From this “Cactus” I Send My Children to University

By Ona Tasoin,

Ephania Mbuik (54) a housewife Married to Absalom Mennoh and blessed with four children. Three boys and one girl.

With her family, Ephania lives in Kolobolon Village, Rote Ndao district, East Nusa Tenggara. Prior joined in TLM Foundation Productive Garden Program, Ephania helped her husband to manage their paddy field and from the annual crops, they sold rice to fulfill their daily needs.

But beside the harvest was only once a year, sometimes their paddy fields had crop failure. Ephania then decided to join TLM productive garden program. Ephania is grateful that since more eight years she attended TLM Foundation productive garden program, with other gardening group members, she got a lot of lessons through training and assistance how to grow various kinds of vegetables, beans, onions, cucumber and specially dragon fruits.

From gardening, Ephania is now able to generate income more than IDR.20.000.000,- from selling dragon fruits in one harvest season (December to May). Ephania could help her husband, Absalom to fulfil their daily needs, expand their kiosk business and moreover they can manage to send their three boys to the best universities in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Province.

In addition, since Ephania grew vegetables by herself, she could save money because she doesn’t need to buy vegetable like she used to do. Ephania also does not need to go labor in paddy other paddy fields for additional money because she already has a permanent income source in the village.

She is thanking TLM Foundation for providing this opportunity for people like her to live independently in the village.

“I really thank TLM Foundation for introducing this “Cactus Plant” (Dragon fruit) to us. In the first and second year we planted 65 dragon fruits in the garden and in the forth year we expanded to 2 thousand dragon fruits and now in a season, each of us (28 members) we can generate income for more than IDR. 10.000.000,- I myself can get more than twenty million rupias. Praise the Lord, from this “cactus” I can send my children to higher level education with expensive tuition fees, more than five million rupias per semester. My husband and I, we had never imagined that we could give good education to our children. God is good.” Said Ephania.