Combine Update June 2021
Dear “combine donors” from 2015…
Many of you might have already forgotten about the “combine project” at Our Fathers Lutheran Church in Rockford, Minnesota…but…it is finally on site and working as intended.
Thankyou you all who donated money and time to this effort way back in 2014, actually, when we were raising the money to send this combine…in a container…to Iringa, Tanzania. It was to be a part of Cheetah Development’s efforts to help small commercial farmers to prosper and move out of poverty. The combine was modified to work as a high speed and quality shelling machine to assist these small farmers, after a successful harvest, to produce a quality product for the market but also to relieve the women of the community from the slow and tedious job of hand shelling the larger amounts of harvested corn.
A technical team from Our Fathers traveled in October, 2015 to test the machine, set it up for shelling maize and to train two local Tanzanian employees of Cheetah Development to run and maintain the machine. Unfortunately, due to changes in the political climate following the national election around the same time, Cheetah Development was forced to suspend and eventually close down their operation in Tanzania. The combine was safely stored at the Danish Lutheran Mission compound until an alternative arrangement could be made to put the combine into operation.
Many efforts were made to find another organization that could safely operate and maintain the sheller/combine. All of these fell through until earlier this year of 2021.
With the help of the Danish Lutheran Mission in Iringa, a suitable partner was identified a few months ago. A second generation British dairy farmer near Iringa, with extensive experience in large machinery, arranged with the Danish mission to move the machine to his farm and to repaint and recondition the machine at his own expense… until such time as it could be determined where it would eventually go.
Our team at Our Fathers together with Ray Menard of Cheetah Development all agreed that this was a great way to get the machine into operation. Richard Phillips of Kibebe Farms, Ltd. in Iringa has agreed to make the combine available to small farmers in the immediate area. He has carried out testing with operation/maintenance manuals ordered from John Deere in the USA at his own expense and is now deploying the machine to a neighboring farmer to shell his maize harvest.
Here the women are enthusiastically dumping the harvested cobs of corn into the hopper; the pile on the right shows the beautifully shelled corn ready for market…
This is how the team at Our Fathers envisioned that the combine would work. We are very hopeful that all of your efforts…money and time and advice…will now benefit many small farmers in Iringa, Tanzania.
Thank you all again and stay tuned for more uplifting great news from Iringa, Tanzania!
Shirley and Paul Bolstad, team members of Harvesters of Hope at Our Fathers Lutheran Church, Rockford, Minnesota
Many of you might have already forgotten about the “combine project” at Our Fathers Lutheran Church in Rockford, Minnesota…but…it is finally on site and working as intended.
Thankyou you all who donated money and time to this effort way back in 2014, actually, when we were raising the money to send this combine…in a container…to Iringa, Tanzania. It was to be a part of Cheetah Development’s efforts to help small commercial farmers to prosper and move out of poverty. The combine was modified to work as a high speed and quality shelling machine to assist these small farmers, after a successful harvest, to produce a quality product for the market but also to relieve the women of the community from the slow and tedious job of hand shelling the larger amounts of harvested corn.
A technical team from Our Fathers traveled in October, 2015 to test the machine, set it up for shelling maize and to train two local Tanzanian employees of Cheetah Development to run and maintain the machine. Unfortunately, due to changes in the political climate following the national election around the same time, Cheetah Development was forced to suspend and eventually close down their operation in Tanzania. The combine was safely stored at the Danish Lutheran Mission compound until an alternative arrangement could be made to put the combine into operation.
Many efforts were made to find another organization that could safely operate and maintain the sheller/combine. All of these fell through until earlier this year of 2021.
With the help of the Danish Lutheran Mission in Iringa, a suitable partner was identified a few months ago. A second generation British dairy farmer near Iringa, with extensive experience in large machinery, arranged with the Danish mission to move the machine to his farm and to repaint and recondition the machine at his own expense… until such time as it could be determined where it would eventually go.
Our team at Our Fathers together with Ray Menard of Cheetah Development all agreed that this was a great way to get the machine into operation. Richard Phillips of Kibebe Farms, Ltd. in Iringa has agreed to make the combine available to small farmers in the immediate area. He has carried out testing with operation/maintenance manuals ordered from John Deere in the USA at his own expense and is now deploying the machine to a neighboring farmer to shell his maize harvest.
Here the women are enthusiastically dumping the harvested cobs of corn into the hopper; the pile on the right shows the beautifully shelled corn ready for market…
This is how the team at Our Fathers envisioned that the combine would work. We are very hopeful that all of your efforts…money and time and advice…will now benefit many small farmers in Iringa, Tanzania.
Thank you all again and stay tuned for more uplifting great news from Iringa, Tanzania!
Shirley and Paul Bolstad, team members of Harvesters of Hope at Our Fathers Lutheran Church, Rockford, Minnesota
Paul Bolstad brings us good news about the combine! March 2021
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The Harvesters of Hope project to assist small farmers in the Iringa Diocese of Tanzania involved the congregation at OFLC in a way that showed how great things could be accomplished when working together.
