SESAME SEED AN IMPORTANT COMODITY

Nadege,
CEFA’s female village facilitator and supervisor of the CEFA nutrition garden program, is cleaning sesame seed in prepararion for storage. Sesame is harvest
during the dry season and planted in the second half of the rainy season in
August.

Sesame Crop soon to be with CEFA Coops

This woman is part of a women’s group hired by CEFA this winter to harvest it’s sesame crop. The sesame seeds will be passed on to farming cooperatives working with CEFA who would like to try and grow improved varieties of crops, including sesame. Sesame seeds, though tiny, are an important source of protein in the local diet and, when sold on the market, an important source of income. This woman, Bertine, is not only working at CEFA to earn some income for her family, she is also learning new practices that she can implement on her own farm.

NEW PHOTOS just in from CEFA

Visitors from FRB and CWR at a Fulani Garden

 

In mid-January, CEFA was honored with guests from the Foods Resource Bank (FRB and Covenant World Relief (CWR). They spent several days going to villages where agricultural cooperatives were putting to practice new methods of raising beans, vegetables, and fruit trees. This particular garden will soon have an abundant harvest of highly nutritious foods - very crucial to fighting malnutrition and hunger. Thanks to this crew of visitors, the blog will be supplied with new photos and stories that will keep bloggers updated and excited!

 

The CEFA sign directed the visitors to CEFA's three locations

The CEFA sign directs its guests to three particular locations: one to the main office and Garden of Eden; another to the model or demonstration farm; and the last to the main ag center where most of the experiments and training takes place. The CEFA center is still under construction and is still establishing new experiments for training. However, CEFA's fourth and largest area of work - out in the villages - is where true success lies as people are transformed with healthier lives based on God's love for all people to have an abundant life. 

CEFA IS BACK - BLOGGING AGAIN

Please excuse the fact that this blog has not seen any new action lately! However, I am on the move to keep everyone posted on new developments. I have been in the US for almost 5 months now, speaking at churches all over the US, updating them on CEFA's progress, and thanking them for their partnership with all of our ministries in the Central African Republic. The above pictures show me at my recent visit to the farmers and Covenant churches in the Willmar, MN area that have supported CEFA for many years, going back to the old agroforestry program. Those supporters are connected to the Foods Resource Bank, a wonderful organization that connects farmers in the US with farming programs overseas. CEFA has been blessed by FRB and its help over the years. In the photos, I am speaking at a Threshing Show and running a combine on the Gunderson Farm - harvesting soybeans, one of the contributing crops that supports CEFA! I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone connected to FRB - for making all that CEFA has accomplished thus far, possible. I also wanted to mention that Benoit, CEFA's director, is doing an amazing job handling all the responsibilities for running CEFA. I wish he could have been with me in Minnesota! I have asked him to send me new photos of the work, so there should be further - more frequent :-) - updates.

A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF CEFA

Here is an aerial view of the new CEFA center that has been developed over the last 16 months. 80 acres (32 ha) have been planted in trees and field crops such as beans, corn, peanuts, and manioc. The buildings visible are the garage, the generator room, and the watchman's house. Other buildings partially up, walls but no roof yet, are the two Covenant homes and the main office/storeroom building. The well and the water tower were recently connected with pipes, so solar power now fills the water tower when needed, making water available for the work and gardens at any time. These photos were taken as Roy was departing from Gamboula by plane, on his way to the US to begin his year-long furlough of speaking to supporting churches and visiting with family. He has left the program in good hands with Benoit Zangao and Bertrand Ngama at the helm.

CEFA LAND PAPERS IN CEFA HANDS !

CEFA has just received the long-awaited title papers for the 1000 acres of land where the CEFA center is situated! Bertrand Ngama, CEFA's assistant director and Baba Zokoe, CEFA's president of the Board of Administration, have been working hard in the capital city, Bangui, for many months now trying to get those papers. The above photo was the reactions of Letha and John Kerl, Covenant church's regional coordinators for Africa with myself and my wife, Aleta, who just heard that the papers were done, signed, and in hand! A hearty thanks to all of you who have been praying that this last of the three important government documents be finished at last. Previously, the NGO status papers and the CAR government accord papers were completed. Coming up next month will be a CEFA Board meeting and the following day, a dedication/celebration will be put on, inviting many important people from the government and others involved in CEFA's establishment.

WATER TOWER IN POSITION

At the CEFA Center, the water tower was finally put to rest into its useable position. It was not easy to get the heavy tower raised up from the bed of the truck then settled into its final verticle position. Now, the solar powered pump needs to be installed and the distribution pipes put into place before any water can be used. We had one good rain over a week ago, but we are still in need of watering the important trees so that they do not dry up. This is also very timely as we are getting ready to begin construction on the general CEFA ag building that will be 14 meters by 10 meters. We will be making 3,500 cement block brick at first and that will consume a lot of water.