Life here has been good and wet. The pendulum has swung from last year's drought to this year's flood. The corn is refusing to grow in all the rain, so pray that we could have a little break so that there won't be any hunger this year.

Well let me start by saying that this newsletter is all about the development farm. Next month we'll give a more personal update, but for now we wanted to paint a clear picture about the projects going on. Anyway, the farm is finally up and running!!! With over 20 functioning projects spread out over about 13 acres, we are now ready to move on to "Phase two" where we start implementing these projects among various communities. Our vision and passion for the development farm has always been to help reconcile the Yao to God (through the teachings of Jesus), the Yao to one another (through the formation of communities), and the Yao to the earth (through good principles of stewardship). Let me run down the list real quick of what's going on: (Bear with me…It's gonna be long)

On The Farm we have:

Milking Saanan Goats- We own 22 goats, 6 of which we milk twice daily and sell the milk for very cheap (.60 cents for a liter, it is almost double in the city); this month we will begin helping small communities start their own Goat projects (with our own stock) that they can raise for milk, breeding and profit of milk, with the condition that they give their second female goat offspring away to another community.
Holstein-Fresian Cattle – We have 2 ½ cows (one is about to give birth soon!) that we milk daily with the purpose of selling the milk and one day having a similar community project.
Rabbits – We have 12 rabbits that we will begin giving away their offspring to families to raise for meat production at home, with the condition that their first male and female offspring is given to another family.
Layers – 38 layers deliver us fresh eggs every day that we in turn sell for half-price of the city and also give away to families with sick children for protein. We will also start similar community projects with these chickens.
Broilers – We also keep around 25 broiler chickens that we raise for meat for our family and we also give them away to people in the village…. We also fatten them up and sale them for a fair price. But that's not the complete project; the project is the housing that we keep them in….
Chicken Tractors – Not a literal tractor…but close. A chicken tractor is a small portable floor-less bamboo hut that stays on the ground and allows the chickens to till up the ground while they peck and scratch and fertilize it with their manure. Then after 3 weeks we move the tractor forward and discover beautifully tilled soil that is ready for planting behind the tractor. This will help families protect their chickens from predators, fatten them up by not allowing them to run around free, and produce an organic garden right in their home.
Tilapia Fish - A small tank dug in the ground houses over 50 fish which is also connected to a hydroponics garden filled with rocks which can grow above ground produce like lettuce and tomatoes. The idea is that you aerate the tank by using a PVC tube to suck up the fish manure on the tank floor and putting it on your rock garden which over-flows back into the tank. This will be an easy project for families to do in their back yard and give people a way to produce their own fish for meat and possibly an income through selling them.
Donkeys - No one here uses any sort of traction animals and all terrain is plowed by hand. So any day now 3 donkeys will be arriving from Malawi that we will train to pull a plow and cart and we'll begin breeding for small community projects to help communities with their farms and transportation. Can you imagine a donkey and a cart used as an ambulance to bring sick people out of the bush to the city hospital? Pretty cool thought huh?
Composting – People in our neck of the woods save all their money to buy expensive imported fertilizers that are used improperly, therefore burning their crops and wasting their money. So with the manure we make on the farm, and also with our small community animal projects we teach the benefits of organic composting (which people have never heard of doing here!). This helps save them money and produce better crops.
Lorena Stoves – The Yao cook on open fires which burn up lots of firewood and is an accident waiting to happen. Our neighbor's 2 year old fell in the fire last week burning her arm pretty bad. So we want to introduce a way of cooking that saves firewood and protects children from future accidents. This mud made stove is definitely the answer.
Clay Stoves – This is a similar project except that the stoves are smaller and portable but with the same concept. These stoves are made daily here on the farm by two ladies and are sold cheap. But anyone who wants to learn to make their own can make one for free here in our training center. This has also been a good project for bringing large groups in for teaching and opening some big doors.
Crop Rotation – Corn is the staple food in Mozambique and it is eaten at almost every meal. This means that it must be mass produced. The problem is that corn is a heavy-feeder and ruins the soil after it has been planted in the same spot year after year. So with our own crops we are teaching a four square crop rotation method which rotates corn with soy (a heavy giver). This will give people better corn and a new crop of soy which can be used similar to corn and also pressed for milk for the children.
Soy – Well we can't expect people to grow soy without readily available seed. So we've planted many an acre to give away to people who will in turn give away two pounds of their first harvest to their neighbor to be used as seed for someone else.
Sunflowers – In our own rotation we've planted sunflowers that we will give away the seed to people to be planted on their farms with the same conditions as soy. This will add protein to their diet and can also be pressed for oil.
Seed Press – We've obtained an oil press so that after people grow their sunflowers they can bring them to our farm and press them for free. This will give people free cooking oil and what is left of the seed after being pressed can be mixed with corn husks and given as feed for their animals.
Moringa – Named a "miracle tree" because just about everything on it is useful. The leaves are edible, the seeds it produces can be pressed for cooking oil, and the branches can be cut and used for construction. We currently have over 250 of these trees on the farm that we wish to distribute the seeds for families to grow in their homes.
Jatropha – This is a small tree that can produce up to 15 pounds of seed a year that is pressed for Bio-Diesel. We've made several contacts with businessmen here in Mozambique who are interested in buying all the seeds we can produce for about a dollar a half-pound. So we planted over 500 Jatropha trees in order to give all the seeds we produce away for people to grow locally and sell for an easy profit. This could potentially mean up to an extra 600 dollars a year for a family that grows 20 trees on their farm and the trees will produce seeds for 50 years!!
Intensive Gardening - Most food production for the Yao is done at their farms many miles away and this is only with corn and beans. So we've begun teaching people how to grow different varieties of produce right in their homes
Well-Drilling – We have a locally made percussion well driller that can drill up to 30 feet in roughly six hours. Our goal is in the dry season to help families that are suffering with water shortage and also to provide material and training to local villages so that they can drill their own wells.
Paper Charcoal Maker – Our newest project is a machine that presses shredded paper trash together into small briquettes that burn like charcoal. We intend to use all our paper trash to sustain our hot water system for our homes but it is also open to anyone who wants to bring whatever paper trash they can find to make briquettes for their family.
The Store – Lastly, the store…. It's just that.. a small store that we've built up by the road to sell our produce, milk, eggs, and stoves. It will also be a distribution point for all the projects. But mainly it is a standing advertisement of what is going on around the farm because we are hidden from the road by the village.

