Virtual farmers a part of real-life international aid
WINNIPEG, MB—Virtual farming isn't something that you do on Wii or Playstation video gaming systems—least not for the supporters of Kernels of Hope.
An international aid organization that works through the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, Kernels of Hope is a member of World Relief Canada, which is a member of Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
The participants, or "virtual farmers," donate money towards a plot of land that grows crops to benefit impoverished, war-torn people. The crops are either sold, and the proceeds sent overseas, or the grain is shipped to where it is needed.
Kernels of Hope allows people who live in urban areas to "virtually farm" plots of land in rural areas where they would not have a chance to do so otherwise. Participants receive e-mail updates on the plot of land they finance or watch for updates on the Kernels of Hope blog. When the crop is harvested, they follow the path of the money or food the same way.
The approximately 200 "virtual farmers" can also check in to see how their crops are doing, find out if the fields are healthy or being battered by poor weather. During harvest, they can find out how much money has been raised and trace the funds to a particular community.
Donors consist of church congregations, Sunday school groups, camps and individuals. Each donor will typically cover the cost of one acre of land, although some choose to pay for several acres, says Ray Baloun.
The founder of Kernels of Hope, Baloun illustrates the initiative's objective by holding up an empty sack and asking people to imagine they are in a remote village with no source of food. He then dumps a handful of seed into the sack, representing the food that relieves immediate hunger. He then dumps another handful in to represent nutrition and balance.
"If you eat healthy you can become strong and are able to work to produce more food, and you can resist diseases," he says.
And then a final handful of grain gets dropped in the bag. This represents hope for the future.
"You now know that somewhere in the world, someone has thought of you and how to help in a desperate situation," he says. "Maybe now you can help your family and then others."
When a bag of grain like this one or the money that it raises arrives on someone's doorstep from a faraway address, the reactions of the recipients are pure bewilderment. According to Baloun, "[The people that Kernels of Hope helps overseas] have a hard time imagining why someone in Canada would want to help someone they have never met."
That's exactly what Kernels of Hope recipient Victoria Wolle said when she came to Canada from Liberia with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank's People Program. Wolle was able to take care of her own family when she received seeds to plant and food to eat from Kernels for Hope, thanks to the virtual farmers that she had never met.
Baloun says Kernels of Hope has noticed improvements in communities they've sent aid to. They've also tried to accommodate the particular food tastes of different areas.
"Sometimes people aren't used to the food we're sending them, so they don't know what to do with it," he says. "We buy products locally and then we create a market for farmers in the countries."
This way, the money that Kernels of Hope raises goes a lot farther and to even more thankful recipients.
"[Baloun] has been incredibly creative," says Jim Cornelius, executive director of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. "He connects people from across the country in cities and towns with farmers to growing crops that benefit hungry people. It is very creative and it has been highly successful."
Of the six Kernels for Hope crops, three have been sent to Liberia and three to Sudan. The Canadian International Development Agency matches donations four to one, putting Kernels for Hope's five-year donation total at $1.25 million.
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