“Even if that day isn’t a good day, live for that next day.” KIMMIE: (continued) For me, myself, I was blessed after leaving Liberia to go to the United States in exile. And I was blessed to attend some of the best schools in America – Amherst College, the University of Pennsylvania – and get the best education. After I came back to Liberia, I told myself that I’m going to be the example that you don't have to be a poor person or destined for poverty to do agriculture. We're going to make agriculture cool again. So despite my background and world travels, I started doing agriculture and doing it, not as a boss, but actually being there – putting my hands in the ground and working the soil as an example for young people that, Hey, you can do this and there's nothing to be ashamed of in doing agriculture. But also now, doing it in a sustainable way to promote organic agriculture in Liberia.
I met the Minister of Agriculture a few weeks ago, and she said, “Kimmie, there are probably only two other people who I know who are doing organic agriculture in Liberia.” And she wasn't even sure if they were still doing organic agriculture for commercial purposes. So it's something that's brand new. When we started teaching the villagers about compost and utilization of compost, et cetera, pretty much it was so new. When I came and I said, we're going to grow food without using fertilizer, at first, people thought I had gone crazy until we started to do it and then people started to see and said, wow, we can do this. The reason that it's important to teach people or to show people how to grow food without being dependent on fertilizer is because in Africa, it's very, very expensive. The average farmer, for example, the average smallholder farmer, is living on about $30 a month. A bag of fertilizer is between $60 to $70. And for a farmer who's got 30 bucks for an entire month, you're thinking, how am I going to get $70 to buy this inorganic fertilizer? So many farmers simply cannot farm adequately because they cannot afford it. And the message we're sending them is do not waste that $70. Let's do organic farming because you don't have to buy those expensive imports. You will grow food in abundance, and on top of that, you're saving the environment.
ALLIÉ: I can think of no better name for your program than ‘The Hope Farm’. Beyond food and training, it gives hope to the people of Liberia. What is it that gives you hope, Kimmie, for the future of your program and for Liberia?
KIMMIE: Well, two things. The first one comes from an experience being in the United States. Because being in Liberia during the war, I had this feeling that people around the world did not care that we were suffering and dying during the Liberian war. But when I went to the US, I was meeting friends in high school and colleges who had never heard of the war and its brutality; or who weren't aware of a lot of the suffering and pain that's going on across Africa. I also was seeing how, if people knew and were aware, how willing Americans were to reach out and help. And I said, well, that gives me so much hope because before I had felt, especially being a child at ten years old and almost dying, that the entire world knew that people were dying and were not doing anything and that was very painful. Meeting people who really cared and were looking for ways to be involved was why Youth Action started. It started as a way to now give young people in America the chance to connect and make an impact across Africa. So knowing that there's tremendous heart and willingness to give and a want to give and a want to transform the world in a positive way is the first thing that gives me hope. The second thing that gives me hope is just the resilience I see of Africa and Africans and Liberians as a whole, where despite people going through just extreme circumstances right now – families not having food to feed their kids tomorrow or not knowing how they're going to get their kids into school – but yet having hope that a better day is possible and that, hey, we just have to live to see the next day, and the next day will be a good day. And, even if that day isn't a good day, live for that next day. When you combine these two things – bringing people who want to help with people who have so much hope and resilience but just need a little push – you can make a dynamic change, not just in Liberia, but possibly across the entire continent of Africa and the entire world.
68 AWARENOW / THE WAVES EDITION
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