A good and new friend whom I met at Hope Fellowship during the common meal (He sat right next to me and Kellee) is Allan whose life has lead him all over the place. One of those places was the WHRF where he did and internship and even stayed a while longer. Allan graciously offered to give me a tour on Friday morning/afternoon. (How lucky was I to land myself with a guy who didn’t work the day I was there AND had spent so much time there?) We left the Bridgewater’s house around 10:30 and drove to the farm which is only seven or so miles away. We walked in to the Fair-trade Store/Kitchen/Office Building and met a few people and then the tour commenced. I took the liberty of copying the farm’s mission statement from their website so I didn’t screw it up.
- Train individuals in holistic ministry that equips them to work with communities in developing sustainable farming techniques
- Educate those with an economic abundance on methods of conserving and sharing resources
- Participate in local and international sustainable development programs
So out of that, I know of a few of the things they do. One thing is the internship program, which people apply to and they take I think two of every three months. This is a program for people who are interested in some form of agricultural development in places around the world that need it most. The interns along with the volunteers, maintain the farm and learn how to implement solutions to hunger-related problems around the world. One of the things the interns have to do is called (I think) Live on the Other Side, or something close to that.
That is where they spend a night or so living with the limited resources that some underdeveloped countries like Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic. That takes place in the Nicaragua house. Different groups are assigned country, limited to their crop and livestock and have to harvest, kill, and cook their food. They even have to shower using the water run-off storage system.
Some of the interns have also traveled to other countries to build inexpensive and functionally maintainable wells. They cost about 70-100 dollars and are done with physical labor. Apparently many of the wells that most organizations build for communities break and are non functional after a given amount of time because no one knows how to fix them, but these are much easier to maintain and so inexpensive that a family can have their own and be solely responsible for it.
Unfortunately, the camera died before I could get a picture, so I’ll just give you guys one from the WFA (Water for All) Website. If you are curious about the technique or the project, here is the site: waterforallinternational.org/default.aspx.
Allan and I eventually ran into Brad who invited us to help him with the seemingly easy task of moving a few of the goats to a different section of the farm. It ended up being something more like chasing a fast dairy goat through spiky mesquite trees while simultaneously trying to see if they are the correct goat by the number on their collar, but it was crazy fun.
Allan was a little bitter because he had to wrestle off Rasputin, the farm’s romantic buck, off of a goat that was not supposed to be impregnated. The smell was pretty bad though. He’s a nasty goat.After that I got to see the goats that weren’t afraid of me, which included a kid out in the pasture and two kids that had been born on Wednesday night.
Then we had a lunch with the whole crew, which included getting to listen in on their meal-time discussion. They are also a community and it was cool to overhear on how they communicate and function firsthand.
A great day.
Hi!
Sounds like a great adventure.
Don’t know anything personal about goats and their smells, except by hearsay.
An author who writes about “sustainable agriculture” is Wendell Berry, a favorite author of mine (novelist, poet, essayist). His novel “Jayber Crow” is about a barber in a rural town in the south. Even though the main character is a barber, there is a lot about rural sustainability. If you like novels I highly recommend it.
Those people you are with sound like people who would know and like Wendell Berry.
Peace,
Dennis
Hi Trevor,
I’m glad your trip is going well and that you are learning a lot! I think that program in Nicaragua sounds pretty cool, maybe it is something you should look into doing. You always wanted to use your Spanish. Well just checking in, wanted to say I love you and the family can’t wait for you to get home, safely, and to hear all your stories.
Love you!!!!
Erika
Erika,
The internship at World Hunger Farm sounds really cool, but I don’t think I have a very good chance at getting in. It’s hard to get in without farm experience and a desire for agricultural development sometime in the future. But, I would definitely love to volunteer there for a little bit at some point, (which doesn’t require time commitment, experience, or vocational interest), and I think it would be awesome to do something with WFA, in Nicaragua or otherwise.