Agriculture Done Well = Self-Sufficiency

It could be argued that the title of this blog may not be 100% correct, but it's pretty close.

Here in rural Uganda we are mainly dealing with an agrarian society. Everyone farms. It's not a choice... it's a matter of survival. Farming practices are passed down from generation to generation, but in poor communities these practices are rarely developed. The incorporation of modern technology and advances in agriclutural practices are desperately needed. Without these advances, an agrarian society will become weak and unable to meet the demand of a growing population.

They need training! They need to be taught how to intigrate new practices with the old way. How to do things like make organic fertilizers and pesticides from local recourses to produce a higher yeild and healthier crops. I am by no means well educated in the area of agriculture, but I know a man who is!

We are working with a local farmer named Anthony Magambo. He is heading up the agricultural department of Bringing Hope to the Family. We helped finance the beginings of this new arm of BHTF and are excited about where it's headed.

Anthony is starting by developing new farm land to supply the needs of BHTF as an organization. Food costs are one of BHTF's biggest expences. Being able to meet the organization's food demand will be a huge step on the road to self-sufficiency.

He is also training the girls at the vocational school and has started an experimental community training program, with the intent of one day having a centralized demonstration farm.

Here are a few pics from a day spent with Mr. Magambo...



Magambo talking with David about a new banana plantation he recently planted to supply food to Home Again Orphanage.



Newly planted banana trees.



These bananas are called matooke and are one of the main sources of food here in Uganda. These trees are about 18 months old.


Beans are commonly mixed in with banana trees or potato fields.



This is a nursery that is being cultivated by the girls at the vocational school. This is their practical hands on training.

Kale, one of the few green vegetables eaten on a regular basis... and it's pretty bitter!

Maize, more commonly kown to us as corn. Here in Uganda they grind it up and make a flour called porsho.

Magambo and David talking about these newly planted potatoes!

Pepperoncini's... a new cash crop to western Uganda.

Magambo planted 2,300 pine trees! This is a long term investment that makes good use of land with poor soil.

A new piggery! This initative was funded by our friends from Canada.

Meeting at Faith's house with the top management from BHTF about lots of exciting things... especially the new agricultural projects!

Compassion=Action,

Travis Gravette

Co-Founder & Executive Director

Christmas in Uganda!

These last three weeks have been a true safari (Swahili for long journey)... Nairobi to Mombasa to Arusha to Mwanza to Bukoba to Kayanga to Kigali to Mbarara to Kasese to Fort Portal to Kaihura! The journey has been incredible... beautiful landscapes, different cultures, amazing people and new friendships! I enjoyed every minute of it, but from the beginning we knew we had to be in Kaihura for Christmas!

We arrived in Kaihura the night of the 23rd. This small village in western Uganda is home to Bringing Hope to the Family, our flagship affiliate. They have a medical clinic, vocational school, orphanage that houses 47 children and another 1,800 children who are registered with the organization. Kaihura is a home away from home for me. This was my third Christmas in the village!

We spent the day with the kids at Home Again Orphanage. We helped serve them a Christmas feast and then just hung out with them for the rest of the day. These kids are some of the coolest people you could ever want to spend time with. They'll put a smile on your face and warm your heart. Once you get to know their stories and understand their background... it makes it even that much more impactful!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas day here in the village...

Faith and the girls getting ready for Christmas! Lots of preparations to be made.


Cooper learning the African art of beating beans out of their pods! He's probably never worked so hard on Christmas Eve.


Moses and me about to ride out to the country side to make some deliveries and pick up a few items for our friends up coming wedding on the 27th.



Rice, beans, beef, chicken, chapati, millet and the list goes on! This is one of the be
st meals these kids get all year and they definitely don't let much go to waste!


Chowing down and drinking soda!



It ncver hurts to have a little help with eating your food! This is little Favor and her twin sister Faith is in the background. They are two new additions to the Home Again family.



I think their fat and happy... I mean full and happy! This is little James (I affectionately reffer to him as cheeks), Victor (our poster child) and little Favor.



