Planting Hope, Vegetables in Africa

MURRIETA — Sandy Weigel boarded a plane over the weekend to give African families the chance to never go hungry again.

She is joining more than 350 Americans, including several Inland residents, in Swaziland, Africa, to plant vegetable gardens in the yards of the needy. The trip is part of Dream for Africa, a Christian-based program that strives to ease hunger.

The Murrieta mom will spend 11 days in the small African country digging family gardens that residents can tend themselves. Each door-sized plot contains a dozen immune-boosting plants such as cabbage and spinach.

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The mission fit Weigel perfectly.

She and her husband, Andy, have dedicated the rest of their lives to helping others in this way, she said. They call it their “give and go” philosophy.

Andy Weigel traveled to India twice with the family’s Temecula church to set up farms in a rural village. He also helped build orphanages in Brazil. The two went on a mission to Russia in 1991.

This is Sandy Weigel’s first hands-on trip alone. It was organized through the Crystal Cathedral Ministries in Garden Grove.

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