Avocado Trees Growing Project - August 2018 Update

EOS-UK Charity Fund receives sponsorship donations from its core supporters each month. The accumulated funds are transferred to Elshadai Wukro Children’s Village (EWCV) at the end of each quarter. The Charity also receives once-yearly donations from some of its supporters. These donations are split into four equal parts and one-quarter is included with each transfer.

In line with its philosophy of providing ‘fish as well a fishing rod’, EOS-UK Charity Fund is in addition supporting the centre with its avocado trees growing project which started at the end of last year (2017). Some 370 saplings were planted. Theses are now well established despite being affected by hard frost in January, only two month after they were planted (see pictures on February 2018 update at EOS-UK website). Unfortunately, the saplings take about three years to mature to trees and start producing edible fruit on an economic scale. In the meantime, they need a fairly intensive looking-after. But once they are mature, they are expected to be a dependable source of income-generation for the centre as well as an important source of nutritious food for the children. EOS-UK is using any ad hoc donations it receives to support the project, and has already sent the centre £3,000.00 this year. Our sister charity in Cambridge, Friends of Ethiopian Children in Need (FECIN), also has made a substantial financial contribution to the project. Between them, the two charities have so far raised and transferred to the centre just under half the estimated cost of the three year project (2018-2020) of USD 16,000 (aproximately £11,850).

Striving young avocado trees, EWCV August 2018

The project was selected by the Children’s ‘Village’ on the advice of CultivAid from Israel, a country which has advanced agricultural technology specially for use in arid and semi-arid zones. Mashav, Israel’s agency for International Development Cooperation paid for the installation solar panels to produce electricity to drive the water pump for the drip irrigation. The ‘Village’ was selected as a demonstration centre for farmers from Tigray as well as from other zones in Ethiopia. However, EWCV itself had to buy the saplings from a government-run centre. It had also to purchase the drip lines (plastic tubes) for the drip irrigation and provide the required fertiliser and labour and maintenance (and any replacement of equipment) for three years. After this, the project is expected to be self-financing by selling the avocado fruit in the market, internal and possibly export as well. As mentioned above, the fruit will also be a rich source of nutrition for the children that the Centre cares for.

New weather station, EWCV August 2018

Readout from weather station, EWCV August 2018