Un-glamorous Moringa & Fish

Processing the branches is a family affair!

Ugh, another day dominated by the un-glamorous work of processing garden produce by hand! I bet most people don’t think of this when they think of the work we do… Those were the thoughts that flashed through my head earlier this week. But this is the work that we do when we want to see our partners succeed in efforts to make their evangelism and outreach more sustainable and relatable to their communities. This specific example is from the fish raising and gardening initiative that has come out of our CHE training.

Background

Since our partner church has decided to do a test garden at their church headquarters, the workers there have been supervising the garden along with me. They have done most of the work with the fish and have much more experience with irrigation and crop growing. But the tedious work of processing the moringa leaves we’re growing for sale was another issue. So far all the labor has been free, so when I suggested hiring someone to process and sell the leaves, the church leaders were a little weary. No one was sure how much the leaves would actually bring from a small garden compared to the processing costs, so they didn’t want to promise a job to someone and then not be able to pay them a reasonable amount for the work. So, since our family already has a part-time cook who could sometimes help with the expertise and labor of processing, we took on that part of the experiment. Up to now we haven’t been able to sell the leaves for a good price, but we’re waiting for the right time of year for the market. 

Leaf Processing

Pulling off the leaves and making antlers!

Until then, we’re helping bring in branches from the garden, plucking the small leaves or small branches of leaves, cooking them in batches in our biggest pot, spreading them out on bags to dry on our roof in the blistering sun. Then our cook shakes them through a sieve in order to get the small branches and stems out. At the end of the process they are ready to sell, and once bought, people can put them back in water and finish cooking them with sauce for a meal. Moringa has been called the “miracle tree” because the leaves are so rich in vitamin C, calcium, and protein, and they can survive on little water. Eating the leaves has caught on decently already in this culture, but we hope our little business can further promote it as well.

Expanding Fish

The fish raising side of the initiative is progressing nicely as well. The fish have been going through their food faster than expected, but everyone is impressed with their growth. The majority of the fish have reached the 1 kg mark and we’re hoping in this last month before we sell them that many will make it to 2 kg, which would bring a great profit! While food expense is an issue, once we’ve started sending the churches’ own people to a neighboring country for food, we found the actual cost to drop dramatically. The other big struggle has been to keep them happy and fed in their small area. Instead of the initial four days between changing the water, it is now done every other day. Our church partners had a second basin built a few months ago in order to provide more space in hopes that the fish would grow more and not go through the oxygen in their water so fast. But the tank was constructed too hurriedly, and cracked when rain water shifted the area. We are now waiting for a new one to be constructed on a firmer foundation!

A glimpse of the big fish and big garden.

-- El Padre