Nogaye Kebe, 30, lives in the community of Fass Koffe with her husband and children. Her family sells vegetables at the local market and grows peanuts during the rainy season. Even though she is busy at home, Nogaye also enjoys participating in CREATE! training programs. For the past five years, she has worked in Fass Koffe’s cooperative garden and poultry shed. She is also a member of one of the village’s Voluntary Savings and Lending Associations (VSLAs).
Thanks to the dedication of Fass Koffe cooperative members and training from CREATE! field technicians, bountiful vegetable harvests will sustain the community for years to come.
Nogaye says that “CREATE! has improved our lives in Fass Koffe.” She can now prepare meals safely, while also saving money and firewood, when she uses her improved cookstove. Nogaye is also happy that “VSLA helps us keep our money safe and lets us obtain loans.”
Cooperative members work together to complete tasks like weeding in their garden plot, building knowledge for the future to pass down to their children.
Nogaye believes that CREATE! training has brought to Fass Koffe “knowledge for the future.” She adds, “By continuing to educate women and young people, our gardens and cooperatives will continue to succeed even after CREATE! training programs cease in the community.”