August 2010 Update

Its been a great summer for the Tilapia Project. The exposure we gained at the Today's Vision Tyler trunk show in June continues to impact the Tilapia Project (Thanks again to Dr. Rudd and her networking genius Todd Hinkey).

As a result of that opportunity, we had an amazing meeting with the founders of Parental Care Ministries (PCM), Dr. Mark Barrett and his wife Monica. One of the ministries of PCM is to provide a home for orphans in Uganda. At the moment PCM is providing a home for about 200 children. They hope to be able to serve over a thousand children as resources and infrastructure allow. As we found out in Kenya with Kisima Academy, the Tilapia Project is a natural fit for orphanages looking to become more self-sustaining. That is just what PCM is looking to do in Uganda. We have already begun working with this great ministry to formulate a budget and a plan to bring ponds and fish to Uganda. Check out the PCM website at: http://www.parentalcareministries.org/

Another result of the trunk show is that we will be giving a presentation to the Bullard, Texas chapter of Rotary International on August 12th. We are looking forward to sharing our vision for the Tilapia Project with these fine men and women. It is always an honor to share what God has done and is doing in our lives.

We are still working on getting the Dominican Republic Project up and moving. We keep reminding ourselves that God has His own timing, and He seems to be on Caribbean time for this one. :) We continue to make slow progress. Because our project manager in the DR has no telephone, internet, or electricity, our communication with him is challenging. However, we should have more specifics laid down with him in the next few weeks.

Thanks to all for your prayers and support.

$1000 donated by Today's Vision of Tyler, Texas!

Dr. Rudd hosted a trunk sale at Today's Vision of Tyler, Texas, benefiting the Tilapia Project last Saturday.

Today's Vision trunk show in progress.

Dr. Rudd pictured above in full Tilapia Project regalia :)

Many thanks to Dr. Rudd and all the Today's Vision employees for their support and hard work. Their donation of $1000 is roughly enough to get a new Tilapia Project going. We met lots of great people, and even made some connections for future projects. God has greatly blessed this project through Today's Vision!

Today's Vision hosting the Tilapia Project this weekend.

Our friend Dr. Neshia Rudd of Today's Vision, Tyler Texas, is hosting a fish themed trunk sale June 19th. Dr. Rudd has been kind enough to sponser the Tilapia Project with a percentage of the proceeds. We will be at Today's Vision from 9 am to 2 pm tomorrow. Come out and see what Today's Vision has to offer!

Tilapia found for the Dominican Republic Project

After over a month of phone calls and internet searching, we have located a local source for fish in the Dominican Republic! Now we will put our missionary project manager in the DR, Richard James, in touch with the hatchery in nearby Nagua. This project is run by Food For the Poor. Our contact there will not only sell us fingerling tilapia, but will also be a great resource as Richard begins growing fish. Progress in the Caribbean is slow, but we're getting there!

First Harvest at Kisima Academy, Kenya.

Kisima Academy Tilapia Project had their first harvest in June 2010. In the photo above you can see them working the nets through one of the ponds. These fish were first introduced as fingerlings (about 2 to 3 inches) in the fall of 2009. The tilapia reproduced before the harvest, leaving many small fish in the ponds to grow up for the next harvest.

The children of Kisima are seen above enjoying a meal of tilapia and ugali (maize flour). The excess fish were sold to local villagers, raising almost $200 for the orphanage. Martin already has plans to expand the Kisima Tilapia Project. He has purchased another acre of land and plans to build more ponds in the future. Great work Kisima! Praise God!

Dominican Republic update - where are we with the tilapia project?

Of course there was more going on during our trip to the Dominican Republic than just touring the various communities in need of help. The main reason I made the trip was to try to work out some more of the details involved in starting a Tilapia Project. One question in need of answer was : could we find someone to manage the project? The answer came to use in the form of Richard James (pictured above). Richard grew up in England, and has quite an interresting story (he joined the merchant marine at age 14, traveled the world, etc...). He came to Puerto Plata with Mercy Ships about six years ago on a 4 week mission outreach. At the end of the trip, Richard decided to stay. He initially lived and worked eith the Hatian refugees in Villa Ascension. His heart and goal has been wholly devoted to helping these people. After a few years he was able to buy a small property nearby.

Richard has done amazing things on this property. His green thumb and way with animals is evident. The property is full of vegetables, fruit trees, chickens, ducks, pigs, and the like. The people come to Richard when they need help in the forms of food and medicine. He is the ideal man to manage the Tilapia Project at Villa Ascension, and he has been praying for just such a project. One additonal benefit - Richard's wife teaches at the school in Villa Ascension (pictured above). We were agreed that the best way to initially distribute the fish, without furthering the handouts and entitlement that continue to wreak havoc among these people, is to use them for meals to be served at school. As the project grows, Richard will try to get people involved in the harvest. We hope that God will raise up willing people to begin new projects in other communities.

The next question that needed to be answered was: could we find tilapia in the Dominican Republic to start our project? This proved to be tougher than it sounded. Over the course of our stay in Puerto Plata, we spoke with numerous people who were said to be connected in some way with aquaculture. This process even lead us to speak with the Assistant to the Bishop of the Diocese of Puerto Plata. We left Puerto Plata with more connections, but no real answers concerning the availability of fish. However, in following up on some of the leads obtained in Puerto Plata, I contacted a lady named Kathy Skipper. Ms. Skipper workes with an organization called Food For the Poor, Inc. They started a similar project in Nagua, just under 100 miles from Puerta Plata. She is currently ironing out the details of allowing us to purchase fish from their project for the Tilapia Project at Villa Ascension. We're getting close!

Dominican Republic Trip Re-Cap - Aguas Negras

A roof top view of Aguas Negras. This is a predominantly Dominican slum in Puerta Platta. As you may have guessed by the name (black water) this place does not smell too great. The whole of Aguas Negras is built below the waste water treatment lagoons for Puerta Platta. When the heavy rains come, Aguas Negras is flooded with sewage. Nearly every home we entered had high water marks two feet up the walls. Aguas Negras has no sewage collection system of its own. As you can see in the picture below, the privys and toilets drain out to the street, and down to the ocean shore untreated.

My faithful guide, Stefan Schmid. Stefan has been working in Aguas Negras and Villa Ascension for over 10 years with Mercy Ships. Everywhere we went, people would call out to Stefan telling him how glad they were to see him. He has worked hard through the years to do more than just build houses for the poor. He has developed real lasting relationships with the people in these poor communities. Stefan showed me that we have to do more than just come to build houses for these people. They need training and skills in order to find jobs in order to pull themselves out of poverty. They need help, not handouts. Stefan has an idea to bring teams of skilled people down to Aguas Negras. These teams would build homes for people, but they would work with local people to teach them how to build, how to use computers, how to do electrical work, etc...

This is my young friend Chico standing on the shore of Aguas Negros. Behind him you see a powerplant. This is also where the sewage runs to. You and I would never even consider swiming in these waters, but the people of Aguas Negras not only swim, but fish here.

This is the school in Aguas Negras run by an amazing lady named Sandra. She told us her story my first night in Puerta Platta. She has an amazing testimony for what God has done in her life. I hope to tell her story more completely in a later post. The school is a bright spot in a very difficult place. She is truly devoted to these people, she is one of them. That is Sandra's daughter in the picture.