>>> July 2009

The Beetle Crawls into Berberati
After a long trip from the U.S., and a long road trip from the coast, the Beetle has finaly made it to Berberati. We're really excited to put it to work. Thanks again to John and Chris Repasky for making this happen! ICDI actually had two trucks and a container of pipe and supplies that all made the trip together. Just outside of Berberati the container truck became stuck in a mud hole, luckily our Central African co-workers are quite adept (and quite experienced) at getting vehicles out of "sticky" situations.

Tokondo and the Agricultural Program

ICDI's director of the agricultural program, Tokondo, partners with village cooperatives to distribute young fruit trees, and help farmers learn how to grow more nutritious crops. He is currently focusing on villages around Berberati, and hopes to start a number of new cooperatives this year. Tokondo will also be traveling to several of the Village Partnership villages, helping them start fruit tree orchards of their own, and teaching new farming techniques.

Nearly 15,000 trees have been ordered for planting yet this year, so Tokondo is going to have his hands full getting them all distributed to the cooperatives. If you'd like to be involved in ICDI's agricultural program, we're accepting donations for "Tree-packs" to be given to families in the cooperatives. These Tree-packs include a variety of 10 trees, and cost $50. You can also give a gift towards a Tree-pack by purchasing a single tree for $5, although we still distribute them as entire Tree-packs. You can give through our website at this link.

Tokondo, handing out trees to members of some of the village cooperatives.

ICDI hits the road!
This week ICDI staff are taking part in the Momentum 2:8 Nation youth conference in Pittsburg, PA. Check out our booth if you're in town! We'll be at the Robert Morris University until Sunday, July 19th. Then from July 26-31 we'll be in Columbus, OH at the FGBC's Equip 09 conference. Again, feel free to stop in and chat with us!