Phionah Bogere and Joy Kauffman

Joy Kauffman

President and CEO, FARM STEW International Joy Kauffman is passionate about health, hunger, and healing through the global body of Jesus Christ around the world. Her passion covers several decades of education and experience. Joy graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Masters in Public Health and Virginia Tech with a BS in International Nutrition. She is also a graduate of the h.e.a.r.t. program at Warner Southern College, the National Soy Research Laboratory International Soy Program, and is designated as a Master Gardener through the University of Illinois. Her work includes serving as a Health Educator for a local county health department, working for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC., and serving as Board President of Crossroads High School and as Board Member for the Foods Resource Bank.

In 2015, Ms. Kauffman served with the USAID Farmer to Farmer Program in Eastern Uganda. Her assignment was to work with indigenous people with an indigenous, farmers’ cooperative whose 60,000 members wanted to process the soybeans they grew. Kauffman’s research led her to understand that the children were not receiving the benefits of the soy protein, with 1/3 of children under the age of 5 stunted physically and cognitively due to malnutrition and many dying young. Joy conducted hands-on cooking classes, using the Bible as a primary textbook, in an 80% Muslim region. The community’s response was tremendous and at the close of her assignment she knew the work had to continue with a broader scope led by indigenous people.

In partnership with a team of Ugandan and Zimbabwean nutritionists and agronomists, Kauffman launched FARM STEW International. FARM STEW is an organization set up to promote positive public health practices in nutrition, sustainable agriculture, temperance, water and sanitation with the goal to achieve food security, improve health and family well-being. The name FARM STEW evokes the image of a hearty and healthful soup made of locally grown crops. The FARM STEW acronym is Bible-based and has a public health approach standing for: Farming, Attitude, Rest, Meals, Sanitation, Temperance, Enterprise, and Water.

The Ugandan team of 5, initially hired to carry on the work, has trained over 10,000 people, 70% of whom are women. FARM STEW is invited into hospitals, schools, and villages in the Iganga District and throughout North East Uganda.

Joy’s hope is that FARM STEW International can mobilize a global Christian workforce, in highly efficient, small local teams, to reach out with the love and healing power of Jesus to villages, towns and cities around the world, starting in Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Phionah Bogere

Phionah Bogere is a 21 year old FARM STEW ambassador in her home country, Uganda. As an ambassador, she trains individuals in rural communities on practical public health practices in nutrition and sustainable agriculture. She teaches these communities how to make different products from Soya beans including Soya milk, Soya kawa, and Soya sauce. Through her training sessions, communities are able to use food products they have in excess to create many different types of food that are healthy and sustainable. She also educates teenagers on the importance of personal hygiene.

Bogere was born into a family of 13 children and before she was a year old, her mum passed away. By the age of six, she was an orphan and as expected, she struggled to make it through her educational career. Along the way, she studied at The Morning Star Christian High School in Uganda before finally, specializing in hairdressing at a local vocational school. Her involvement in FARM STEW was what most people would call a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity. Phionah decided to enroll in a training session that Joy Kauffman, CEO and Founder of FARM STEW had at her local church, Iganga Seventh-day Adventist . During the training sessions, she realized that she was engaging in something she was extremely passionate about. She recalls herself bombarding Joy with many questions and simply wanting to know so much about what it means to help people live a healthy life.

She says her involvement in FARM STEW has improved her faith as FARM STEWs principles are faith-based. She has also formed a strong and meaningful network of people she can call her family in Christ.

She is excited to share her experiences and knowledge about not only the great impact FARM STEW has had on the communities it has visited but also on her life.

Presentations at Calvin University

Joy Kauffman
Part of the: Faith and International Development
Thursday, February 9, 2017 07:00:00 PM

Joy Kauffman
Part of the: Faith and International Development
Thursday, February 9, 2017 07:00:00 PM