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The Harvesters of Hope project has reached an important stage now. The combine arrived in the Iringa area of central Tanzania where it was unloaded and reassembled by the local John Deere service center about 30 miles south of Iringa town. But, they were not able to solve a fuel problem that prevented the diesel engine from developing full power. The Cheetah staff, nevertheless, managed to drive it to a location just outside of Iringa where it was stored with a lot of other heavy machinery in a secure compound. There it awaited the arrival of Steve and Sheri Strehlow, of SJS Farms in Hanover…to deal with the fuel problem, to run some tests on the combine and then to train two of Cheetah’s employees how to drive it, operate it and maintain it. Although the combine arrived in Tanzania around the end of May, and we were able to get it through the port and shipped to Iringa by early June, Steve and Sheri were not able to get time away from their custom combining business until the third week of October… well after the harvest season for corn in Tanzania. At that point, our team of Steve, Sheri, Brian Walton and Paul Bolstad, had to get organized quickly to get to Iringa and back before Oct.30th. We left Minneapolis on Oct.21st and arrived in Iringa on the 23rd. During the time we were in Iringa, we had to accomplish the three tasks:
It was a long day when we tackled the fuel problem; we had already removed the fuel tank the day before and checked it for rust or sediment. There was no shortage of theories as to why the fuel was not flowing properly to the engine! We were able to clean out the tank with a pressure washer with detergent and then dry it with compressed air, eliminating that as a source of the problem. After refitting the tank, checking the sediment bowl and screen…and the fuel filter… the engine was started and it ran beautifully…for 30 seconds… and then shut down! After rechecking all parts of the fuel system, including replacing the fuel pump, Steve had the inspiration to check with “Pat” from Sharber Brothers in Rogers(Pat has many years of experience with John Deere diesel engines). After checking for the time difference, we were able to call Sharber Brothers using a cheap local cell phone and connect Steve with Pat…once Steve explained the situation, Pat had a suggestion…and it worked! The engine now ran at full power…finally. The next day we were able to drive the combine up a steep road into Iringa town and eventually into the Cheetah office compound. There we were able to start testing the combine by running ten bags of unshelled maize through it. Steve adjusted the settings so that the cobs came out clean and the corn came up into the bin. The rest of the time was spent with Steve and Sheri working with the two Cheetah employees, training them in how to operate the combine safely and effectively. We left them with recommendations and procedures to follow in regular maintenance and how to prepare the machine for the upcoming harvest season that begins in July. We continue to be in communication with the Cheetah staff in Iringa as they prepare for the day they can begin to use the combine in their corn production and marketing program that is giving farmers in the program an opportunity to rise up out of poverty by producing a significant surplus to sell through Cheetah’s marketing program. The combine will eliminate the part of the program that required the hand shelling of the crop, primarily by the women of the farm families and but also reducing the losses caused by their traditional “beating with a stick” method. We look forward to following the progress they make in putting this fine old machine to work in a new way that will benefit many farm families in the Iringa region of Tanzania. Thanks to all who participated in this outreach from our church to our brothers and sisters in another country far away as they work their way up and out of poverty.
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Here is our featured news article in Sun Press & News! Read Here   A technical team of Steve and Sheri Strehlow plus Brian Walton was “escorted” to Iringa, Tanzania, for ten days in October, 2015 by Paul Bolstad. Our group of four left for Amsterdam on Tuesday, Oct.20; after an 8 hour flight, we had about 4 hours in Amsterdam airport before another 8 hour flight to Kilimanjaro and then Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After resting overnight in a hotel near the airport we took a Cessna 12 passenger turboprop plane the rest of the way to Iringa. There we were greeted by Edwin Post, a manager at Cheetah’s Iringa office…who was our host throughout our stay in Iringa.
