How can God use a Tractor?

A widow can dig 1/4 acre by hand, harrow, then plant her crop, weed, and harvest. She can produce 1 bag, or 100 kg (220 lbs) of food on that peice of land during the year. That is enough food and income to feed her for about 200 days. She can't survive on that amount, and must gather wild fruits and harvest wild greens and herbs to suppliment her diet. For a few months each year, she won't have enough to have more than a meal a day.

Our tractor is now available for widows and orphans. We can plow 3 acres per person, at a discounted price (only covering the fuel), and she can produce 12 bags of food. This is plenty for her to eat, with extra for medical needs or to sell and a bonus to use for investing in her orphan children's education, or building an improved hut to live in. She can come out of poverty, using the sweat from her own brow, and a little boost from our tractor!  God can give her a hope and a future, and answer her desperate prayers for survival in this harsh land.

Handing out food to people creates dependency. These people long to live in dignity and self-respect. As we promote farming and business skills, we can empower them to pull themselves up out of poverty, and make a better future.

What about Climate Change? Is it effecting Africa?

We know that our weather patterns here in Uganda are changing. They are no longer reliable and consistant. The rainy seasons delay, then come in with horrendous flooding, or only a few light showers. People plant their crops, only to see them whither, or to see insects and rodents eat the unsprouted seeds from the dry ground. They plant again, and the sprouts wilt away in the sunshine. Each time someone plants thier maize seeds, they realize that they have fewer grains to eat as a family, and soon their food stores are diminished beyond the level of sustainability.

WE CAN DO SOMETHING! We can mitigate against the changes in weather patterns by anticipating the drought times, and preparing alternative, drought resistant cropping systems. Sometimes we use drought resistant crop varieties. We can also set up rainwater catchment systems to provide quality drinking water for people, or dig wells (boreholes) to provide for whole communities. Other times we use drip irrigation to provide moisture to home gardens during the dry spells. For the long term effects, we do tree planting to increase the moisture in the air, and increase the CO2 absorption in the atmosphere, to compensate for potential negative effects of CO2 emissions in other regions.

CAN YOU HELP US HELP THEM? You can make an impact in the world, one family at a time. These would be the needs of one farmer:

                Fund tree planting (10 trees). ($10)

                Fund the fuel for the tractor for 3 acres. ($30)

                Fund drought resistant seeds (30 lbs). ($30)

                Fund a small drip irrigation system for a farmer. ($100)

                Fund a rainwater catchment system. ($300)

                Fund a borehole to provide quality water for 1000 people. ($8,000)