The whole crew on the front lawn of Home Again.

Christmas is SERIOUS business! This is cool little Allen.

and the Christmas tree... yes this is the Christmas tree. They look a little bit different over here... it's more of a limb than a tree. People have to be a bit more creative.

Hanging out with one of the coolest guys at Home Again... little Victor! He says Merry Christmas to all!

This lovely picture of our friend Cooper was taken by little Shearon... not bad for a seven year old.

And this little fellow is the community pet. I think the kids caught him at school. He doesn't look very happy... and I probably know why.

This has once again been a wonderful Christmas! What better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior.. the hope of the world.. than with children who have faced the horrors of this cruel world, but by the transforming power of Christ's love, have over come and been given a second chance!

Merry Christmas!!

Travis Gravette

Co-Founder & Executive Director

Kayanga, Tanzania

The third leg of our journey brought us to a small town called Kayanga. It is located in the mountains of northwestern Tanzania... in the Karagwe district. We started building a relationship with a local visionary named John Mulokozi this past April. Pastor John, as we refer to him, is a local pastor and the founder of Christian Vision Ministries.

CVM is a small but ambitious organization. They conduct vocational training in the areas of tailoring and carpentry, they started a preschool program for orphans and disadvantaged children, and they have a group of widows that they work with.

They have also organized community groups throughout the district. These groups have been brought together to help each other and assist the disadvantaged children that live among them, but the catalyst for organizing these groups came from a partnership with Heifer International. These groups were trained by the local gov't in better husbandry practices and then received cows from Heifer Int'l. Heifer Int'l donated a limited amount of cows so many of the groups are still waiting to receive a cow... and most of the groups are made up of over 30 families.

We really enjoyed our time in Kayanga and are looking forward to the continued growth in our relationship with CVM!!

Here are a few pic's from our time with Ps John and the CVM family...


Meet Pastor John! One of the funnest easy going guys in all Tanzania! ...and he's a visionary!


This is the carpentry training center for CVM... small space with a big vision!


The tailoring shop for CVM. Forty students have graduated from their tailoring program.


This small simple structure is where the preschool is conducted. These are few orphans and widows greeting us with a song and dance.


Meeting with one of the community groups.


This is a hefeir that was given to the group above through our Know.Think.Act program. A youth group from TN started an action group and raised money.


I got the honor of helping Ps John with a baptism service. It was a little bit different from how we do it in America. They damed up a stream down in a valley.


I'm not a big fan of being in water where I can't see what's going on below the surface, so I can only image the courage it took for those who were getting submerged!


A picture of some crazy mzungus that Ps John has on the wall in his office.


26 oranges, 40 tangerines, 6 papayas, 12 sodas, 4 eggs, 1 bag of coffee, 26 tomatoes, 1 bag of 70 strange bad tasting orange things, 1 bag of roasted peanuts, a hand woven grass fiber tea set, 2 hand woven grass fiber pot pads, and a massive jack fruit! We received all these gifts in one day!



This was taken as we were headed out across Lake Victoria. Mwanza and it's rocks... looked like something out of Gulliver's Travels! This pic doesn't do it justice!!

Compassion = Action,

Travis
Co-Founder & Executive Director

Mombasa

On Saturday, Peter, the head of the organization that GSM works with in Mombasa, guided us through a couple of slums. It is pretty overwhelming to see all the changes necessary to improve the living conditions of the slum's inhabitants. Luckily our mission on this trip is not to solve the slum problem, maybe some day.

One of Peter friends guided us through the first slum, Bangladesh. He lives in this slum and invited us into his home for lunch. The accommodation everyone has given us has been amazing. The picture of the man and me is taken inside this home. The man sitting next to me is someone who saw us on the street and decided to tag along; none of us knew him, and I think he was probably a bit inebriated. Fred, Peter's friend, was kind of enough to invite him in as well. The man took to me very well, hugging me and pressing his face into mine as he posed for pictures.

