February Project Roundup

February 10, 2016

Ghana

For a good part of January, Peter was stateside, taking time to visit with family during the holidays. We congratulate him on his recent wedding engagement! He is now back in Ghana, where he is helping train David Dyer, our new team member there who will work with farmer groups. A leadership team is planning a trip to Ghana in the next month.

Bauya, Sierra Leone

A new case of Ebola was confirmed in the northern part of Sierra Leone, and we ask for your prayers that this will be a single, isolated case. The people of Sierra Leone have learned much about combatting the disease during the past year, and the World Health Organization reports that the Sierra Leone government acted swiftly and appropriately in response to this case.

Under Joe’s supervision and training, several VSLA groups have been meeting, saving and building relationships of trust among their members.

The purchase of the remaining goats is on hold due to reports of a fatal goat disease in many surrounding villages. None of the goats that we have purchased have become sick, but we will wait until this outbreak subsides before purchasing any more.

Lunsar, Sierra Leone

Shanty continues to meet with church and community leaders, encouraging them and learning about their plans for pulling themselves out of poverty. Just Hope will equip Shanty with a reliable motorbike for his use in outreach. Please pray for Shanty, as he has been suffering from a stomach illness that has him confined to bed. We look forward to being with our partners in Lunsar on our next leadership team visit in the next month.

Togo

Jesse will begin a three-month period of teaching sustainable conservation agriculture principles this month. The rainy season will begin in about three months, so the timing of this training is such that people will have strong knowledge of preparing their fields, planting and mulching in time to take advantage of the rainfall.

Panama

We will travel to Panama at the end of February to begin training the teachers in preparation for the March launch. It’s exciting to be so close to getting this initiative off the ground!

Honduras

The container of shoes has been released from port and unloaded! Kudos to Raul for jumping through many hoops and working very hard to get them released, including hiring a local attorney. This process was difficult due to customs and tariffs on many of the products that were made outside the U.S., but it’s been a good learning experience for Raul as he discovers what is needed for Honduras customs. This will not be the last time he faces these issues. Dan and Phillip have been there in person to assist in the unloading.

The irrigation lines have been installed for the dwarf banana project, and the holes are being dug for the first planting.

Kevin, Gabriel and Denilson are doing well, and are so appreciative of the opportunity to continue their education and have someone to love and support them. The boys are eager to learn English and are progressing quickly. The boys joined the leadership team to see the banana farm, where they witnessed the hard work people were doing to survive and heard how many days some people did not eat prior to having a job on the banana plantation. The boys also rode horses and enjoyed being teenagers running free on a farm, and it was great to see their smiles!