MEET FOUAD

I was born in a small village in the Homs countryside, and I still live here with my wife and our four children. Agriculture is the main source of jobs and income in our region.

We live in a very humble house made of two rooms and very basic utilities and equipment. It is not well insulated and is exposed to the weather conditions, which makes it hot in summer and cold in winter. I did most of the construction work myself and over a long period of time, because we couldn’t afford to do it quickly or to hire workers for it. I still have some more reparation work to do, like insulating the roof to avoid water leaking in and humidity forming mold, completing the cladding of the house, putting some tiles in the stairs and entrance, installing some doors, and repairing some cracks in the walls which appeared because of the recent earthquake.

My biggest challenge, and subsequent fear, is the rising cost of securing our basic needs, such as healthy food essentials, heating in winter, and education for the children, as well as transportation and healthcare. Our income is very limited, so I must take on any additional job to complement my meager income from my agricultural work in the field. Since I can’t hire laborers, my wife helps me in the field.

At church, I learned about the sustainable agriculture project, and I was keen to participate in it and understand better the importance and benefits of sustainable agriculture. I benefited a lot from it, first by receiving several training courses on fruit trees, biological pest control, irrigation, and more, which have increased my technical and scientific knowledge. I also received soluble organic fertilizer which helped enrich and prepare my land, and the project covered the cost of various agricultural operations, such as tillage, weeding, and planting the new fruit trees. This reduced my normal costs tremendously and increased substantially the size of the area I will be able to cultivate this year and in the future. I am hopeful this will in turn lead to an increased yield and income for my family.

Without this project, I couldn’t afford to cultivate my field, since we have no extra money to spare for agricultural equipment, fertilizer, seeds, or labor force. Thanks to the project, our entire family is doing better psychologically too. The children can sense we are feeling happy and more hopeful, and they are even doing better at school.  When they’re not in school, I try to teach them everything I learn about sustainable agriculture, which increases their own skills and experience and plants in them a love for agriculture. I am happy I get to not only learn for myself but also pass this new knowledge on to my children after me, which will give them a head start in life. I hope their future work will be more prosperous thanks to it.

We appreciate the good work and respectful and loving behaviors of the project’s team who follows up on us a lot, and it is also nice to meet the other participants in the project during the joint trainings and seminars. It builds good social interactions and relationships in our broader community.

In the future, I want to continue cultivating my field and caring for my fruit trees using sustainable methods. My hope is to modernize irrigation methods and install solar panels for the well to reduce my costs and increase my yield. Hopefully, I can also use some of the agricultural residues to feed and start raising some livestock – cows or sheep – which would help me make my own manure and further reduce costs and increase revenue in the future. My biggest dream is for my children to continue their education and obtain university degrees to achieve their goals in life. Everything I do is for them. I pray the Lord helps them and protects them.

We have nothing but gratitude towards the church, the team, and all the donors for this project, for all their support and work on our behalf!