Meet Kassakunda Village

(AKA: Farmer Famara and his neighbors 💚 )

Pictures by provided by Famara, words by Mea 💚

Famara's village is a pretty small place, and he describes his community as poor, but happy.

There's some brick buildings and some made of natural materials, like the ones in this picture.

Houses at his grandma's old village were pretty cool. Mud houses painted with lots of cool designs and filled with love was the fashion. Clay and mud houses aren't something all Americans are all super familiar with (depending on your climate,) but they're actually really sturdy, excellent, eco-friendly housing options. I'd love to have one myself, one day!

The land around where he lives is open and undeveloped. The nearby city, Brikama, is a pretty big place with over 700,000 people and it hosts shops and services, but they don't have a lot of business going on in Kassakunda village.

Famara and his sons make their money by going out to the local forest and collecting sticks and wood to take to Brikama and sell. You can read a little more about that on the fundraiser page, but suffice it to say, it's hard, hard work that doesn't pay a lot. Famara would love to buy this land he has pictured here. It has his house on it and the small chicken setup he currently has, but on his income that's unfortunately not possible.

When getting to know Famara, I asked him why he doesn't just increase his flock so he can make more money. I had learned that Famara and his family don't get three meals a day, and even when they do eat, it's always the same bit of rice and maybe whatever else they can gather up to give it some flavor. Surely, even if it's a lot of work to bring extra water for an increasing flock, the extra income could help with getting enough to eat and maybe, in time, helping him dig a well or to eventually buy some land?

Don't worry, this ain't the crappy landlord. This is Famara's daddy 💚

Unfortunately, the land they live on is currently owned by a friend of his late father, (pictured to the left.) Although it's kind that the landlord lets Famara, his kids, and grandma live on the land for free, he won't let Famara develop a business that would help them get ahead. In fact, the landlord is kind of a jerk. He throws rocks at Famara's chickens and tries to kick them. He will mock Famara as well for trying to get ahead, asking how a "poor man like you" thinks he can accomplish something. It's like he truly doesn't even want Famara to succeed in life.

Of course, the guy didn't work for his plots of land, he just inherited them from his own dad and he sits around all day and insults the people of Kassakunda Village who are working hard to get ahead, or making it harder for them when they try.

Geez. Where've we heard a story like that before?

Maybe you can relate, or you know someone who can? Guess sometimes jerks are just jerks, no matter where they live.

Well, with a landlord like that, you couldn't trust the guy to not screw you over if you added value to his land by digging a well anyway. So even if Famara could raise up enough chickens without nearby water to afford the well (that the whole village could use to farm and care for themselves too) ...who's to say the landlord wouldn't kick him out for a renter who would pay for a plot that now has some utilities?

He could do everything he could to obtain (a practically impossible amount of) money to improve his land, and still lose everything in the end.

And the chicken-kicking landlord won't let him raise more chickens anyway, so the whole idea was over before it began.

I really didn't know how Famara could ever get out of his situation without 1) owning land and 2) having access to a local well. And neither did Famara, so he had long been resigned to the idea of smiling the rest of his life on the coast, simply nursing a secret dream of his hard work one day being worth more than just a small daily meal for the ones he loves.

That's where we come in.

Let me be perfectly clear.

Famara has -never- asked me for anything, and the idea of a fundraiser was mine alone. It was after trading chicken pictures for a while and chatting about the differences in our lives that I decided to ask if he'd like to try doing a fundraiser with me. How can you find out about a group of people in so much need and not want to do something to help them? That's what this whole thing is. I'm just a regular person trying to do something.

Buying him land and paying to dig a well is what he and his community really need, but it isn't something I'm in any position to do alone. However, I do have some access to technology and supplies he doesn't, and I knew that what I -could- do was donate time and effort to help connect him with others who might care about helping him and his community as much as I do.

Here's a picture he took of some neighborhood kids going to town on cookies and milk he brought home for them 💚

I think we all know that the difference between many of us who 'make it' in life, or any given situation, and those who don't is that some of us have a community that can lend us the hand we need, when we need it.

Famara's community is full of love, but it's not full of money.

Maybe, with enough of us working together, we can do something about that.

So...

Would you help Famara the Farmer build a well...?

There are many ways to help. You can donate to Famara's GoFundMe, or you can share Famara's story on social media or using the tips listed at the bottom of the home page of this site.

You can also print out your own copies of Famara's zine, which shares the story of his dream to own land, dig a well, and build a chicken farm to support his family and community and spread it to people who you know might care and want to help too.

Share Me!

Please consider helping by spreading copies of Famara's story around online and in the physical world!

The Real Famara

Here's the real guy behind the dream.

( He thinks you're beautiful for listening to his story! 💚 )

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