I Spy with my Little Eye...

You all know the game of “I Spy” right? So let’s play… 

I spy, with my little eye... hope that will provide for generations of people to come! 

Look carefully. Look very carefully. Do you see it? 

Right now it doesn’t look like much except a barren field, but at each wooden stake in this field is planted a cashew sapling. In 3-5 years, this sapling will start producing cashews. These cashews will provide income for the family that owns and farms this plot of land for 25 years to come! 

Let’s play again. 

I spy, with my little eye… 

DINNER! 

This one was easier to find. This plant is a nutritious meal when served over rice. It is called ortalissa, but the local people call it matsavu. Its leaves and squash will provide many good meals for a family. In the midst of the cashew trees provided to the 300 families in our community farm in Muchenguentava are planted intercrops. Seeds such as beans, peanuts, and pineapple were provided so the families can grow food to eat now while they wait for their cashew trees to produce income. 

Sarah Mugabe is the head of one of these families. I had the privilege of meeting Sarah on my most recent trip to our Sunshine Villages Project in Muchenguentava. Sarah and her nephew have begun planting the 470 cashew saplings that they will receive as part of this project on their 2 hectare plot of land. Sarah comes twice each week to water the saplings and tend the land so that it doesn’t get unruly and overgrown. 

When we arrived out on the 600 hectare Project Sunshine community farm, it was quiet and desolate. It looked like everyone had gone home for the day. But then I turned around and there right behind me stood this sweet woman. Her toothless grin melted my heart. She was so little; if she were to stand on her tippy tippy toes, she would only reach the height of my shoulders at best. She had been tending her saplings but stopped to come greet us. 

Again and again, I am humbled by the happiness and fortitude of the Mozambican people. While the rest of the world looks on them as poor and suffering, they are anything but this. They are content with what they have. They take joy in the simplest of things; the things that we take for granted. They are willing to work harder than any of us Westerners ever would work, and they will go to lengths we would never even consider. Sarah, for example, walks five kilometers to get to her family plot on the community farm. I daresay most of the people reading this blog would do that. She then works under the hot African sun planting, watering, and tending to the trees. When her work is complete, she walks another five kilometers back down the deep sand road to her home. Why does she do this? Because she receives hope for the future of her family and dignity in working for it. 

I absolutely adore the elderly Mozambicans. I truly want to just bring them all home to live with me. So, any chance I get to sit and chat with one of these dear people, I do just that! I always begin by asking them how old they are. Very few are able to answer this question. Birthdays are not celebrated here like in other parts of the world, so they often lose track. She was able to remember that she was born in 1945. I did the math and was shocked to calculate that she is 78 years old. She looked healthy and strong and much younger than this. When we asked to take a photo of her, she immediately put her hoe to the ground and took a pose like she was working. There is no doubt she is proud of her work. When asked what her secret to old age is, she responded, “To love God.” 

Sarah was born, raised, and has lived her whole life in Muchenguentava. She has raised four children who have all gone off to pursue their own lives. Her husband has died, leaving her a widow. She said that at one time she did have work, but now she has nothing and no money. She knows the value of her plot of land and the trees she has planted there. Those trees will provide a nice life for her. This is why she happily tends to them, despite the effort in doing so. She promised us that she would work very hard to care for her trees and help them become fruitful. We asked her what she would do with her money once the trees mature and she can harvest and sell their cashews. She said that she wants to add on more rooms to her house. Don shared with her that his hope is that she will be able to add 10 bedrooms onto her house! She lit up with the biggest of smiles and giggled. 

It is people like Sarah for whom the Sunshine Villages Project was created. This has been my husband’s dream for over a decade. It is everything he has worked and strived for. It has been my privilege to walk alongside him and to see the joy in his face and the tears in his eyes as he sees his dream for the poor farming families of Mozambique becoming a reality. He is not doing this for himself. He will gain no material rewards from this project. He is doing it for Sarah and hundreds more families like hers. For the both of us, this is a far greater reward than riches.

My Easter Joy...Resurrected

When a holiday is approaching, I begin searching online for crafts, games, and activities that I can do with our Sunshine children. I want our holiday parties to be fun and memorable. Yet every time, it is beyond challenging for me to find crafts, snacks, and games for which we have the supplies here. Oh what I wouldn't do to have a Dollar Store or Hobby Lobby craft store nearby!!! 

Two weeks ago, I began searching online for Easter ideas made with supplies we have available for purchase here. I came up empty time and time again. 

I found a great project where you put blue painters' tape on paper, paint the paper with watercolor paints, and then remove the painter's tape to reveal the cross underneath. But...no blue painter's tape here. I only could find masking tape, which tears the paper. 

There were lots of necklaces and bracelets to be made with beads and crosses on them. But...no such materials here.

There were crosses that you bedazzled with sparkly stickers. But...no bedazzling supplies here.

I found the resurrection eggs that can be used to retell the story of Easter. But...there are no plastic eggs here.

