Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A little hope is a lot of hope

It is official! I am flying to Haiti on December 13th to begin a project that will eventually provide tilapia for an orphanage! Our friends Jay and Diana Cherry moved to Haiti about two months ago to live there indefinitely, and run an orphanage they helped create. Jay contacted me a few months ago and asked me to consider helping with an aquaculture project that would provide protein for these children. if you didn't already know, impoverished areas of the tropics have a major lack of protein, and aquaculture is the most efficient way of producing animal protein.
I have been in contact with several professional aquaculturists who have experience with tilapia production in Haiti, and I have plans to visit a site that one of them has built there.

I am so excited about this opportunity. Since aquaculture was just a glimmer in my eye, I have daydreamed about opportunities to teach people in the "global south" how to feed themselves with farmed fish. The fact that this is for orphans eclipses even my wildest ministry/aquaculture dreams.

This first trip will be somewhat of a "sondeo", or a gathering of information about the natural resources available, other tilapia projects in the region, cultural perspectives of aquaculture, etc. But it will also include some initial site preparation, and at least some site preparation planning.

The organization Jay and Diana work with is called Lespwa Worldwide, and they have paid for my plane ticket to Haiti. Right now I am trying to come up with the rest of my expenses, which total around $1,300. If any of you dear readers feel led to donate to this trip, I would greatly appreciate it. If so, you can email me at estonerook at gmail.com

I'll keep youins updated as details fall into place!