Sarah Dachos

I spent the last two years in Gabon, a small and stable Central African country that has not experienced conflict since independence.

The environment is ideal for rural farmers: availability of land (due to, sadly, heavy logging), lack of jobs outside of the urban areas, and an extremely low agricultural output, thus little competition.

Early in my time there, I met a Gabonese woman named Bernadette who started an NGO that helps rural migrants when they arrive in Libreville, the capital of Gabon and its busiest urban center. One of her many goals is to convince them to go back to their villages because she recognizes that there were few opportunities in the city, even if one had the required skills to do an urban job. She focuses her efforts on teaching skills that would allow the clients return to their respective villages with pride and live fruitful and supportable lives while staying with their families and communities. One of her many projects is to teach people how to do sustenance farming. She has a large garden (see photo) on her property that is the classroom for how to prepare the soil, place seeds, nurture the plants as they start to grow, and harvest the vegetables. One of her other projects is food distribution in the most impoverished Libreville neighborhoods. Conveniently, she uses the fruits of the garden labor for the meals she provides to the poor.

Bernadette's success rate is noteworthy especially due to the powerful seduction of the big city; everyone does not want to return to their rural roots. However, she never gives up, working 6 days a week. Her positive attitude, ceaseless dedication, and infinite energy has allowed this organization help people to help themselves for over twelve years.