Project: Marketing Gardening Skills

Description of the Project

Learning a skill increases self-confidence and self-worth and when that skill leads to self-sufficiency the value is multiplied. The Market Gardening Skills project of the Epilepsy Association of Zambia will train people with epilepsy in basic gardening and vegetable production skills. In this way, those attending the course will acquire, perhaps for the first time in their lives, the means of generating funds to support themselves and their families.

This project follows on the earlier very successful Promising Strategies Project in poultry rearing, which the association established in 2007.

Objectives of the Project

• To train people with epilepsy in gardening in order to make them self-sufficient. Four training sessions will be held for people with epilepsy on gardening and basic business skills to help them sustain their personal projects.

• To raise money through the Gardening project for specific needs of people with epilepsy. Some patients are unable to obtain anti-epileptic drugs and other basic needs. Therefore, this project intends to provide assistance to those who cannot afford to buy their medication or also pay for school expenses for children and teenagers with epilepsy.

• To provide means of employment for people with epilepsy in order to reduce dependence on their families.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Keeping a record of expenses and sales of crops harvested. A record of the transactions involved in gardening will help greatly in assessing the progress of the Project.
• Providing regular supervision at the site. Supervision is important in such projects as it fosters teamwork and moral support.
• Requesting reports from those who will benefit from the Project after the first phase.
• Design an evaluation form to get response from the participants.

Project Partners

• Chainame Hills College Hospital: the only public mental health and epilepsy cases referral hospital in Zambia