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.