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

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.

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 monsoon 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

November 2010 The Monsoon Hits With A Vengeance

After 2 years of failed monsoons, its wonderful to finally get some good rains. The well has water for the first time since August 2009. The government has released water into the irrigation channel that runs beside our property. Unfortunately the rain caused flooding and loss of life in some areas and the dirt road into our property has been impassable to vehicles for weeks.

Local farmers came to help with sowing our first rice crop.








Aaron and some of the boys preparing a field for sowing rice.

With the onset of the monsoon, colds and fevers are common because if you get wet in the morning your clothes won't dry in the humid conditions. A local family gave all the boys raincoats to keep them dry when walking to and from school.

October 2010 Karen's Visit Continued

Kenmore Baptist Kid's Church donated money for a TV so the boys could watch DVDs and learn about the world.

Every Saturday Night is now movie night. Here they are watching a video of themselves from one of Karen's previous trips.










We held our second goat day and gave out another 10 pairs of goats. Israel was kept busy with all the paperwork.






Karen with some of the people and their new goats.












Thanks to all those who donated money for the goats.
















Whilst Karen was visiting, the monsoon rains started and the fields began to green up with new growth. With fresh grass to eat, the cow's milk production increased and they were able to start selling milk again. The cow is pregnant and due to give birth around April. If good rains fall over the next 2 months, we'll be able to plant crops and buy more cows.




Karen gave the boys some books and drawing supplies.











They all enjoyed copying pictures from the books and coming up with their own artistic creations.











Israel and Aaron with the boys holding their new pencil cases that Karen's Mum made for them.

September 2010 Karen's Visit

Karen got to spend 3 weeks visiting the boys in September and October. Below are some of the photos from her visit.


















Due to insufficient irrigation supplies during periods of low rainfall, we realised that the 5 acres of land at Errampatti won't provide enough food and income to care for our targeted 50 children. So we are now looking at buying another 10 acres of land to grow crops and have more cows and goats in another village where land is cheaper and water supply is more consistent. Above is a property we looked at in Anaikarapatti Village. It has 2 deep wells and is in an area of greater rainfall.


















We held the first of our village goat days in Kalikudi Village. 10 pairs of baby goats were distributed to widows, the elderly, unemployed and disabled. The participants will raise the goats for 6 months, then we will give them a breeding pair to keep, and the adult goats will be sold to fund the purchase of the replacement goats and another pair of goats to give to someone else in another village. We hope to give out 20 pairs of goats every 6 months.

















The goats will supply milk and income through breeding. Everyone was very happy to get their new goats.



















Thanks to some fundraising by Kenmore Baptist Church Kid's Church, we were able to take the boys on a 2 day tour. We visited waterfalls and an island just off the most southern point of India.


















Only four of the boys had ever seen the ocean before. They had a great time paddling in the waves.


















Jeremy and Simon donated their old k'nex toys to the boys and they had a wonderful time building all sorts of models.


















The boys have never seen toys like this before and enjoyed playing with them for hours.

July 2010 We need rain

As the heat of summer rose, the lack of water for irrigation continued to negatively effect our attempts to develop the farming activities that will provide income and food for the Home. The wells and bores on many surrounding farms dried up leaving many farmers without crops for income. We lost our banana plants, watermelon crops and the vegetable gardens couldn't be replanted. However with the monsoon months approaching Israel decided to plant a few trees and shrubs.

Planting shade trees along the fenceline.

Hand watering some of the new plants.

The calf has almost doubled in size, but the heat and lack of green grass has greatly reduced the cow's milk production.

June 2010 Holidays and back to school

The academic year finished in May and all the boys passed their exams, which was great news. They had a few weeks break from their studies and Israel and Aaron took them to a local park for some games and lunch.
















Two of the boys returned to their villages to live with relatives and two new boys joined the group. Welcome Babur (aged 7) and Abinesh (aged 12).

Getting ready to go back to school with their new school bags.

















The boys in their primary and high school uniforms.

March 2010 Update

During March, temperatures have been above average (in the 40's) with no real rainfall over most of the district. Unfortunately the continued dry weather and heat were too much for the watermelon plants which started to wilt. Local villagers stole some of the crop and the boys ate those that could be salvaged. We've decided that while water is scarce, we'll concentrate on watering the veggie gardens and plant some areas with cow and goat fodder to ensure there is enough green vegetation to keep the animals well fed.

The cow and calf are going well, producing 14-15 litres of milk a day and generating our first income. Being able to eat the veggies from our gardens has also resulted in savings at the local produce markets. Construction work has continued on the outdoor cooking area, finishing the feeding troughs for the cows, fencing around the well and a shelter for the vehicles.

Israel's been busy with finalising the registration of the home and preparing for our first Indian Audit. A number of Government Departments dropped by for surprise inspections and were very happy with the facilities and the care given to the boys.

Once the registration and auditing are completed, and we get some decent rain, we'll buy our next two cows and calves and some more goats. Around June we aim to start our village goat rearing scheme where we will supply pairs of baby goats to poor village families. They will raise them for 6 months and then the goats will be sold. The family will keep the income from one and the income from the other will be used to buy 2 more goats for another family. So far we've been given enough money to buy our first 29 goats. Our goal is to give out 40 goats every 6 months.

The boys are busy studying for their end of year exams to be held in April. Afterwards they'll have 4 weeks holidays and will relax, help around the farm, and attend a Kid's Holiday Camp with lots of games, stories, singing and craft.


The baby goats were finally born and we now have 2 more boys to add to the number.


Looking down on the roof of the new outdoor cooking area at the rear of the kitchen building.


Fence posts in position ready to improve safety around the well.


The vehicles under the new vehicle shelter.


A large pile of straw was delivered to help feed the animals.


The boys helping to move and re-stack the straw.