WHEW….. I know that took a lot out of you to read….. because it took a lot out of me to write. Ha ha. So, I won't talk much longer. Like I mentioned earlier these projects are solely for the purpose of producing communities that can openly discuss the gospel and for the Yao to learn how to be a good stewards of the resources that God has given them. Because our Yao language is moving along fairly well we are not far off from being able to talk about Jesus to the Yao on a more in depth level than we've done previously. This is very exciting to us.

Also, I'd like to give an update on Baby Bonomar. This is our neighbor's one year old child who is suffering from extreme mal-nutrition. He's begun vomiting again and showing no signs of improving. The Indian doctor has left the country with the promise of returning soon and without him we have no way of getting them to Maputo (the capital) for better medical treatment. So pray with us that the child will be healed and that the doctor would return in time to get this family to Maputo. The family found all your emails very encouraging and wants to say "Asanti Jejinji" Thank you so much for all your prayers and letters.

Well that is all for now. We would like you to say thank you to those who have given to the farm financially and prayerfully, we would not be able to do this without you. Personally, thank you for giving us the opportunity to do something we love doing.

Oh yeah….. tomorrow is Hallie's Birthday. She'll officially hit the terrible two. She's been singing Happy Birthday to herself all week long and asking where her presents are. Haha.

For our next newsletter I'll try and put together some pictures for y'all to actually see all the stuff we're talking about.

Peace and Grace,

Rusty, Ann and Hallie Grace

Rusty, Ann and Hallie Grace Caldwell

C.P. 146

Lichinga Mozambique