Friday, March 4, 2011

February 2011 Some more photos

Here's a couple of extra photos that were still on my camera when I did my last post.

















Above: Our rice is flourishing and will soon be ready for harvesting


















Above: Our new sign

















Above: The view from our front entrance

















Above: Our current construction project is accommodation for our livestock managers.



















Above: Although you can't see it clearly in this photo, the view of the mountains from inside the building, is very beautiful







Thursday, March 3, 2011

January/February 2011 - A new year with much to celebrate















The year has started off well and we’re really excited about what we have planned for 2011. Our rice crop is flourishing and local farmers say it looks like we should get a really good harvest. Compared to neighbouring properties, our rice crop appears much healthier and has heaps more rice grains forming. The well is continuing to re-fill each night, allowing us to keep the fields irrigated, and irrigation waters from Sathiyar Dam are keeping groundwater levels high.

Geoff and I just returned from another visit to Shalom during February. Our time went really quickly but it was great to see how everything was progressing. We had lots of fun with the boys, playing cricket, bathing at local waterfalls and the boys put on a talent show with lots of singing and dancing. On the project side of things we visited some of the people we gave goats to in September, and discussed building and farming plans for 2011.

2011 will be year of construction and expansion. To comply with Indian Government and GDG requirements we need to provide separate sleeping areas for staff and rooms with beds for the children. For the last 18 months everyone has been sleeping on the floor of the main hall, but this was only ever going to be a temporary set up. Just as we did with stage one, we’ve decided to start construction work with only a portion of the funds required, and trust God to bring in the rest of the money as needed.

We’re currently looking at three different design options, which Israel is working on with a local engineer. The new work will provide separate accommodation for staff including some widows who will help with farming, cooking and cleaning tasks. There’ll also be rooms and study areas for the older boys. Construction of a separate farm worker’s cottage began in January and is nearly finished. Once it’s complete, and our new livestock workers move in, we’ll start increasing our number of cows and goats.

Other great news is that we have a teacher and her husband, plus their 2 girls, planning to join us in May. They will take on the roles of tutor and warden and will help with setting up a free supervised homework and tutoring program for 100 children from our village. Local families that we spoke to are very excited about this new program, as many of the adults are uneducated and can’t assist their children with homework and reading tasks. Praise God, we have already been given a donation to cover the cost of employing 4 college students to help run the program for one year.

This month's featured photos show our rice and new farm workers building, playing cricket, our trip to the waterfalls, walking to school in the village and a few photos from the talent show. Next month I hope to include some photos of the new construction work.

This Month's Prayer Points

We'd value your prayers for the following:

  • Wisdom in selecting the best building design, one that will come in under budget.
  • The provision of funds to complete our new buildings as required.
  • A good exchange rate.
  • A bumper rice harvest.
  • Sponsors for the rest of the boys to cover regular expenses during construction.
  • Pray for our 5 oldest boys who are preparing for their final Year 10 exams.














Tuesday, March 1, 2011

December 2010 News

December was a busy month at Shalom, with lots of farming activities and some maintenance work on the buildings. Global Development Group staff dropped in for a visit, and to carry out our first monitoring and auditing review. They inspected the buildings and farming activities, interviewed staff, talked with the boys, and discussed future sustainability and development targets with Israel.

The feedback we got was quite positive. They commented that Israel was doing a good job managing the project and gave a few recommendations that will help improve our facilities and future project activities. One recommendation was to change the name of the project to J514 Shalom Sustainability Farms to better reflect our emphasis on helping orphans, widows and the rural poor through the development of sustainable farming activities.

This month's featured photos show some of the local villagers employed to plough our fields and transplant the rice seedlings. Thanks to good monsoonal rains, and daily water releases into the irrigation channel that runs beside our property, our well is full again, and we have plenty of water to keep our rice paddies well irrigated.

The extra rain has also provided more fresh green fodder for the cows and goats. Now that the cow is pregnant, she has entered into a "dry" phase, which means no milk production and no income from milk sales until she gives birth in April. Hopefully by then we'll have bought another two cows and calves.

During December, about 50 ladies and 8 men from the local village were employed to assist with farming activities. The end result was 2.5 acres of rice under cultivation. If weather conditions remain favourable, the rice should be ready for harvesting in March and will produce 6 months supply of rice for the children and staff.



Once the mo
nsoon finishes, we're planning to start work on a small cottage to provide on-site accommodation for some farm workers to look after the cows and goats. At present, a man from one of the local villages comes to oversee management of the crops, but we need skilled livestock workers to live on-site to guard the animals and be on hand to attend to any problems during the night.

Local villagers will continue to be employed to assist with planting and harvesting as well as construction work.
Unemployment is high in our village, with many women relying on day-labouring work in the fields to help support their families. As we increase our farming activities we'll be able to provide more employment opportunities and income to these women.

While all these farming and building activities were taking place, the boys attended school and studied hard in the evenings. They had a small break over Christmas and enjoyed caroling and drama actitivities with other children from pastor Daniel's Church in Madurai.

PS Sorry about all the different font styles showing in this post. Not sure why it's doing that and have tried unsuccessfully numerous times to fix it but gave up. Karen