News from our paddy field!

It’s planting time!

Hope Gardens is always buzzing with activity, and today is no exception! After a period of fallow, we are delighted to announce that we have replanted our paddy field.

Planting day is a reminder of the importance of teamwork and community. It is also a day to celebrate the blessing of this land and the promise of a bountiful harvest.

As you may remember, our paddy field and the neighboring farms all suffered from neck blast, a fungal disease that reduced our last harvest by 35%. After consulting with government agricultural officers on how to reduce the impact of this disease, we are now allowed to replant the field

The paddy field team work tirelessly to prepare the field and plant the rice seedlings. They are also proud to teach Bible college students a new skill: planting paddy. The students are eager to learn and they work hard alongside the team. The team is happy to share their knowledge and experience with the students, knowing that they will take this new skill with them and use it to help others in the future.

Here is a video from Gold as an update!

Latest news from our Children's programmes

It has been a busy time at Hope Gardens with many children taking their end of year or university exams. Our tutors are busy supporting children with revision at our after school clubs and helping year 12 students as they make plan for their careers. To find our more about our sponsored students please click here and read the latest report.

Richard reports from India

We are delighted that four of our trustees have been able to visit India and see all of our project

To see Richard short video and his reflections from the gardens please click here

What a fantastic start to our appeal!

Wow! On day one of our appeal Hope Gardens received £2,210 in donations which have been doubled by our generous donors! This is a fantastic start to our £10,000 appeal which runs until 6th December to donate all this week click here https://hopegardens.reachapp.co/campaigns/delivering-hope-this-christmas

International Day of the Girl

Today is international day of the girl. These girls are changemakers. All the girls in this photo have overcome barriers that living in a marginalised community brings. They are resourceful, have tenacity are resilient and they are an inspiration to us all. All these girls are part of #hopegardensindia and thanks to our supporters they are all in education, they all have a voice and we are hearing them loud and clear.

Thank you and Merry Christmas

2021 has been a year on which we look back with great thanksgiving and we thank God for the generosity of our supporters and the commitment of our partners in South India.

Here are some highlights from the past year:

Sustainability: We’ve increased the sustainability of our projects with the purchase of another paddy field, which together with the existing paddy will produce the vast majority of food needed for our projects.

• Our Covid response: thanks to your support this has been amazing : approximately 18,000 individuals have been blessed with Hope Gardens food parcels, hygiene equipment and PPE since March.

• Healthcare: Our Medical teams have worked alongside government officials and police in support of the national vaccination rollout.

• Education: We have focused on educational continuity - school fees have been paid, online learning enabled and additional tutoring given as well as our after school programmes expanded.

Every blessing for 2022

The Hope Gardens team