July 18th,
2018
Farmer
Bladow! I grew up behind a 15 acre farm. When I was 4-years-old, my mom asked
me to go outside and grab a vegetable we could cook for dinner. So I did – and came
back with 6 freshly picked ears of corn!! Well, here we are nearly 20 years
later and now I am a farmer!
Let’s get
started with an update on what’s happened. Peace Corps made the decision to
close down the province of Cabo Delgado. There were sets of extremist attacks
in northern Cabo Delgado. Combined with other complications, Peace Corps
withdrew all volunteers from Cabo Delgado. I was in the States for my older
sister’s wedding when this decision was made. I was provided with two options –
be relocated for my remaining 5 months in a border province or complete my
service now, a little bit early. If I chose to be relocated, Peace Corps had offered
me an amazing site in Niassa serving alongside one of my PCV friends, Tatsumi.
If I chose to finish immediately, I would be allowed to return to Mozambique,
have 12 hours at site to clean-up and say goodbyes, and then complete my Peace
Corps service.
The two
weeks following the Peace Corps evacuation of Cabo were some of the most taxing
weeks of the past two years. I struggled sleeping and struggled with bits of
anxiety. I like to think I understand my emotions well and remain clear headed
amidst stressful situations. The first incident knocking me off my high horse
was the break-in last January. For several months following the break-in I woke
up several times during the night with an elevated pulse. The two weeks
following the evacuation were similar in kind – increased stress and anxiety.
I made the
decision to complete my Peace Corps service – so I am officially a Returned
Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV)!! As a Peace Corps Volunteer one is not allowed to
engage in self-profitable business. I have personally seen, experienced, and
interacted with the different ways a lack of jobs in Namuno reinforces wage and
labor abuse, prostitution, and malnutrition. I chose to finish my service with
Peace Corps to start a farm in Namuno. When I first made this decision it felt
crazy – I finished Peace Corps to return to a province they evacuated and start
a company. I no longer have the support of the US Government. I suppose one has
to be a special kind of crazy to make a decision like I did!
Now that I
am in the heat of implementing my dream, it is invigorating and exciting!! Me
and my team of 8 workers are preparing 9 hectares (nearly 23 acres) of land to
plant roughly 14,500 Moringa trees. The Moringa tree is generally harvested for
its leaves or seeds. It is a highly nutritious tree – the leaves are high in protein
and provide all the amino acids needed by humans! We are planting to harvest
the seeds to produce Moringa oil. The oil can be used to cook but due to a high
price per litre is primarily used in cosmetic products – think hair and skin
products. The plan is to train smallholder farmers so we can more quickly
increase our access to quality seeds and increase our impact in the local
region. We hope to train 25 smallholder farmers in December and then we will
supply them with certified PKM-1 and PKM-2 seeds for planting on their own
lands. We will then buy the seeds off them at harvest each year.
Logistically,
I spend 6 nights a week in Montepuez working for and living with Richard and
Caroline. Richard was a director of operations for Plexus, the cotton company
in Cabo, but left 18 months ago to begin a 5-acre intensive drip-irrigation vegetable
farm to combat surging vegetable prices in the local market. While in
Montepuez, I build out the company and develop connections. The company license
will most likely be completed in the next month! The 7th day I am in
Namuno checking in on our team and helping to prepare the 9 hectares for
planting.
Each day
comes new challenges and things to learn! I can be painting a room, installing
water pipping, picking cabbages, disassembling a chainsaw, attending a meeting about
Richard’s grant from gas giant Anadarko, meeting with some of Richard’s
clients, or just cutting down a tree. Just last week, Richard and I were
delivering several hundred kilograms of fresh produce to the Ruby Mine
operating in Montepuez!
By the end
of August, I’ll be back in the states for 3 months to allow enough time for my
work-visa to clear. I plan on returning to Mozambique in December to further
build out our operations and training program. I’ll be in Puerto Rico and the
Dominican Republic the end of November and beginning of December visiting a
partner and a client for the Moringa oil. Long-term I’m hoping to split my time
between the States and Mozambique. As you may now know, I do not backdown
easily from a fight and I have no issue having to box clever as they say. I
will always stand with the marginalized and refuse to do nothing. I acknowledge
that I may fail, but also recognize that there are 8 families who now depend on
the success of our project. In the following year, there well could be hundreds
of families depending on the success of our project. As such, there is but one
option – success.
With all my
heart,
Daniel
Bladow
P.S. I will
continue my blog posts! Every month is full of adventures, random stories, and
life lessons to write about.
