I didn't come up with that catchy title. This post has been reblogged from Will and Brianna Morrisons' blog, "Morrisons on Mercy Ships." I like it because a good friend of ours, Keith Brinkman, overseas the agricultural program. Before you read it, say a prayer for Keith's sixteen year old nephew, Jeremy, who is battling lung cancer. He had one lung removed last year and he's having surgery next week to remove a portion of his remaining lung.
At the root of many of the medical conditions we see
on the ship is lack of proper nutrition. Besides filling immediate
healthcare needs by providing surgeries, we hope to build capacity in
Benin so that more people can eat healthfully and avoid diseases brought
on by lack of nutrients.
Mercy Ships agriculture program focuses on training individuals from
local charitable organizations to grow nutritional crops in an effective
and sustainable manner. These individuals will then go on to train
others in the same practice. When you focus attention on development and
building capacity, you can help many more people in the long run. But,
development takes time. By training the trainers, hunger and poverty
issues are addressed long after the Africa Mercy departs from Benin.
Eliphaz, Agriculture Program Manager for Mercy Ships and native of
Benin, showed-off his students’ progress during a visit. Along with the
students’ test plots, we saw where they were learning about composting,
animal production and safe food preservation (canning). The students had
all already been out in communities across Benin, teaching what they
had been taught, leaving a last impact on environment of Benin and the
nutrition of her people.
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