The following post doesn't have a whole lot to do with adoption or parenting, but it does have a lot to do with our family, so I'm putting it here.
For the past few years I have been
working as part of a team that has formed a non-profit organization
called Congo Animal Traction Initiative (CATI). Our goal has been to
bring the knowledge and skills of animal-powered agriculture to Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), one of the poorest countries in the world. This project was initiated by Jules Mboka who is a Congolese pastor
currently serving as president of the Covenant Church of Congo.
Cattle have multiplied throughout northwestern Congo since the civil
war that ravaged the country from 1997 to 2003. Since the war, Pastor
Mboka has looked around at all the cattle having a free lunch, while all the
people are struggling in poverty - still farming by hand and carrying
goods on their heads – and thought, “Why aren't we putting these cattle to work?”
Because of the work that I had done
in Congo with oxen in 1996 as a short-term missionary, Pastor Mboka
contacted me to see if I would help bring animal power to the Ubangi
region again. I said I would help as I was able (meaning, I will
try to help find someone else to do this job). Thankfully,
someone else did emerge. May Sanguma, a Congolese and American
citizen with a background in Congolese agriculture, has taken on
leadership of CATI.
Once May was on the scene, I thought I
was off the hook. But May informed me in one of our early
conversations that he was going to be hanging on to me. And so, he
has lived up to his word. As we struggled to design a sustainable training program
– one that would not be indefinitely dependent on outside expertise
or funding – more people joined our team. My dad waded in and
breathed life into the project by helping us create a business plan.
Tillers International formed a partnership with us to help lead
classes for training oxen, farmers, and CATI staff. They have also
donated a number of tools to the project. May has assembled a board
for CATI that has worked incredibly hard to launch the project and
build an accountable 501C3 organization.
In November, an organization called
CongoVoice caught CATI's vision and saw the difference ox-powered
farming, transport, and road repair could make in NW Congo. They gave
us a grant to start our work! So we got busy planning. And now we
are ready to start!
May Sanguma and Jessica Johnson, a
volunteer from Tillers, have been in Gemena – the village where we
are starting - for 10 days, getting everything set up and ready for
our first training of oxen and trainers. Two of Tillers Int'l staff
from Uganda have flown in to lead the 2 week training. A second
volunteer from Tillers who was slated to help with our program ended
up having a last-minute change of plans, leaving us short one person.
So guess who got to pack her bags and fly to Congo to fill in! That's
right!!
Greetings from Kinshasa, y'all.
Tomorrow, the Ugandan trainers and I
will fly up-country to Gemena to get class started.
I am incredibly proud to be a part of
this team and thankful to have a part in the work of literally
lightening the load our brothers and sisters in Congo are carrying.
Back home, Ed – with the help of a
crew of babysitters - is doing the heavy lifting of single parenting
while I am away for 2 weeks. We would appreciate your prayers for
our family, for the people of DRC and for CATI. Our hope is that this project will bring lasting change to the lives of many who struggle under the weight of extreme poverty.
To see more about CATI, here are a few
additional links:
Missionary Pete Ekstrand's blog post and pictures of CATI's
beginnings in Gemena
http://www.congovoice.org
The CongoVoice website has a page about CATI
Facebook users can also check out the Congo Animal Traction Initiative Facebook page.
Hi there, I recently saw Karen Hurd as well for fertility and was just curious how it was for you? Thanks for any info/tips!
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