Message from the founder of Farming on Crutches
Mambud Samai reports back on his tour of Pasture for Life farms, to bring pasture-fed methods back to Sierra Leone.
Over the past two and half weeks I have had the opportunity to visit the UK to spend time at Groundswell and to meet many of you. I am very grateful to the Pasture for Life community for welcoming me and arranging my itinerary and particularly to those of you who hosted me in your homes. I have learnt a great deal from you, both of practical value as well as the importance of being a sharing community – which echoes our own approach at the training farm in Sierra Leone. Being an amputee in Sierra Leone is tough. There is no social security system and many families struggle to survive, let alone care for someone who is disabled. Our amputee football community provides a sense of fellowship and of belonging whilst Farming on Crutches provides the opportunity to return home and to not only earn a living but also to share their newly-found knowledge of agro-ecological farming with their communities. You may well have seen this short clip before but I commend it to you again to remind you of what we are doing.
I would also like to thank Groundswell for welcoming me and for giving me the opportunity to meet so many people and to learn so much. Groundswell generously matched donations made to “Farming On Crutches”.
After my return, work will continue here to build the support network so that we can continue to stay in contact, so that you can support us and so that we can share our experience with you. In the coming weeks we will provide a mechanism for you to sign up to the newsletter that we will be setting up.
I return to Sierra Leone happy to have met you and grateful for the opportunity to build a relationship with the Pasture for Life community.
Mambud visited the following Pasture for Life farms: Patrick Lynn at Hockerwood Farm, Hannah Thorogood at Inkpot farm, Jon and Nick Francis at Paddock Farm, Ian Wilkinson at Farm-Ed, Eric Walters at Hammond Farm, Ian Boyd at Whittington Lodge Farm and spent two days with Andrew Sincock of Agriton visiting farms in the south west that are producing Bokashi.
Visiting Ian Boyd at Whittington Lodge Farm
Visiting Hannah Thorogood’s Inkpot Farm, Lincolnshire
With some of the Pasture for Life team
