More importantly, before the Madness commences, let me give you a quick update to one of my favorite GLO projects - Milk for Transformation! (this links to a 2:40 video that is worth a watch!)
MFT's concept is simple - switch out negative impact long-horned steers for Tunesian milk cows in order to 1) supply more than enough milk for a family and 2) create a business for the family for the excess milk. This is simple, effective and a game changer in Burundi.
Through both (possibly) of my Burundi cycling fundraisers and/or the Hopski - some of your donated funds to GLO have gone to extending MFT's reach and to keep it going through the past few lean years in Burundi.
Here's an brief update from December on the MFT program:
I trust that this report finds you and your loved ones well.
I’m writing to update you on the Milk for Transformation project so you can see the very real difference your gift has made. Thank you for partnering with us on this journey. Since you supported us the team has been able to continue this brilliant initiative and also to grow it! Milk for Transformation has now expanded to operate in two areas – Ryarusera and Gihanga. Recently we gave cows to 14 families in Gihanga and the team is beginning to see some of those families reap the benefits. They are now collecting over 100l of milk every day from these families to be processed and sold in town. Those who purchase the milk are really enjoying it and Milk for Transformation has become their preferred milk supplier.
John Irakoze, who now runs Milk for Transformation says “We are teaching farmers to farm using Foundations for Farming principles, formally known as Farming God’s Way. This is a method of farming based on biblical principles which implements conservation agriculture. With this method, farmers can harvest more than 10 times the amount they would harvest from traditional farming. Farmers can use organic fertilizer from their cows to fertilize their land and grow food to feed their families and even sell to the market to increase their revenue and be lifted out of poverty completely. We would also like to extend Foundations for Farming to other communities, especially Ryarusera and Gihanga, so that our friends can be empowered to grow food to feed their families and share with the rest of Burundi. We are very expectant of new grounds of huge advance this coming year.
HERE IS THE FULL UPDATE FROM Q4 2018 - DETAILED, BUT INFORMATIVE!
BURUNDI
BIO AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY
B
P 2957 BUJUMBURA
Commune Ntahangwa, Zone Ngagara
Qr.
Industriel, Chaussée d’Uvira, 3
Tel:
68 041 455, 72 364 496
What
have been the highlights of the last two months?
We
gave cows to 14 families in Gihanga in November 2017, despite the challenging
journey, we are beginning to see some of those families reap the benefits. We
are now collecting over 100l of milk every day from these families to be
processed and sold in town. Our clients are enjoying it and we have become
their preferred milk supplier.
We organized to supply feed supplements to the farmers with cows which
are currently giving milk, in order to increase the quantity of milk. This was
well received and yielded positive results. We now have an excellent
relationship with the families as they truly see that we are after their best
interest. Our aim is that we would collect more milk and process over 1000l of
milk in total per day from our two communities of Ryarusera and Gihanga.
One of the challenges that
was crippling us was the lack of freezers to store pasteurized milk, and Hope
for Tomorrow Global was able help us out by buying 4 new large freezers. This
will increase our capacity to receive more milk from our suppliers and sell
more.
We are teaching farmers to farm using Foundations for Farming
principles, formally known as Farming God’s Way. This is a method of farming
based on biblical principles which implements conservation agriculture. With
this method, farmers can harvest more than 10 times the amount they would
harvest from traditional farming.
Farmers can use organic fertilizer from their cows to fertilize their
land and grow food to feed their families and even sell to the market to
increase their revenue and be lifted out of poverty completely.
Challenges
We recently lost a pregnant
cow in Gihanga unexpectedly. This was very sad for the family as this cow was
also giving milk. Even though the vet was prompt at the earliest sign of it
being unwell, there was little he could do as the cow passed way during the
night on the same day.
The lack of freezers in
September and October meant we did not operate to our capacity. And we had to
scale back with quantity of milk from our suppliers in order to avoid losses.
Power cuts didn’t help the situation which means we rely on the generator in an
area where fuel is so unpredictable.
Stories
In
the village of Ryarusera there is a lady called Media, a pygmy from a very poor
family. Evariste gave her a job at his house to work for him back in 2007. She was given a Friesian cow but later got
sick and died. In the meantime, she worked there diligently and saved all she
could. From her savings she bought young goats which she looked after well. As
soon as they were prime for market she sold them and bought a young bull which
she raised.
At her home they are poor, she used her money from the bull to build
and renovate her father’s house, which brought dignity back into her family.
She also bought another young cow which she raised up.
Annick, Evariste’s wife gave her start-up capital to open a boutique
selling things like, rice, maize flour, soaps etc. and cow feed supplements
which is a necessity there. At the time it was the only boutique for miles. With
her hard work and faithfulness, she now has bought piece land where now she is
building her own house where she and her two children will live. As her
children are in school and have a safe home for them to come to, she is full of
joy and hope for a brighter future.
Budendegeri Mathias in Gihanga, who received one of our cows, says “I am retired, but with this cow, I have a
reason to wake up every morning in my old age.”
Needs
-
We plan to start 6 new milk distribution
centres this coming year progressively in town and other nearby regions. It
will cost 2,000,000 Fbu per centre to fully equip it. This will boost the revenue.
-
Order a spare set of water
heater coil for the batch pasteurizer for emergency use which costs about
750,000 Fbu
-
At the moment, we have
a dilemma. At one hand, it looks like a good idea to buy cows locally to avoid
more transportation challenges. The risk of changing their habitat subsequently
resulted in the death of a few cows because of stress of transportation and
changing feeds. But on the other hand, if you buy the cow from the same place
where you expect yield of milk, there is no increase of the number of cows: “It
is undress saint Paul to Dress saint Paul” So the preference is to continue to
import the cows, to increase the number of cows in the region, and let the
people trade between themselves when it comes to buying locally. It is one
visible impact that people have changed their mindset for the better.
-
The unstable political
situation makes it difficult to plan for the long term. If we received funds
for building our own premises this would avoid moving the equipment every time
a lease ends. This would prevent lots of challenges. We would like to start
building our own premises on our land in Gihanga. This would also enable us to
expand and use our continuous flow pasteurizer.
-
Budget ( $1 is equivalent to
about 2,600 BIF)
-
We would also like to extend
Foundations for Farming to other communities, especially Ryarusera and Gihanga,
so that our friends can be empowered to grow food to feed their families and
share with the rest of Burundi.
Items
|
Amount (BIF)
|
Amount (us $)
|
Six milk distribution points
|
6,000,000
|
2,300
|
Spare parts for batch pasteurizer
|
800,000
|
300
|
15 more cows for Gihanga
|
8,600
|
|
Total
|
11,200
|
Prayer
requests
We
have been told that we might need to move out of the current premises next year
in July as the owners seem to have a family conflict. Moving premises again is not simple as it
involves moving all the equipment as safely as possible. It also destabilises
the day to day operations and results in loss of clients. Please may you pray
that any conflicts between owners gets resolved quickly.
We are longing for us to operate in from our own base. We have a piece
of land in Gihanga we aim to build our own premises there where we can operate
without such hastles, please stand with us in prayer for God to open doors for
to build and move there permanently.
We are also in the middle restructuring BBAC and we ask that you
would pray for us that God may lead us to make the right decisions and to show
us the best way forward. We believe God has promised us transformation of
people, hearts and minds in the communities and we want nothing less than to
see this vision come into being.
Please also stand with us in
prayer as we continue to lift the nation of Burundi before God for the healing
of people’s hearts and for the restoration of peace.