Please pray for a safe and healthy trip to and from Iringa,Tanzania, for Steve and Sheri Strehlow, Brian Walton and Paul Bolstad. Our combine is “on the ground” in Iringa, Tanzania; the local Cheetah Development staff together with the John Deere service center nearby have put it all together and done some unexpected servicing.  Here is the combine at the John Deere compound near Iringa. After more than a month of discussions with Cheetah Development in Tanzania, we have worked out a
plan to get the combine in operation in time for the maize(corn) harvest that is starting RIGHT NOW…in Iringa, Tanzania. Instead of Steve Strehlow going to Iringa to teach, train and start the operation, it has been decided that the local staff of Cheetah Development and Pearl Foods will use the manuals and CD’s sent with the combine to learn how to operate it “by the book” and that later this year Steve will go to help them work out any problems they have encountered in the first harvesting season and “fine tune” the operation. We will have the help of the local John Deere agency and their service facility just outside Iringa in this. So, soon the combine will be moved to the first village where it will go to work threshing the harvest of the many farmers who are part of the Cheetah Development production and marketing plan that is lifting so many of them up and out of poverty. This will be an exciting time and we hope to have some great pictures and report in this space in the near future… The combine was successfully unloaded at Kisolanza, near Iringa, at the service facility of LONAGRO, the Tanzania John Deere dealer. This all happened on Monday, two days after it arrived in Iringa! The container was released from the port on Friday, June 5, and the truck left that same evening, driving all night to get to Iringa by Saturday morning. The past two weeks have been a difficult experience… navigating the many bureaucratic pitfalls of the clearing process in a port such as Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We are very thankful that Ray Menard and his assistant in Dar es Salaam, Jerry Diaz, were able to meet with our agency, Bollore, to work out a reasonable solution to several problems…a great job, Ray and Jerry! This week the container will be unloaded with the assistance of LONAGRO, the John Deere dealer in Tanzania where it will be stored for Steve Strehlow to supervise the reassembly. We thank the LONAGRO people for their help at this critical point in the whole project. This morning I received emails confirming that our combine is ready to be shipped by road to Iringa/Kisolanza. The last couple of days have been upsetting as more confusing bureaucratic mistakes and misinformation from Bollore popped up; but now it seems they have finally gotten their act together(maybe with a little prodding from the head office in South Africa!) and they are telling Jerry Diaz, Cheetah's man in Dar(who is actually now in Iringa temporarily) that the truck with our container will be leaving Dar on Saturday morning...late Friday night our time...
I have requested Bollore send me a digital photo of the container on the truck ready to depart for Iringa; if I receive it I will post it on the Harvesters of Hope part of our website at church...with an update. The LONAGRO(John Deere dealer) people have been informed of the proceedings and we expect they will be able to offload the combine when it gets to their service facility at Kisolanza; Cheetah people from the Iringa office will be present when the combine is offloaded at Kisolanza to keep an eye on everything... Our combine in a box has been in the port since Saturday, May 23rd and is now nearly through the clearing process. Yesterday we received a copy of the last piece of paper form the Tanzanian government confirming the numbers Ray had negotiated with Bollore, our agency at the port. Bollore is now making final arrangements for the truck that is going to take the container to Iringa. Jerry Diaz, Ray's guy in Dar, estimated yesterday that the container could be leaving the port by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest...
Thank you for all for your prayers and concerns! It was a miracle that Ray was available just when we needed him to go and meet face to face with the people from Bollore that were giving us a hard time. Plus, I think the Dar office got some heat from their South Africa headquarters about what they were doing(or NOT doing)...in any case, when Ray met with them, they worked out a solution that was acceptable to all concerned. It will cost Cheetah something over and above the $3293 we sent them from our Harvesters of Hope account at church...but not an unreasonable amount. So we fully expect to be able to report very soon that the container is on the truck and on its way to Iringa(Kisolanza).. The John Deere people have been notified so that they will ready to unload the combine when it arrives... We have requested the Bollore people to take a snap shot(digitally) of our container once it is loaded aboard the truck at the port...and send it to us. Jerry Diaz or someone from the Cheetah office in Iringa will take some photos of the container when it arrives...so we should have some images for our website soon. I talked with Ray yesterday by phone; he is here in the USA for meetings, with donors, and other fundraising activities. He will be returning to TZ for several weeks around the July 4th time frame. He said the harvest is already beginning as the weather has been dry earlier than usual, so the combine will be put to work as soon as it is put together and tested. People in the village cooperatives have been informed of the coming of the combine and so there is a lot of anticipation for its coming... Thank you all again or your participation in this great effort! -Paul |
