Opit Farm

Day 7 - Opit Farm

Good morning sunshine!  Nice to see you again. Pouring rain, alternating with blazing hot sun. Makes for beautiful country, yet lots of mud, puddles, potholes and slip n slide driving. I have always loved the rain and reminds me of my Linda Mar days I would stomp thru the puddles all that way home (much to my mothers dismay!). At least the nights cool off when it rains, even so, I still struggle with sleeping no more than 4 hours most nights. I feel am slowly healing tho, thank God.   -  Its a great new day!  Let's get on the road again, shall we?  Today, we are going to see our sustainable goat project on the Opit Farm.  It was designed to help with Emmanuel clinic sustainability, the clinic we raised up on the Family Empowerment farm, (where H20 first started in 2007). We had decided the income generation piece of this E clinic needed to be separated - off the FEM farm for ease of accountability and so as not to mix up with the other goats on the farm, thus making tracking difficult. While the  "how to do this" was being seriously pondered - through serendipity another surprise connection came about. Most all of what we do comes from interpersonal connections and "out of the blue" happenstances.  Divine appointments.  Or simply those detours encountered along the winding path of life ...as I call it " following the yellow brick road" - or in these cases the "red dirt road".  A leap of faith where there are no road maps. A calling, an intuition, a gesture, effort or experience that proves itself. This is one of them. Ugandan nurse Susan (married to director of FEM farm Richard) was traveling on the bus one day and met Sister Zhiporro.  Susan comes to know all about Sr Z's hopes and dreams to develop Opit Farm - and the years of road blocks. Torn again by the war. Their problem was lack of water. The hundred acres of farm land has been forever idle and a large wild bush, undeveloped, ripe for cultivation and yearning to be worked. Susan brings Sr Z to the farm to meet me and tell me about their "water problem".  As you can imagine, I am "hit up" if you will, by so many people who are in need of this or that. At times it can be quite draining and some people downright irritating. Although all have a sad plight and a good and great need, I have to be careful and sure about what we get into. As many of my family and friends will attest, I have a hard time saying no in my work and personal life, but this non profit organization I take very seriously and feel a great deal of responsibility to see the projects and work we support, that are ultimately supported by kind and generous donors, are carefully thought out and implemented so the money donated is all 100 percent going to successful projects and well deserving people. We are an all volunteer organization and we all pay our own way over here or fundraise our own mission trips and we pride ourselves on the fact that donations go directly toward the work on the ground. So, I have my guard and caution up  typically when first approached.  I try to patiently listen. I explain we have many projects ahead of theirs, but that I would certainly keep it in mind. When the time and opportunity arose I would likely visit the site etc.  Explained nothing happens quickly for us, feasibility assessments must take place, many others (H20 board) must approve and funding raised etc. In other words I didn't want her to get her hopes up, yet I am never one to close a potential door as I have learned there is usually a wonderful surprise on the other side!  All in good time. If it is meant to be, I will be lead to her site one day.  Well, another year went by.  Sr Z  asked to come see me on the farm again, this time we were well into the tomato drip irrigation and farming projects, some with problems. She tells me all about her agriculture degree and training. She sees the problems and  offered solutions, then rolls up her sleeves and sets out to teach those doing the tomatoes how to make  compost and manure pit using the goat manure and leaves/ dry grasses etc. All in her nun habit!  I was impressed. The limited resource Emmanuel clinic was so in need of an income generation project to sustain it in the long run. Our MOU was for 3 years only and that supported the staff salaries. The patient fees (the amount the poverty stricken area could afford) supported the medications, supplies and lab testing, but not staff salaries. It is very difficult to access good quality healthcare in remote impoverished areas that would be sustained financially. Even the government hospitals and clinics were horrendous, ran of medication and supplies regularly, broken and run down facilities, and more...  Then at a board meeting the light bulb came on.... Why don't we put in a borehole for this Opit Farm and do the goat project there? This will help Sr Z develop the Opit farm and we are able to breed goats for better meat and percentage of sales/income go toward Emmanuel clinic.  After a lot of meetings, site visit and assessments, a partnership was formed. John, one of our board members was familiar with raising sheep and helped design a business plan for the goat project.  At our annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser (we always have a theme) - Many donated toward the "Adopt a Goat"  (the gift that keeps on giving) and start up infrastructure - goat house, and 10 acres of fencing.  This project was also designed as a partial non interest bearing mico finance loan, (we always reinvest back into the projects) as we have found when the business plan follows this path, the project is more likely to succeed then just "giving it all to them". Due diligence and hard work ensue towards the success of the project. And so the African Boer Goat breeding income generation project  was born. It took almost a year to clear part of the land, drill the borehole, build the goat house, fence the land, get the bank acct opened  ... Buy the start up goats.... and now we have "kids"!!  15 of them so far. They are doing very well!  Sr is doing a great job! She has done farming as well and vegetable gardens with Hope Seeds donation!  Farming gods way technique (manure, mulch, spaced planting in rows etc) which is far more sustainable than using expensive fertilizer - yielded 20 sacks of ground nuts in 3.5 acres. She had great yields of maize also. Grew giant beets, carrots etc. In addition as this project has progressed there has been a great deal of local interest in it. Sr Z  applied for and recieved a grant for a piggery, using IMO food which allows microorganisms to break down the feces even and when all mixed in greens etc.  These pigs stay confined in this structure, love it and flourish, while limiting the typical destruction they cause when raised the usual way. She is doing a masters thesis on these pigs as well. They are in high demand and have potential to bring in good income as well. She was given a cow. Also has chickens and rabbits. A real farm has been born out of nothing!  We are so so happy to see this and very encouraged that this was the right way to go! We are so proud of Sr Z!  She is also so thankful the assistance and she had failed to get start up help for years in the past. Music to my soul.  Sr Z has also agreed to come to the meeting of the minds Monday as we organizes how the community foundation for development assists and oversees all of our projects.  She is forward thinking and planting a living fence as the one we have now will not last forever. And so much more she shares of the future planning, including the need for a rain water gutter system for the goat house roof, as with the pouring rains it can make quite a muddle puddly mess and thus breed some potential sickness and problems for the goats.   Most local goats graze wild and sleep outdoors on the ground and eat and get into things that cause them the get sick and die often. This model we have only one goat so far was a still birth and one died shortly after birth. The rest are thriving. Come along ...let's look at all of these amazing animals!  Not the little pigs and note the "lame one" as they call him, who is thriving also. This is the last project we call "up north" in the war torn region, at this time.  I am at peace and tomorrow looking forward to traveling to the Family Empowerment - Canaan Farm where Hope 2 One Life stated after a mission trip in 2006 and where all of our pilot projects for the PRESM, post war recovery empowerment and sustainability model were tested and how we know this model and dream of mine works!! Hallelujah, I am looking forward to a nice rest there in the grass thatched hut I have slept in for years,,,,come along, carry me along..,,