Joseph grew up without his father and with a mother who couldn’t afford to keep him in school. He stayed anyway, working on farms to cover his own fees to finish his education. That experience left a mark. Years later, working on community projects around Lodonga, he kept noticing the same thing: single mothers trying to feed their children with almost no resources and very little support.
Having experienced that situation up close for his whole life, he was moved to do something to help. So in 2025, Joseph started a project on his family’s land. The idea was very practical: teach vulnerable women agricultural and livestock skills that could generate real food and real income.
Women come to learn how to grow vegetables, manage a community garden, set up their own family plots at home, and raise chickens for eggs and eventual sale. They take what they learn back to their own land and families.
Poremma came on board in August 202, introduced by Vicente, a Spanish adventurer travelling through Africa with strong links to Poremma. An initial grant helped complete the first phase of the project; a second grant in December 2025 funded the construction of a coop for 150 chickens. Monthly support has continued from there.
What Joseph talks about most, when you ask him why he does this, isn’t the farming. It’s the children who come along with their mothers and watch. He says seeing them take pride in what their mothers are learning — seeing communities start to recognise women as equals — is what keeps him going.
