The Rural Voice, 1990-09, Page 30HOME ON THE FARM
The Agri -Skills Abroad Committee helps a Canadian farmer
share his love of agriculture with a Mexican orphanage.
The story of a dairy farmer from
Grand Valley, Ontario who volunteers
to share his knowledge and experience
with an orphanage in Mexico could
easily turn into a story of personal
praise. But that's not what Ewald
Lammerding wants. He wants to fo-
cus on the work being done in Mexico
and Belize with the help of the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and
its Agri -Skills Abroad Committee.
The Agri -Skills Committee was
formed by the OFA in the early 1970s.
It was originally called the Foreign
Aid Committee, notes Gordon Hill,
OFA president at the time. "Our
objective was to improve the food
production ability and conserve the
soil and water resources of developing
countries," he says. Some of the early
endeavours included providing a trac-
tor to a boys' school in Lesotho, start-
ing a poultry project in Sierra Leone,
and hosting people from developing
countries on Ontario farms.
"While we didn't question the need
in Africa, we wanted to find projects
closer to home where our members
would go and spend time, rather than
just money," Hill says. With that
mandate, the committee's name was
changed to Agri -Skills Abroad.
"What we didn't realize was that we
would benefit as well through personal
development," says Hill.
"At the OFA annual meeting in
1981," recalls Lammerding, "someone
suggested that the orphanage in Mex-
ico would be a good project. Paul and
Maria Heisler, from the Belleville
area, checked it out and we decided to
send someone down for three or four
months to help manage the farm,
which was part of the orphanage. My
wife, Emma, and I were selected to go
in 1982. When we returned, I sug-
gested that someone should go for one
to two years, never thinking it would
be me."
The orphanage, called "Nuestros
by Amber Underwood
Pequedos Hermanos (NPH)," which
translates as "Our Little Brothers and
Sisters," was founded by Father Bill
Wasson. It is home to 850 children
from 6 months to 20 years old. About
10,000 children have passed through
its doors in its 35 years.
Lammerding returned to the
orphanage near Miacatlan, 150 kms
south of Mexico City, in February of
1984, and stayed until June of 1986.
"The farm was like a disorganized zoo
when I arrived. There were all kinds
of livestock — cows, rabbits, sheep,
pigs and chickens — and no record-
keeping whatsoever."
Under Lammerding's guidance, the
farm concentrated on raising pigs and
broiler chickens. Half of the pigs are
sold as feeders at six to seven weeks
of age, and the remainder are sold at
six to seven months for slaughter.
Every month, 10 to 12 of the fat pigs
are used in the orphanage kitchens.
The farm also produces 10,000 to
12,000 broilers every 7 to 8 weeks.
Only 15 per cent of the poultry is
required for food; the remainder is
sold to help fund the orphanage.
Laying hens were added in 1989.
The 1,100 birds produce eggs for the
children and the marketplace. There
is even an aquaculture section on the
farm, producing fish for the tables.
The crop component has been
important in the farm's development
too. The 150 acres owned by the or-
phanage grow field corn, sweet com,
beans, sugar cane, fruit trees, and veg-
etables. Dr. Willy Villena, director of
the corn breeding program for the In-
ternational Center for the Improve-
ment of Maize and Wheat, volunteers
his expertise as a corn breeder.
"We produce our own seed corn,"
explains Lammerding, "which farmers
around the orphanage can also use.
Our yield is 8 tonnes per hectare,
which is pretty good for Mexico."
NPH can actually boast the develop -
26 THE RURAL VOICE