I found the Jelly Bean Prayer in which the colors of the jelly beans represent different parts of the Easter story. But...our jelly beans only have the basic colors- no purple, no pink, no white.

I began to fret and whine. How could I have a party without party supplies? Ohhhhh how I wish we had some fun craft supplies.  Ohhhh how I wish I could acquire all of those cute little bunny, chick, and egg novelties that we take for granted in the USA for being available each year for Easter. Our children would love them! I was frustrated and just plain bummed-out!

And then...I had this wake-up call last Saturday.

I was CONVICTED beyond conviction as I came upon one of our children literally passed out in a chair instead of outside playing on her Saturday afternoon . This precious, sleeping child re-taught me what Easter should be about. Yes, I already knew this season is about the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But what I didn't know was how much I still cling to the Easter traditions I was raised on. I still was hanging onto the materialism of bunnies, eggs and baskets. I still held the incorrect assumption that these things make Easter better. I tried to hold the world and my faith in the same hand, but the world was taking over the faith. As I looked upon this sleeping child, I realized that she realizes this so much more than I do. 

You see, here in Mozambique, people prepare for Easter by attending all-night prayer and worship vigils- not by hoarding up scads of candy, novelties, and toys for Easter baskets. Our 8 year-old Fatima had attended a vigil the previous night with her Sunshine family. Now, she was sound asleep in the afternoon. Fatima had given her whole night to Jesus. She knows the true meaning of Easter. She doesn't need an Easter basket, a chocolate bunny, or plastic eggs. She's got better. The bunnies, peeps, and eggs take away the joy we should be able to find in Jesus alone. 

We are having our Easter celebration tomorrow with our Sunshine children. We will watch a video that retells the Easter story. We will not have resurrection eggs, but resurrection bags with the verses and symbols in each one. I rewrote the Jelly Bean Prayer to include the colors of jelly beans that come in our bags. We will focus on Jesus and His finished work on the cross. There will be no bedazzled crosses, no plastic eggs, and no chocolate bunnies. But there will be hearts that rediscover how very much their Father God loves them. Isn't this so much more valuable than anything else?

A Day to Celebrate Hope

Our long awaited Sunshine Villages Project is well underway in Mozambique. Cashew seeds have been planted and grown into saplings in the nurseries and are now being planted on the community-owned farms. In 3-5 years, these trees will be producing a yield that will provide lasting sustainability for the families for generations to come. If each family cares for their trees, grows them to full capacity, shells the cashews in the community mini-factory, and sells them to Sunshine Nut Company at the market price, their annual income will grow from $33 USD per year to $4,700 USD per year! The project is currently up and running in two villages in the southern province of Gaza and in six villages in the northern province of Cabo Delgaddo. In accordance with Mozambican business tradition, we recently held the opening ceremony for the government and community to celebrate the official opening of the Gaza project. The best way to share the events of this day is with the photos we took. 

This may not look like much, but under this protective canvas are over 100,000 cashew saplings. 

Each of these tiny saplings represents hope for current and future generations of families.

All lined up along the nursery, local leaders (chefes) and community guests await the arrival of the governor of the province and the administrator of the district. They arrived in a caravan of motor vehicles, led by a well-armed crew of police and secret servicemen. They came along the line to individually greet each person. 

Government officials, including the governor of Gaza Province, Margarida Sebastiao Mapandzene Chongo, the district administrator, local chefes, and their staffs were given a tour of the nursery. It was rewarding to see our staff of Mozambicans conducting the tour and interacting with the government officials. Here Sitoe is explaining the details of growing the saplings. 

Next we led the motorcade out 5 kilometers more into the bush to show them the Sunshine Villages Farm Project. This land is to be kept in the name of the community and belongs to them. Each family is given 2 hectares of land and will plant 476 cashew trees on their plot. The governor herself planted a tree that will benefit the community.

Wherever the governor went, the armed police and her secret service people were always on the look out for her safety. 

Next we traveled to the site where the mini-factory will be built. Our project manager, Amade, shared the plans with the governor as Papa Don, the visionary behind it all, looked on. 

Is he cute or what?

The governor put on work gloves, a construction helmet and vest and laid the first two cement blocks for the factory. We all agreed she would make a fine mason!

And then came the speeches. First, the local chefe...

and more and more speeches...

...and we couldn't leave out a speech by Papa Don!

Next came the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the government of Gaza and Sunshine Approach Foundation to work together to uplift the farming community.

The community members that have been employed by the foundation to clear and prepare the land for the nursery and farm sang and danced. They were so proud of their work for this project and for their community. 

Not to be outdone, the ladies of the community also sang, danced, and presented the governor with a basket of ata (a local fruit) and cashews. 

Last came a lunch fit for a king! Everything was prepared by the women and men of the community. 

Don and I had the privilege of joining the governor at the head table. 

At the end of the day, one of our employees presented Papa Don with cashews from the tree that grows in her yard. A precious gift that came from a thankful heart.