Teddy is a 31-year-old husband, father, and mobilizer for 4 groups of 100 people near Kibimba. At first, he found it hard to understand the work of BDS, life here was new to him, and getting to know people took time. He likes that Executive Director Libere trusted him in spite of people saying he couldn’t do the job. Libere adds “And you rose and forgot what you did before.”
Together with mobilizer Fabian, he also works with 3 groups of 43 people of people with disabilities or who have children with disabilities, Teddy was busy preparing mushroom spawn for individual bags. He and others added water to the spawn in barrels before dumping it onto a plastic tarp where it would be kept wet for two days. Then they planned to drain it and let it ferment for 10 days, turning it regularly during that time. It would then be put bags that had been sterilized by boiling for three hours. After cooling the spawns on shelves for a day, the mushroom spores would be added.
As the spores develop into mycelium develop, spawns change colors. “At first, they are black but when they turn white, we know that they are well developed.” Harvesting can begin in 25 to 30 days.
Although initially his work was challenging, Teddy is increasingly at ease as he knows the people in his groups. He explains his work as following up on development activities to “help people multiply their little.”