The picture of me surrounded by children is in Bangladesh as well. I filmed a good part of that day, and most places I went children would run in front of the camera to get their picture taken or they would crowd around me to watch the viewfinder. I imagine it was a pretty novel experience for them.

The other picture of me set so majestically against the Mombasa cityscape is in Bangladesh as well, though I think the other slum we visited, Moroto, can be seen in the distance. The conditions in Moroto seemed worse than those in Bangladesh-more crowded and less sanitary.

-Cooper, intern

Week two in Kenya

The second leg of our journey brought us to the city of Mombasa. It’s a port city on the Indian Ocean in eastern Kenya. Our primary purpose was to spend time with a young visionary named Peter Ochiel. Four years ago, at age 24 he founded an organization called Action Ministries. We met him earlier this year and after hearing his heart and vision for the future of the organization, we knew we had to get back and spend some concentrated time with him!

Meeting with Peter after spending the whole day celebrating with the staff. Every year they set aside the first weekend of December to come together as an organization and thank God for what has been accomplished through out the year. They also eat, sing, play games and share vision for the year to come. It was a good day!!



One of the places that Action Ministries is working are the slums of Mombasa. They started working with this family because of little Sophia (sitting next to Peter). They found her with a severe burn on her right leg (you can barely see the scare in the pic). It was exposed and unattended to. In the process of getting her proper medical attention they discovered she had three other siblings and that their mother was single and jobless. They are now working to put the children in school and have created an income generating project for the mother.
.Meet beautiful Sophia! When I get discouraged and wonder if the problem is just to big... it's a picture like this that keeps me going... that reminds me the only way to change the world is one little Sophia at a time!


Eating lunch in the slums. Beans with a little maize mixed in. This family lived in a one bedroom mud thatched house with iron sheets. There was just enough room to walk around the table and their bed is just on the other side of the gold sheet... their hospitality and willingness to give when they have so little (in earthly possessions), is why in reality they are much richer than many of us in the "developed world".

Action Ministries also works in a leper camp outside of Msbweni, a village on the beach about an hour south of Mombasa. At one time there was a Leprosy Hospital. People from all over came or were brought for treatment. Because of the stigma attached to the disease, most never left... even after they were cured.

They formed a camp next to the hospital and settled in. The camp was called Tumbe (cursed)... that is until four years ago when Peter discovered the camp, heard their story and started
Action Ministries. Peter told them they were not a cursed people, but a blessed people. Their settlement is now called Blessed Camp... and it truly is a blessed place!!

Most of the older people in the camp are missing fingers, toes, feet, etc. The devistation of the disease is evident, but hope is just as present... especially in the kids! The Leprosy is almost completely wiped out and their is a whole generation of healthy children running around the place... but there are still many challenges to over come, but with the help of Action Ministries I believe they will!!
A fresh catch! The guy who caught these fish was pounding a large octopus with a big branch just to my right. It's a huge blessing that they are able to fish... because of the stigma of living in a leper camp, many of them have a hard time getting jobs.

This is the only well in the camp and it is running dry.

This elderly man was kind enough to let me take a photo with him. I can't remember his name, but I will never forget shaking is hand. He had no fingers.


Few more fun pictures to document our trip to Mombasa...

Out front of Terminal Hotel in Nairobi... getting ready to walk to the train station. We will be backpacking it from here until we get to Uganda.... to much traveling to bring a suitcase.

We were filming an early morning blog hanging out the window a bit... good lighting, Kenyan country side moving in the back ground... when all of a sudden a zebra came out of no where and started running next to the train right below us! Pretty crazy, not sure if I got it on film.

Just woke up on the train to Mombasa. I had to post this pic. Cooper's face is priceless!!


The view from our cottage on south beach in Diani. You can't go to Mombasa without spending a few days on the beach! We've been traveling nonstop since the beginning of October and have another two months to go... so it was a much needed rest! On a side note, Blessed Camp is about 30 minutes from here.


Compassion = Action,

Travis Gravette
Co-Founder & Executive Director