Reflection from Dorene Miller

     After the successful completion of the tilapia pond at the Sunflower Family Orphanage in Zambia last year, we're excited to be going back to Zambia in June. Our fish should be ready to harvest next month, and I’m anxious to hear the reaction of our orphans to this new item in their diet. We’re preparing to move on to the next project; planting 100 moringa trees. These "miracle" trees grow to maturity in 1 year, and research shows that the leaves are a nutritional powerhouse of protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals. We will pilot these plants which will feed the 103 children at the orphanage (moringa can be put into soups, made into tea, or eaten as a green salad would be eaten), and the excess will be fed to the livestock. Feeding the livestock will save a tremendous amount of money now spent on animal feed. I can’t wait to see the results of healthy children and animals!

     I'm very excited about these plants, and have closely followed the research, and visited a Zambian operation that is using these trees to feed all their animals, and wow, they looked amazing! I can't wait to come up with some recipes to make this a daily addition to the diet of the children, especially since the girls are so calcium deficient.  Once our pilot shows sustainable success, we will pursue a grant to establish the “Sunflower Family Moringa Tree Farm”.  

     Along with the moringa project, we will be building an 18'x40' food pantry/storage building. Right now, Fr. Pierre has to send someone to the nearest town each week for supplies, because there is no storage at the orphanage, and the cash flow will not support “stocking up” (I feel guilty looking into my 2 upright freezers, and my large kitchen pantry). The town is a 2 hour drive in the old truck down a nasty rut-filled road that pushes my prescription motion sickness patch to its limit!  By building this, the wear and tear on the old truck will be minimized, the exorbitant amount of money for fuel ($7 per liter)will be cut, and additional supplies readily available will make life easier in general…and I’ll sleep better knowing that an emergency with that truck won’t result in starving children and dying animals. They bake 20 loaves of bread each day, so they go through lots of flour, and with 105 mouths to feed, the amount of nshima used for all meals is huge! It will also allow space to store the moringa farm tools, and for donated humanitarian goods, such as clothing and medicine.