Kakande/Dzeleka Refugee Camp

This project, just outside of the refugee camp is unique as it provides the opportunity for both villagers from the area and refugees to work and worship together. In the past locals and refugees have not had a lot of contact with each other. Here they have gotten to know and respect each other. The project was completed with a  deep borehole, solar-powered pump, and drip irrigation. Initially, we purchased land for MBMalawi adding to their church site. While we were in the process of developing the well the local chief was always around learning what he could about the system. He greatly influenced his people to embrace this program. As we quickly outgrew the site requirements to train, we were able to double our site by buying the adjacent land at a tremendously reduced value. The refugees that work as leaders on this farm have a lot of experience from where they come from, utilizing intercropping, crop rotation, mulching, and organic pesticides, while also readily embracing the added influence of the agronomist. The value of knowledge working together from within the community vastly superior to anything we Westerners could influence to change old habits in these developing countries. 

Mangochi

On the highway just off of Lake Malawi’s tourist area is the Pentecostal Church, is the teaching hub and outreach center run by Bishop Peter Likngwa. His center is focused on church planting both in Malawi and across the lake in Mozambique among the largely isolated Muslim fishing villages. The bishop also has a love of gardening. Therefore, the demonstration garden has flourished with the drip system connected to the deep borehole we were able to provide. The fresh clean drinking water from the well is fed through a pipe under the highway to a distribution kiosk which is available to all in the region. The demonstration garden has been expanded several times and now is the talk of travelers passing by as they see the oasis that never existed before. One of the adjacent landowners who trained on the site has now utilized his knowledge to tap into a spring on his land and attach drip lines to grow continuous crops where nothing but weeds once grew. There is still a mindset with locals and perhaps even Westerners that in this very hot sand, nothing will grow. While the visual and economic reality is beginning to sink in, they are realizing that their old way of thinking was wrong. We are just now able to convince people living along the lake that they can in fact dip a pail of water into the lake, add a bit of drip line, and grow a garden to feed their family off their own land. 

Ncheu

The potato capital of Malawi. This mountainous region holds soil perfect for potato production. This project is right in the heart of the best farming area in the country. It is halfway between Lilongwe and Blantyre, the two biggest cities in  Malawi. The folks who live in the area are very knowledgeable about farming, but adding drip irrigation to their program has helped them be better at what they already knew how to do during the rainy season. The well services the drinking needs of about 7000 people during the driest time of the year, and irrigates a large demonstration garden. There is on average a rotation of 40 families learning to use drip irrigation on the farm at any given time of the dry season. Each family has an opportunity to plant and harvest continuous crops for a given number of months before they are replaced by other farm families invited into the training program. When we started this project, the local Pastor and Cooperative leader, Pastor Friday, told me that his new church was really struggling for funding, even for a concrete floor in the building. He said it was difficult to get funds from the denominational headquarters because there were many needs in the country that needed support which all had to come from overseas donations. I assured him that once people in his congregation started receiving money from produce sales, he would see money in the collection plate. I also told him that the situation would eventually change in that the congregations would be funding the pastoral leadership, not the other way around. Pastor Friday confirmed what I had said. He told me that the first Sunday after the first irrigated crop was sold by the recipient farmers, he had never before seen so much money in the collection plate. When people realize that God has provided, they tend to be generous. Just like other farming communities around the world, this group has successfully added chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits, and pigs which they are easily able to care for and add to their dietary and monetary needs. 

Lilongwe Pentecostal Assemblies of Malawi

This is the headquarters for the Pentecostal Assemblies presided over by Bishop David Chigamba. The fenced site is on the outskirts of Lilongwe, and has various buildings including offices and a school. The undeveloped land on the site is well-suited for agriculture and has been utilized most recently during the past rainy season. As I write this report we are drilling a deep borehole on site to provide water for drip irrigation. Pastors come to receive theological training here. In addition, we also have partnered with Bishop David to provide drip irrigation training for those pastors while they are receiving their theological training. It will be our goal that some of those pastors will also provide opportunities to create demonstration projects in their communities. 

Ihemba, Democratic Republic of Congo

This project is located in east Congo just across the river from Rwanda. Our Africa Manager, Moses, is from here. Moses, a father and a Pentecostal church planter, planted 500 churches during his span of leadership in the general region. The family also lives in the area. The church site includes a school where Moses received his education. The village currently gets its drinking water from an overland stream, which originates in the mountains above the village. The water is not particularly clean, so we conducted a hydrological study to determine if a deep borehole was feasible on the church site. The hydrologist report found that the best location for a borehole was on the neighboring property. We approached the owner of the land and he was agreeable to sell the land to the church. We have purchased the land, planting during the now commenced rainy period. We have begun water harvesting from the rooftops to supplement the rain needed to finish the crop via drip irrigation. This will also help prepare and train others for the dry season ahead. We intend to drill the well in May or June of 2024 to provide water for drinking and provide a complete solar-powered demonstration garden. 

Buhiga, Burundi

This project was spurred on by a young lady from the USA who traveled on a  crusade with Elisha Revolution to Burundi. She felt compelled to postpone her college education by spending the money to provide a water well for a village in Burundi. Since Moses was familiar with the area, he traveled to  Burundi to confer with some church leaders associated with his father. He found a  suitable village and potential church site to create a demonstration garden. We directed a hydrologist to investigate the site for a potential borehole. As God would have it and knowing the heart of the young donor, a different opportunity arose. The hydrologist report stated that the existing source of potable water was an underground spring exiting the hillside. In order to access the spring, a small catchment area had been created with a pipe inserted into the hill. The locals have been walking down the hill for their drinking water from the village above for some generations now, and the spring has never run dry. The hydrologist suggested we check into utilizing the spring instead of drilling a well since the water source would likely come from the same unground stream anyway. We had the water tested by the government and it came back cleared for potable use. God stretched the money provided by saving us the cost of drilling a  borehole. We are part way through the development of the project infrastructure which includes storage tanks that are gravity-filled at the spring outflow, and a solar-powered pump pushing the water from those tanks to an elevated tank structure, slightly above the elevation of the village. Water will flow by gravity into the village to a kiosk for their potable supply and also to the demonstration garden to support the drip irrigation system. 

In conclusion of the project reports, it should be noted that all projects have continuing support, both for the technical management of the infrastructure so it remains in good working order, as well as through geologists monitoring and coaching the production. In all cases, excess production is marketed through Fruitful Mart to ensure an ethical return is provided to the growers. Fruitful Mart has a gifted team of educated,  committed individuals with sales and distribution skills who want to see their continent transformed from poverty and dependency, to independence, food security for families, and economic stability. 

Fruitful Mart is a for-profit business registered in Malawi and made up of Africans.  Several Western business leaders voluntarily coach the team from Fruitful Mart as they develop the skills to operate and achieve the economic success of the nations, while serving as young Christian entrepreneurs. 

Respectfully Submitted,

Doug Dueck, Managing Co-Director Well of Plenty Foundation.