A visitor on a business trip to MRCH in June 2005 made the following observations:
“There seems to be an air of depression about the situation as well as uncertainty created by the clearance programme. The fuel situation is awful, people waiting in queues overnight, or for 7-8 hour stretches during the day, mostly unsuccessful. Shortages worse than ever, so MRCH is affected as well. They have had to stop the chicken programme because they can’t get the feed – hence no eggs for sale or for the children to eat. Pig breeding has also stopped and slowly the pigs are being sold off. The garden remains the only sustainability project in operation. And so….. money from overseas is critical to their survival in the short, medium and long term”