Many members helped in various ways to meet the challenge that had been laid before us by Ray Menard of the Cheetah Development organization. It was truly inspirational to see what was accomplished back in 2014/2015 to assist Cheetah in bringing new hope to small farmers, many of whom were our fellow Lutherans there in Tanzania. The John Deere 3300 combine we purchased for $4000 was modified in the workshop of Jim Strehlow’s son, Steve. He loaded it into a 40’ container for shipment by sea and it arrived there in May, 2015. Steve and wife, Sheri, Brian Walton were a team led and guided by Paul Bolstad in October and November 2015 to Iringa to train Cheetah employees to operate the now modified combine as a mobile corn thresher. |
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Changes in the government led to changes in Cheetah’s situation; the new government created many obstacles that were ultimately too much to overcome. So Cheetah Development had to shut down and the combine was stored at the Danish Mission Compound where Cheetah had their offices. And there it sat as Paul tried to redeploy the combine with other organizations that were working with farmers.
Finally, in 2020, we found a new partner to put the combine to use. He is a second generation dairy farmer near Iringa with long experience in using farm machinery. He has agreed to take responsibility for the combine and make it available to nearby small farmers who need an efficient way to thresh their corn at harvest. Some of these farmers are the same or similar ones to that Cheetah had plans to serve. So, pictured above is our combine doing what we hoped it would do back in the beginning…
We expect to have further updates on the use of the combine at Kibebe Farms Ltd., our new partner, especially during the next harvest season starting in July and continuing through October.
Finally, in 2020, we found a new partner to put the combine to use. He is a second generation dairy farmer near Iringa with long experience in using farm machinery. He has agreed to take responsibility for the combine and make it available to nearby small farmers who need an efficient way to thresh their corn at harvest. Some of these farmers are the same or similar ones to that Cheetah had plans to serve. So, pictured above is our combine doing what we hoped it would do back in the beginning…
We expect to have further updates on the use of the combine at Kibebe Farms Ltd., our new partner, especially during the next harvest season starting in July and continuing through October.
Updated News for Harvester of Hope
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January 27, 2016
Our update on the Harvester of Hope has exciting news! Check out our Blog to find out! |
Harvesters of Hope: Improving Farming and Quality of Life in Eastern Africa
Our Father’s Church in Rockford, MN is joining forces with Hastings-based nonprofit Cheetah Development to purchase and send one small, used combin to Iringa, Tanzania in eastern Africa. These “Harvesters of Hope” will initially be used as mobile corn/maize shellers to enable local farmer cooperatives to process their crop yields more efficiently, and therefore, drastically reducing waste. Increased yields will also boost the local economy and allow farmers to feed not just their own families, but others in their villages, as well.
The primary economic activity in Tanzania, as in most of Africa, is agriculture, where 70-90% of people are subsistence farmers. Cheetah’s agribusiness investment strategy is to equip the subsistence farmers to grow into small commercial farmers capable of producing two, three and four times their traditional harvests by using modern agricultural technologies such as improved seeds, proper and precise spacing, fertilizers and so on.
Delivering Harvesters of Hope to Tanzania is a community effort where far more than funds are needed; we are also seeking volunteers with various gifts of time and talent to share. If you have a passion for helping others and a desire to improve the quality of life for those in a third-world country, we warmly welcome you to join us! Read on below to learn more about the effort and to find out how you can pitch in.
From simple stick to sophisticated sheller: Hope soars
Tanzanian farmers are plagued by significant loss in crop yields due to traditional harvesting methods. Farmers growing corn, for example, remove the kernels from the cob by placing them in a bag or on a platform and beating them with a stick. This practice is incredibly labor intensive and inefficient: as much as 40% of a crop yield can be lost in the process due to damage and contamination—a tough outcome in a region of desperate poverty.
The combines, or “Harvesters of Hope,” would be used in a non-traditional sense; rather than harvesting the fields, they will be used as mobile grain shellers. A small combine can be driven easily from one village to the next so that farmers can bring their bags of unshelled corn to a central location to be shelled and cleaned quickly and efficiently. In the future, these machines could also be used to process other crops, as well, such as rice, beans, sorghum, etc., therefore serving thousands upon thousands of villagers.
The combines will be owned and operated by Pearl Foods, the wholly owned subsidiary of Cheetah Development, who will train and employ skilled workers to travel from village to village helping cooperative farmers safely and efficiently process their crops.
The primary economic activity in Tanzania, as in most of Africa, is agriculture, where 70-90% of people are subsistence farmers. Cheetah’s agribusiness investment strategy is to equip the subsistence farmers to grow into small commercial farmers capable of producing two, three and four times their traditional harvests by using modern agricultural technologies such as improved seeds, proper and precise spacing, fertilizers and so on.
