There is no social security safety net in Africa. If your parents die leaving you as an orphan, as many do, you are alone and more often than not on the streets trying to find enough discarded waste food to live and a big enough waste tip to rummage in to salvage a few plastic bottles to sell. Grandma is the de facto caregiver in Africa. When her children die the grandchildren look to her for their care. With Reach the Children UK’s Grandmas Gardens projects land, seeds, tools and help is at hand to enable Grandma to feed her grandchildren, pay school fees and pay medical bills. It’s so important that the grandchildren help Grandma in the shamba (garden/allotment) to cultivate the soil and harvest the crops. As soon as some can hold a hoe they make their way barefoot to the garden with grandma to dig the garden and plant the seeds.