Amedichi

In the village of Amedichi, many women are widows due to the civil war in South Sudan. They face extreme hardship and devastating poverty, with minimal support as they struggle to provide for their children and the orphans of the village. This included walking over two hours to reach clean water.

The resilient women of Amedichi were determined to transform their current challenges into future opportunities. They formed a collective that focused on horticulture projects that would generate an income while also planning for future developments. When the INK scarf sold out, we immediately drilled Amedichi’s water well. And the very next day the women planted their gardens, which soon prospered. The village has blossomed in every respect – the gardens, women and children are all thriving. The leader of this collective is a brave and compassionate woman named Rebecca. She refuses to be a burden on others and leads by example. Rebecca has shown the women how therapeutic it can be to work hard and build something together.

“Our village, made up of women and orphans, has the mind and the will to make ourselves sustainable. We believe our vulnerability should not stop us.”

Unfortunately, the population of Amedichi continues to grow as more women and children lose their families in the violent civil war. But there is comfort in knowing that there is a home for them. They are coming from a place of trauma to one of healing. They are moving from devastation to connection.

The gardens are now immense, allowing the women to sell extra produce at local markets while also attracting wholesale vendors who come to Amedichi to purchase large quantities of produce to sell in nearby towns. This generates a substantial income for the women, allowing them to buy their own livestock such as goats or cows – something unheard of in South Sudan’s patriarchal culture. 

When the INK scarf sold out, we immediately drilled Amedichi’s water well. And the very next day the women planted their gardens, which soon prospered. The village has blossomed in every respect – the gardens, women and children are all thriving.