Delivering Harvesters of Hope to Tanzania is a community effort where far more than funds are needed; we are also seeking volunteers with various gifts of time and talent to share. If you have a passion for helping others and a desire to improve the quality of life for those in a third-world country, we warmly welcome you to join us! Read on below to learn more about the effort and to find out how you can pitch in.
From simple stick to sophisticated sheller: Hope soars
Tanzanian farmers are plagued by significant loss in crop yields due to traditional harvesting methods. Farmers growing corn, for example, remove the kernels from the cob by placing them in a bag or on a platform and beating them with a stick. This practice is incredibly labor intensive and inefficient: as much as 40% of a crop yield can be lost in the process due to damage and contamination—a tough outcome in a region of desperate poverty.
The combines, or “Harvesters of Hope,” would be used in a non-traditional sense; rather than harvesting the fields, they will be used as mobile grain shellers. A small combine can be driven easily from one village to the next so that farmers can bring their bags of unshelled corn to a central location to be shelled and cleaned quickly and efficiently. In the future, these machines could also be used to process other crops, as well, such as rice, beans, sorghum, etc., therefore serving thousands upon thousands of villagers.
The combines will be owned and operated by Pearl Foods, the wholly owned subsidiary of Cheetah Development, who will train and employ skilled workers to travel from village to village helping cooperative farmers safely and efficiently process their crops.
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The elements of a dream
The materials and tasks necessary to make this dream a reality include the following: one combines (use as the mobile sheller) modifications to ensure the machines are safe when used in this nontraditional way, a starter kit of tools necessary to make basic repairs, overseas transport to Tanzania as well as hands-on training and the development of training materials to be translated into the local language.
Make a donation
To date, the cost of this project is estimated at $30,000. Our hope is that this fundraising effort will be embraced not only by our church family, but into the Wright County communities and beyond by seeking support from individuals, schools and local service groups. We are also joining hands with Cheetah Development and its supporters to help achieve our fundraising goal.
Tax-deductible donations of any amount are greatly appreciated and will help make Harvesters of Hope a reality. Donations can be made online or mailed to Our Father’s Church, which has established a special fund for this effort (be sure to note “Harvesters of Hope” in the memo line of your check): 3903 Gilbert Avenue SE, Rockford, MN 55373.
Join the Team
We are currently exploring opportunities for fundraising and outreach to help grow the Harvesters of Hope team. We are in need of volunteers’ time, talent and passion to make this dream a reality! Contact us and we’ll find the perfect way for you to lend a hand. We warmly invite you to help us send a little love from Minnesota that will make an enormous impact on the lives of poor but very hardworking Tanzanian families more than 8,300 miles away!
About Cheetah Development: Lending a hand up, not a hand out
Cheetah Development is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit based out of Hastings, Minnesota. Cheetah Development stimulates economic growth in one of the poorest regions of the world--Eastern Africa; namely, Tanzania. Through intensive teaching, mentor-ship and investments, Cheetah equips small businesses and farmers with the know-how, capital and accountability to succeed, which results in a hand up, not a hand out.
Click here to find out more about Cheetah Development.
The materials and tasks necessary to make this dream a reality include the following: one combines (use as the mobile sheller) modifications to ensure the machines are safe when used in this nontraditional way, a starter kit of tools necessary to make basic repairs, overseas transport to Tanzania as well as hands-on training and the development of training materials to be translated into the local language.
Make a donation
To date, the cost of this project is estimated at $30,000. Our hope is that this fundraising effort will be embraced not only by our church family, but into the Wright County communities and beyond by seeking support from individuals, schools and local service groups. We are also joining hands with Cheetah Development and its supporters to help achieve our fundraising goal.
Tax-deductible donations of any amount are greatly appreciated and will help make Harvesters of Hope a reality. Donations can be made online or mailed to Our Father’s Church, which has established a special fund for this effort (be sure to note “Harvesters of Hope” in the memo line of your check): 3903 Gilbert Avenue SE, Rockford, MN 55373.
Join the Team
We are currently exploring opportunities for fundraising and outreach to help grow the Harvesters of Hope team. We are in need of volunteers’ time, talent and passion to make this dream a reality! Contact us and we’ll find the perfect way for you to lend a hand. We warmly invite you to help us send a little love from Minnesota that will make an enormous impact on the lives of poor but very hardworking Tanzanian families more than 8,300 miles away!
About Cheetah Development: Lending a hand up, not a hand out
Cheetah Development is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit based out of Hastings, Minnesota. Cheetah Development stimulates economic growth in one of the poorest regions of the world--Eastern Africa; namely, Tanzania. Through intensive teaching, mentor-ship and investments, Cheetah equips small businesses and farmers with the know-how, capital and accountability to succeed, which results in a hand up, not a hand out.
Click here to find out more about Cheetah Development.
Video above is of Ray Menard, telling his story on how he was "called" to start Cheetah.