Archives

November
18
2015

Planning for New Project Underway

We are on the cusp of beginning a project in Lunsar, about an hour north of Bauya in Sierra Leone. Through trusted partners who have spent years cultivating relationships in this area, we have met with local pastors, who in just five years have planted 50 churches and founded 20 schools. Members of the Just… continue reading
November
18
2015

Pineapple Project Wraps Up, New Businesses Launch

With the culmination of a three-year pineapple farm project, we are excited to see what our friends in Bauya will do now. While our original goal of selling five acres of pineapples (about 90,000 fruits) was derailed by the nation’s year-long Ebola epidemic, dozens of local workers acquired valuable job skills while they were earning… continue reading
November
18
2015

VSLAs Growing, Difficulty Involving Women

We are now working with 98 people through VSLA groups, 34 of them women.We are finding it slightly harder to involve women than men, because most women farmers see themselves too busy at home, in the field and in their trading businesses to commit to a weekly meeting. However, we are hearing about some excitement… continue reading
November
17
2015

Shanty Visits Local Villages

Shanty is continuing to travel to the villages around Lunsar, learning the pastors, communities and challenges. He mentioned that he sees a need for VSLAs within the church groups that are already established. He has proactively sourced people capable of building the money lockboxes and all materials in Lunsar. Shanty seems very excited to begin working… continue reading
November
17
2015

Banana Buyer in Place

We have a copy of the contract with the buyer for the bananas.  Now we will work on finalizing some of the partnership details regarding profits, payback and the community development plan.
November
6
2015

Sierra Leone Officially Ebola Free!

As of November 6, 2015, Sierra Leone has been declared Ebola free! Having gone 42 days without a single new case of the disease, the country has finally achieved Ebola-free status. We thank God for an end to this devastating year, and stand with our friends as they work hard to rebuild their economy.
October
19
2015

Pineapple Harvest Comes to a Close

Just prior to our arrival in Bauya last month on September 15, our third load of fresh pineapple was delivered and sold in the Freetown area. Upon our arrival to the site and an inspection of the farm, we made the difficult decision to cease harvesting, due to fruit spoilage. Our harvest window came and… continue reading
October
19
2015

Carolina Patiño Hired to Oversee Survival Skills Program

We have secured a manager to oversee the survival skills program in Panama. Carolina Patiño has been highly recommended, and we were impressed on our recent visit with her knowledge on survival skills education and her ability to report. She will start by retooling our survival skills curriculum in ways that would be better suited for the children.