Malawi
For Malawi’s vice president, ministry’s ‘V-tractor’ is an answer to prayers
Joyce Banda, vice president of this southern African nation, considered a recent visit with representatives of a church-supported ministry to be “one of the best days of my life.”
Banda got a firsthand look at a Village Tractor, or “V-tractor,” a compact farming tool that can irrigate, fertilize, weed and cultivate land. Tom Rich, owner of a manufacturing company in Lebanon, Ind., invented the V-tractor and has donated a few to the people of Malawi through the Malawi Project, an Indiana-based nonprofit supported by church members.
A board member referred to Rich’s invention as “the Swiss army knife of tractors,” said Dick Stephens, one of the Malawi Project’s founders.
Banda, Malawi’s first female vice president, has received awards for her work in developing sustainable methods to combat hunger in her nation. As Rich demonstrated the V-tractor, “I said to myself, ‘Well, my prayers have been answered,’” Banda said.
The vice president has acquired land to produce crops for orphans and poor women farmers. Most work the land by hand, suffering “pain and other … body-devastating effects,” Banda said. She has requested additional V-tractors from the Malawi Project.
“If we are helped with 10 V-tractors, this means that we will reach out to 30,000 households, translating into 300,000 people,” she said.
Stephens seeks funds for four V-tractors to be delivered to Malawi by spring.
To contribute, contact www.malawiproject.org.
Banda got a firsthand look at a Village Tractor, or “V-tractor,” a compact farming tool that can irrigate, fertilize, weed and cultivate land. Tom Rich, owner of a manufacturing company in Lebanon, Ind., invented the V-tractor and has donated a few to the people of Malawi through the Malawi Project, an Indiana-based nonprofit supported by church members.
A board member referred to Rich’s invention as “the Swiss army knife of tractors,” said Dick Stephens, one of the Malawi Project’s founders.
Banda, Malawi’s first female vice president, has received awards for her work in developing sustainable methods to combat hunger in her nation. As Rich demonstrated the V-tractor, “I said to myself, ‘Well, my prayers have been answered,’” Banda said.
The vice president has acquired land to produce crops for orphans and poor women farmers. Most work the land by hand, suffering “pain and other … body-devastating effects,” Banda said. She has requested additional V-tractors from the Malawi Project.
“If we are helped with 10 V-tractors, this means that we will reach out to 30,000 households, translating into 300,000 people,” she said.
Stephens seeks funds for four V-tractors to be delivered to Malawi by spring.
To contribute, contact www.malawiproject.org.
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God bless those that are behind the project.
Malawi