The word “mahala” is found in many languages throughout the world in various forms. It translates to love, freedom, community, neighborhood or free. It comes from Arabic, Cherokee, Polynesian, Zulu and likely more.
The project comes from a desire to share knowledge (love others), to remember cultural roots (community), to provide for ourselves (freedom) and to give to others (free). Mahala is a perfect name for an imperfect project.
Recently I have had the honor of being in a chat group with roughly 100 people, (mostly young, fresh out of college but some closer to retirement age), that have seen fit to uproot their lives and spend 2 years going to simply serve others. This is hope in action. And I couldn’t be more excited.
Many conversations, news reports, and social media posts today are full of fear, revenge, grief, and downright hateful thoughts, but there is not much action. Granted there are peaceful protests, sign making and chanting and I admire those people. Some sentiments I agree with and some I do not, but I fully respect the people doing something, especially if they are actually informed about what they are doing.
I read an interesting blog recently stating that the more news people watch, the less inclined they are to actually do anything about the situation. And yet, ironically, people claim they watch the news so they can be informed and work for change. The blog goes on to counter several points of contention about needing the news for information and suggesting instead real and meaningful conversations with people, books, periodicals – things with actual facts, not sound bites meant to skew one way or the other, as real sources of knowledge and inspiration.
But there are many people taking action in the world in small and big ways. Food sufficiency has always been my passion and it is this that I focus on. Small actions, like our 2 school projects and seed bank in South Africa are small, but to me, meaningful steps in helping the planet by helping people have some sovereignty in their lives. The Regenerative Farm Design course Stephen, Themba, and I took recently in South Africa allowed us to meet many such people. Here’s a link shared with me yesterday by one of them
I encourage you to look around and see what people are doing in small and big ways to affect change. Yesterday I toured a small garden and chicken coop hidden in an overgrown field. Pathways were cut and shade cloth was put on top to detour hawks. There were random tomatoes and peppers thriving among copious amounts of rag weed. The house was a rental and the tenants were not allowed gardens or animals so they carved out a niche in a nearby field working to restore itself to a forest. It was tucked away yet beautiful and made my heart glad, not to mention it is helping to restore the field. It’s small, but it is progress.
On a bigger scale, to the 100 or so young people preparing to head to Senegal in September with the Peace Corps, I salute you. Your contributions are important and life changing not only for the people you will serve but for you. You will leave a ripple of big and small changes that continue to work for good long after you are gone. How about we all work to leave such ripples?
Chickens have been called the gateway drug. A quick search online will show you it’s a popular opinion. There is even a song on Spotify by Benny Lee called, “Chicken’s are the gateway drug to farming.” Those cute baby fluff balls, those delicious orange yolked eggs and, of course, Sunday dinner from your yard – it’s a delectable slippery slope.
Now, “real” farmers might disagree that 3, then 10, then 50 chickens has anything to do with their 1000’s of acres of monocropping and they would probably be right. But for some of the rest of us, chickens are truly the start of a better life. And why did I choose to use the progression of 3 chickens, 10 chickens, 50 chickens? – yep, you guessed it, experience – my own personal gateway. Chickens fit nicely in town and may even convince you to buy more acres. Again, experience, my own personal gateway.
And now that I have completely buried the lead, I would like to announce that Mahala Love has expanded our offerings in South Africa! We are bringing chickens to Musawenkosi Christian Academy, (MCA) and to our newest partners Royal Diamond Academy (RDA), both in KwaMhalnga, South Africa. Chickens and rabbits are being brought to the school and introduced to the garden system. They will be cared for by Grade 7 students at MCA and by 6-10th graders at RDA. We are super excited and we aren’t the only ones!
You may remember last April we introduced chickens and helped to expand the area for rabbits at Jacaranda Gardens in KwaMhlanga, with our chicken/rabbit/catfish conglomeration that we have never given a proper name. Stephen and Brenda have done a phenomenal job of expanding the 4 chickens we left them with and now have over 30. The rabbits are also doing well and doing what rabbits are known to do. Mahala Love was able to purchase 1 rooster and 3 hens for each of our school partners, as well as 3 rabbits. These flocks will allow the students to learn about taking care of the animals and then we will help them expand, if all goes well. The students were all eager to know if they would be able to raise enough to take home, so we will just say “you’re welcome,” to the parents now. ha!
Look for PART 2 of ” It’s all about the Chickens” to see how this fits into the 9 Day course Mahala Love Leaders just completed in George, South Africa. Thank you for reading this, sharing this, and thank you all so much for those of you that continue to donate to make all of this possible. We LOVE you for sharing your LOVE and allowing us to spread that with the world!
In April 2024, Mahala Love welcomed our newest supported site in KwaMhlanga, South Africa. We welcome Jacaranda Gardens. Jacaranda Gardens is owned by our Regional South Africa leader, Stephen N. and his wife, Brenda. We have been working with Stephen for the past 7 months as a leader in the area and are now proud to support his site, Jacaranda Gardens.
Jacaranda Gardens serves as a Mahala Love demonstration site in the area and has already hosted an Open House to showcase the large amount of food that can be produced in a very small foot print. The recent build is 1.2 X 2 meters in size and produces – meat, eggs, and vegetables. Additionally, water purification functions support a catfish/bubblefish tank for even more protein.
Stephen and his wife, Brenda, hosted Robin on this last trip in April 2024, which allowed lots of time for planning, laughing, and building community. Follow this link to see more about the build at Jacaranda Gardens.
Mahala Love is so pleased to welcome this sweet family and their beautiful garden. Mahala Love and Jacaranda Gardens – Sharing with the World
mahalalove.com 