During the last two weeks we have been very busy gaining a greater understanding of the needs of this community. We have been introduced to new outlying communities and find some villages that are the poorest that I have ever seen, and this includes rural Africa. We continue to establish relationships of trust, which is our primary goal, and I think we are making some good progress. We are in hopes that we will be getting missionaries assigned to this area.
The following activities outline some of the actions that we have been involved in.
- We are working with 220 young families that are in the process of buying some land from a large landowner who was raising cattle. Collectively, they are going to have to pay this man one million dollars over the next ten years. This will take about everything they make, and then some. I'm sure it will take them at least twenty years. I have met with the landowner and I am quite sure he will work with them on it. They are living in homes with dirt floors, without electricity, and with a fire pit in the middle of the room to cook their tortillas and beans. The families are generally young, and have many years ahead of them, so they might pull it off. They are specializing in the spice crop of cardamon and seem to be doing a fairly good job, however, they do need some agronomic help. I asked them what they are going to do with the money they are making off their crop and they never hesitated in saying that "all our income will be used to pay off our land debt." I then asked them how they were going to live in the meantime. They avoided the question but without any reservations they said, "this is for our grandchildren." It really touched my heart. In addition to helping them with the crop we are planning to help them with marketing. This includes setting up a dryer and the equipment necessary to package the cardamon so it can be sold at the very best price. They are currently selling to a series of middlemen. Debora Fletcher, the president of our organization, is currently in Jordan, and some other Middle East countries, and she has some significant marketing contacts that could lead to some direct sales. We will also help them with some fertilizer.
- The 5,000 water purification filters that we purchased ,after the two massive hurricanes swept the area five months ago, are turning out to be an amazing project. I do not think there is another thing we could have done to develop more relationships of trust, especially in Cahabon. We thought that handing them out would be just a matter of lining them up and handing them out. But the leaders came up to us and said, "this is a big deal, a really big deal." They hand out about 150 filters at a time, and make a big deal about it. After a prayer, and several speeches (including Susan), they explain how it works. And then they do the most amazing thing. They have a list of every potential recipient. Then, as each name is called, they come forward and sign the line by their name, and make an ink fingerprint by the side of their signature. They are also committing to use the filter, not to sell it.
- We are continuing to work with communities in the Pinares area on their Cacao project. We are currently working with them to get their cacao organically certified. I am currently preparing an additional funding request that will assist them in marketing. This is one of the poorest areas in the Cahabon District (202 villages) so it certainly needs help.
- We are assisting in the negotiations for the 100 lb. bags of fertilizer that will be given to 9,000 corn farmers. We will be meeting with three different fertilizer dealers in two weeks to get the bids on this fertilizer. This is the infamous corn project. We (along with the Association leaders) are attempting to the get structure in such a way that it will become sustainable.
- We kind of got sidetracked last week when we tried to straighten out problems with our transportation needs. About three weeks ago we purchased a used four-wheel drive SUV, thinking it would fill our needs. However, a trip into the outlying villages (over rough roads), we came to realize that that car would probably not last very long, and so we went back to Coban and traded it on a heavy-duty four-wheel-drive pickup. It was kind of a traumatic financial decision, but we simply had to do it.
- I'm preparing for an important speech on March 11th, where farming representatives from the 202 villages will be represented. I will be making an effort to try to get them to quit burning their corn stubble, and start doing other things that will enrich the soil. We are also preparing for an Experimental Plot that will show a comparison between seven corn varieties, different fertilizer levels, and seed spacing.
- We had two groups of visitors here in the last two weeks, and it was great. They helped us distribute filters and other activities. We were able to get permission to have a group Sacrament meeting in our home, which felt good.
- There is one thing that is very frustrating. We have no way of spreading the gospel. Our interpreter is wonderful in many ways, but she is not at all helpful in helping us communicate with people that are interested in the gospel. And, since she is the only person in town that speaks good English, there is no opportunity fellowship or teach other people that are interested in the gospel. We think that if there was a set of missionaries here the gospel would go forward in a big way. We have boxes of Book of Mormons sitting here in our house, and there is no way to get them into the hands of potential investigators. We have never been in this situation before, and we are looking for answers. Maybe God wants us to wait a little longer and continue our efforts in developing relationships of trust.
- We greatly appreciate all those that are making financial contributions.
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