This is a post to announce the start of a Geyser Fund to help support Nakawa, a Zambian village taking control of their destiny.
Bitcoin Nakawa Geyser Fund: https://geyser.fund/project/bitcoinnakawa
Nakawa - "The cow whose milk never ends"
"We, not I", corrected Silumba. I nodded while our discussion brought me to compensate for Western biases in my thinking. I felt included in the project. A sense of ownership came over me, helping me understand how empowering this feeling can be among individuals in a community…
I was preparing to cross the Kazangula border into Botswana; a shortcut that would take me to the Namibian border the same day. Just before crossing into Botswana, a homely sign caught my attention by the road side, "Nakawa Community Campsite".
Cynthia and Silumba are a wife and husband duo taking initiative to create a better future for their community: "Nakawa". Nakawa consists of multiple villages in an area known as "Kazangula" in South-western Zambia. Cynthia and Silumba refer to themselves as "game-changers" given their will to push back against cyclical African issues.
Upon moving from town to their rural land in Nakawa, Cynthia and Silumba’s journey started when they noticed insufficient educational opportunities for Nakawa’s children. Taking action, they gathered their community to build a school near their home, employing individuals from Nakawa as first-time teachers. Despite limited income, Cynthia and Silumba have managed to bootstrap their initiative; often from the support of inspired friends and allies.
I have become one such ally. Upon meeting Cynthia and Silumba, I quickly realised they are the real deal. After plenty of kilometres through Africa, it was intuitive to recognise the integrity in their grassroots effort. I camped at their site, and soon followed multiple thought-provoking stories and insights into African challenges and how we can work together to impact the future of Nakawa.
We started brainstorming ideas to leverage one of Nakawa’s key strengths: the traditional knowledge of their elders. It was a fascinating discussion revealing just how rich the land and people of Nakawa and Africa are, but how brainwashed and sabotaged the people have become due to the greed and influences of foreign interests and the domestically corrupt.
The Mongongo Nut
Our plan of action was soon clear: the Mongongo Nut grows abundantly in the area, the trees of which have proven resilient to persistent droughts. This nut has multiple uses, including dietary health benefits and agricultural uses (cooking oil, animal feed, food). By optimising the processing method, we can employ locals to supply the nut while we produce value-added Mongongo products. What Nakawa needs is a nut processing machine.
Goal #1: Mongongo Nut Processing Machine - USD $750 + shipping (appx. 1.3M sats)
Further goals:
Upon completion of our first goal, this fund aims to support further projects in Nakawa.
Getting started
The idea may seem simple, but adapting with nature, instead of harvesting the trees for charcoal (a common local source of income), protects the environment, encourages traditional ecological knowledge preservation, and is a more sustainable and value-dense source of income for Nakawa. It’s a subtle, but empowering shift in their incentives to foster growth.
The Mongongo Nut is just one among a wealth of priceless pieces of wisdom I have learned from my time with Nakawa's elders. It has become evident that now it's just a matter of getting started.
Nakawa translates to "The cow whose milk never ends" - a fitting name for the potential of this community.
I will be documenting and posting updates and developments in Nakawa here on Stacker News, through my X account (https://x.com/gpvansat), and through my Substack newsletter publication, Wandering w/ Purpose: https://wanderingwpurpose.substack.com/.
The full Bitcoin Nakawa post on Wandering w/ Purpose:
https://wanderingwpurpose.substack.com/p/nakawa-the-cow-whose-milk-never-ends
Nakawa Links:
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6Ai797NSoBe2emNj8