Monday, January 7, 2013

The Begining of Our Mission in Florida

The church service we attended felt charismatic.  I enjoyed seeing people to greet each other with hugs.  The organist had an erring and chewed gum as he played away.  The choir had people with walkers and one lady used a magnifying glass to read the music.  We sang modern songs with our hands uplifted.  The pastor, a stylish lady, smiled through her entire sermon.  Today at Echo, we had the longest prayer I can ever remember as the CEO blesses each person on his staff for the new year.  What a wonderful tour we had of Echo and learned so much-I wish I could remember it all.  As far as painting is concerned, I used a small brush and painted the areas around the trim.  I'm really the nubbie as far as painting is concerned-the other women all have a lot more experience than me.  Off to bed until tomorrow

ECHO is a Global Training Center that is committed to the development of new agricultural techniques that will allow farmers and people with small land holdings to produce some of their own food. The organization is a faith based organization that is very unique in its work and its commitment to addressing the issue of food. New crops and new techniques are being used to address the issue. Some of the work they have been doing is simply changing the techniques of the past, for example, in Madagascar the method of planting rice was changed from traditional methods of setting the plants to using seed and planting directly. The result has been the country is using only 20% as much seed as in the past, and the rice yields have increased by 100%. We are also learning about other simple techniques that can be used to purify water, create a brighter room by using a empty plastic bottle and water, and using livestock waste to generate methane to cook with and to provide gas lighting in the homes. I will do more about this organization when time permits.

So what are we doing at ECHO. Linda is involved in painting the dormitory rooms! I am sure her painting skills will improve during this project. I have been assigned to remodel and build new equipment for the nursery (plants not children) at the farm. During the time here I will also be involved in looking at some of the new crops that are being used and some of the livestock production techniques.

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