By Abigail Klein Leichman - April 30, 2018
Originally appeared here in Israel21c
When Tanzanian community developer and environmentalist Fabian Bulugu began a master’s degree program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2017, he wanted to spend his spare time learning how Israelis work their magic in the desert soil.
“I was very interested in agriculture because Israelis came to Tanzania in the 1960s to help us grow crops at Lake Victoria with Israeli irrigation technologies,” he explains to ISRAEL21c. “I visited those sites and the farmers are still thankful to the Israeli people to this day.”
He heard about a hydroponic gardening project at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens run by Kaima, an organization that uses organic farming to give Israeli high-school dropouts an income and a fresh start on life.
“It amazed me to see how engaged the youth were,” Bulugu tells ISRAEL21c.
He began volunteering there once a week and then at Kaima Beit Zayit, the flagship farm of the NGO, which now encompasses four “sister” farms in other Israeli locales. “With my interest in climate change and in youth empowerment I felt I needed to do something to help youth,” he said. Read More