Hawi at Samaro

After visiting the fields where crops were growing, we stopped by the chicken barn where many of the eggs I ate every morning were laid.

From there we continued on to the cow barn, where one of the cows had just given birth to a young, timid calf [which I recently learned has already died].  In case you're wondering, no, these cows were not my daily source of milk and beef.

Mary Moo Cow

Next we headed up the hill to the undeveloped fields where it was obvious, even to someone as ignorant of agriculture as I, that this land was brimming with potential, not only because of its size but because of the richness of its soil as well.  A large water tank, funded by Tropical Health Alliance Foundation, also sat on top of the hill, designed to purify the local water and distribute it to the Samaro fields and nearby residents.

The tour concluded with a visit to the silkworm factory where thousands of silkworms fed on tasty leaves harvested from the field.  Once these silkworms became cocoons, they would produce raw silk, which could be manually threaded and sold at the market.

a forgotten shoe in the field outside the Kindergarten at Samaro

As I left Samaro that day, I reflected on how many different avenues existed to raise the standard of living for people in Dembi Dollo.  Though I felt, and still feel, that healthcare was an important component of enabling people to better themselves, it would all be for naught if not for people like the agriculturists who enabled people to find work to sustain themselves and their families.