DIG is an Action Word – My Trip Back to Africa
October 7, 2025
I joined DIG’s very first field trip to Africa back in 2010, not realizing I was stepping into something just beginning to take root.
Witnessing Hope in Action: A Field Trip to Kenya
August 26, 2024
“Seeing food insecurity solved one person at a time and witnessing how those efforts multiply is truly hope becoming reality.” Tom McGuire DIG’s Board Chair, Tom McGuire, recently traveled to Kenya with eight other participants to observe DIG’s transformative work up close. In his refections, he highlights the profound impact DIG’s Core Programs are having on participants. What stood out most to him was DIG’s ability to move the mark around social cohesion. Fostering strong, interconnected communities is foundational to
A Reflection on DIG’s 2023 Kenya Field Trip
June 27, 2023
This May, DIG welcomed 10 guests to Kenya for our first Field Trip since 2019. DIG's Kenya team embraced us with open arms and took time to teach us some of what they do.
Read about the experience from one of our trip participants, Dana Clarkson.
2017 DIG Adventure Trip with the Batwa in Southern Uganda
October 23, 2018
Each year Development in Gardening (DIG) organizes one opportunity to work hand in hand with our communities on the ground and visit some of the most beautiful sites in East Africa.
Trellis Fellow in Kenya
September 25, 2015
This year DIG was awarded our 2nd Trellis Fund Award from UC Davis. The Trellis Fund is an arm of the UC Davis Horticulture Innovation Lab. Trellis works on a smaller scale than the lab, selecting students to partner with host organizations on the ground for a few months before traveling there for two-to-three-week projects. This year, 14 different students traveled to nine different countries including one to Kenya with DIG. DIG was matched with Belinda Richardson — an international
I DIG Kenya 2014
October 8, 2014
We set off on an adventure……. “I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ― Mary Anne Radmacher
Nyla’s Experience on the “I DIG Kenya” 2012
July 10, 2012
My recent visit to DIG in Kenya in May 2012 was a wonderful adventure thanks to the outstanding leadership of Sarah Koch, the executive director and her DIG co-workers! Our itinerary was well organized and offered a “hands-on” experience to help us understand the mission and work of the Garden Program. We visited many DIG sites and participated in their gardening endeavors. It was special to have the opportunity to meet the Kenyan people in their schools, homes &
Volunteering in Kafue
November 18, 2011
By: Damian, a DIG volunteer who has been in Kafue for the last 6 months with his wife, Ali. Kafue’s DIG project has been hard work with great rewards. We have met (and hopefully empowered) wonderful people who genuinely seem to enjoy the work and camaraderie. Four main gardens have been established at the local medical clinics with satellite home gardens spreading from each of these. I believe that a solid core group of women have really mastered the gardening
My Dream of Africa Came True by Maggie Johnston
August 11, 2011
Maggie Johnston is part of the Birmingham DIG community. She is the director of Camp McDowell Environmental Program and joined DIG on this year’s Donor Trip to Zambia. As a young child, I would thumb through my father’s National Geographic magazines and dream of Africa. Can you relate? Wild giraffes, lions, zebras, elephants wandering across the plains. Half clad, dark skinned African people using primitive tools to make a living from the land. I have grown up in a world
Zambian Beginnings
November 1, 2010
Welcome to Zambia!! We’re at five weeks and counting here. These days the sun is shining a bit more and the afternoons are slightly less chilly, and progress on beginning the gardens seems to be moving at about the same pace as the changes in the weather – slowly slowly. While this seems to be par for the course in Africa, somehow I managed to forget that – I arrived quite eager and energized to get started, get my
A few words from Ann’s volunteer trip.
November 1, 2010
I have never met so many people who were truly present, not distracted by the rush of life as we so often are in cities. I felt completely at home, every day, everywhere, even in the slums and in strange towns along the roads. Perhaps that was because Nasur, our driver, was the kindest human being imaginable, and completely dedicated to taking care of us in his world; perhaps it was because our group was so compatible and so forgiving