Community Development Done Right
By Micah Brown

In December 1999 while working for an emergency relief agency flying medical and food relief into South Sudan I made my first trip to Aringa. I was sent to the West Nile region of Uganda to build an airbase closer to the action in South Sudan. This was to become a very large asset to the relief work being done in that area. We were given a large tract of land and told “no one lives there” by various officials in the Ugandan government in Kampala.

Arriving late in the night, I awoke the next morning to a very real tragedy. There were in fact many people living in what is now known as Yumbe District. The Aringan’s were an “unreached group of people” living for decades on the border between South Sudan and Uganda. These people had been “marginalized” for decades. The birthplace of Idi Amin, and subsequent rebel groups, the rest of Uganda had pushed it aside. Lacking real knowledge about the Aringans, many times when told where I was going, others would gasp and utter, “Those people will eat you”.

That first trip and several others to follow were shocking and distressing. I was assigned to help the people of South Sudan, yet some of the worst conditions existed right in front of me in Yumbe. The airbase was to be home to multi-million dollar aircraft flying cargos of food and medicine, yet the people of Aringa were dying as fast and for exactly the same reasons as the Sudanese.

Child mortality (death before the age of 5) was about 40%. Malaria, cholera, and tuberculosis were taking a heavy toll on people who were lucky to get one meal a day. The average family income was less than $30 per year. Agriculture had nearly collapsed with the “scatter and pray” method used for what little farming was being done. Rebel groups in the area were still being disarmed and the LRA while not in the immediate area, was still causing problems with supplies.

Unfortunately through a series of events, I was forced to leave the Aringa before implementing any of the larger plans. I was unable to return during the years 2003-2008. During my absence there arose several really amazing people.

• First is Mophart Maffu. Mophart, is an Aringan man who saw a vision for his people rising out of this situation. A perfect example of a community leader Mophart began forming a plan for an income generating project by raising honey bees. He studied in the UK for a while, and then brought the plan back to Uganda.
• Next came Dick Turanski, an American with a compassionate heart for people in developing nations. An expert in beekeeping and business development, he was looking for a way to reach people of the world for Jesus. In 2003 Dick was encouraged by a friend to make a trip to Yumbe to visit Mophart to study what could be done to improve beekeeping in Uganda.

These two amazing men formed a plan to develop beekeeping and honey production throughout the Aringa and the results have been staggering.

In August, 2008 I visited Yumbe again. What I saw was a transformed community. The amount of community development that had occurred in 5 short years was way beyond anything I could have imagined. The amount of money that now circulated in the community was much more than a random increase with the general economy.

How could this have happened? Where did this money come from? When I looked around for some industry, or some large project supporting the community, I saw none. Sure the government had made Yumbe its own district, and certainly the security had improved, but where was the money coming from? What I found was Blessed Bee for Life (BBL).

Honey was playing a very large part in improving the lives of the people of Aringa. In 2003, Mophart had registered less than 500 farmers with about 3 “traditional” hives each. Returning in 2008, there were now over 3,800 farmers averaging 9 hives each. Blessed Bee for Life was not only teaching beekeeping, and making available hive tools and equipment, but they also helped market the honey for the farmers. So with some simple modeling, honey helped these farmers increase their annual income by 5 times or from the meager $30 to nearly $150 per year. This brought at least $500,000 into the economy each year! Without honey there would be less than $100,000 from these same farmers.

This honey production is in addition to the farmers’ normal crops which they still raise. So unlike tobacco or cotton, honey production actually adds to the economy and improves the lives of the producers. For example, the child mortality rate has dropped from 40% to about 10%, still unacceptably high but a huge improvement. With even a little improvement in income, comes much better nutrition, which leads to better health overall. Healthy families can send their children to school, and improves their ability to farm food crops.

Two men with a dream about a better life for people in Aringa applied Biblical principles and business practices to a small project that has changed a community. It shows that development, when done right, can make a huge difference in the lives of others.

Beekeepers For Christ Update:

Training Center:

Because of the success as described by Micah’s testimony above, the BBL Trading Post is working towards becoming a Training Center for other African Nations to take this successful working model back to their countries for development. They will be sent as ambassadors from their home lands to come to the BBL Training Center for a 4-6 week training program. They will intern working with our key personnel who will provide hands-on training and education. We will make available to anyone interested in learning how to teach beekeeping in Africa the syllabus we have used at BBL.

Beekeeping class in 2007	Melting wax to make candles

Manufacturing:

We will continue our work to grow this business but to do so will require increasing their manufacturing capabilities by providing power with a generator and power tools. Currently the products sold at BBL are all made by using hand tools. We will need your help and it will be through your generosity that this next step can be accomplished.

2008 - Note the hand tools	2008 - Repackaging Honey	2008 - Building Frames

This picture shows beekeeping equipement for sale at the Blessed Bee for Life Trading Post. For those pieces of equipment BBL is not capable of manufacturing we provide funds to import them to make them available for beekeepers in the West Nile District. Students make the Bee suits using sewing machines provided by BBL.

Kei Health Center - BBLPAP (Blessed Bee for Life Patients with AID's Program)

Work towards increasing our support for this program as more and more Aringans come forward to admit they have tested positive for HIV/Aides. This program was developed to offer food to complement the medication that is provided through a government program. Until our support began coming in, this program had limited success as there was no food to supplement the medication. These patients’ lives were very short. BBL has begun providing support to supply food to the aide’s patients and has begun teaching the patients beekeeping so they can have a means to support their families. Their families then learn to carry on this means of livelihood after the patient leaves this world. This photo represents 3 months of food for these patients. We would like to increase our ability to provide food for this program.

Background:

The Blessed Bee for Life ministry was started with the dedication of Mophart Maffu in 2003. Dick Turanski and Dan Mayer traveled to HIL to teach beekeeping. There were only 4 students in their class but it was well worth it because these 4 then turned their lives over to God. Dick went again in 2004 and due to the success of his class in ’03, this class in 2004 consisted of 40 people, approximately ½ were Christians and ½ were Muslims. Since that time, Dick and Mophart have been working to sustain this business/ministry. Due to rebel activity in the area, the trip in 2007 was the first time Dick returned since 2004. Dick was surprised to learn that some Ugandans had expressed unease over his commitment to BBL because he had not returned to teach sooner. But the ministry and work had really progressed. The biggest change is that HIL has now separated this ministry from its other nonprofit holdings.

BBL is now referred to as a ministry and a business for profit so that it can become self supporting. It is our hope that by providing the essential infrastructure they can become self supporting in 2-3 years.

Essentially this concept of self supporting began with the purchase of the land and the construction of the building. All of the money’s raised to date have been used up and yet the building is not quite finished. Mophart made an honest effort to use these funds wisely, but unfortunately, economically Uganda is experiencing a lot of inflation partly due to the tremendous amount of effort that is going into restoring Sudan:

Ugandan Life Expectancy:
Male : 42.22 Years
Female: 43.67 Years

November, 2007:

The purpose of the trip in November, 2007 was to: • To help prepare Mophart for the next phase in their development of BBL as a business for profit. • To see what progress was being made. • To teach beekeeping to the students at ESTA. • To teach beekeeping to people at Kei. • To make an analysis of everything that was going on. • To dedicate the new Blessed Bee for Life Trading Post.

November 2008:

Mophart Maffu traveled to Eugene, Oregon for additional planning and training. Today, you will find BBL operating using solar power making it possible to utilize a scanner and a digital camera for regular updates. BBL also has a new machine for making honeystix.

Another trip is planned for 2009.