To the ECHO conference

We have arrived in Cochabamba!

Thanks to our new friends, Martin and Rita Bysetter, we were able to get out of the house on Nov 1 and head all the way to Camrose. For you would do not know the geography, that took about 2 hours. But at least we were on the road. We were able to say goodbye to the family again before we left. The Sunday before we left our good friends gave us a farewell at church and that was very special. Thanky you for that.

We drove to Iowa and were able to spend some time with Jake's parents and his brother's family. While in Sioux Center we attended a Farmer to Farmer presentation connecting farmers in Nicaragua with those in Iowa. It was a learning experience and a good intoduction to another project. We left on Monday and we realized that each time it made leaving a bit more real although I don't think it hit us yet at that point.

From there we flew to Miami and proceeded to Ft. Meyers to the ECHO conference. There were 225 people attending from all over the world, all working in developmental agriculture in some way. The first morning I read the list of attendees and was happy to find that I knew/knew of some of them. Bev Abma lived in Alberta and was the representative for DRS (Disaster Relief Services) through CRWRC. She had given a presentation about 15 years ago in Woody Nook church. She is presently working with an American organization that is a sister to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. It was great to see her again and to be able to meet with some of the overseas delegates she had brought along. We also visited with Stephen Lutz who is serving in Kenya with CRWRC. We also connected with the Dordt people. Then, of course, you have to play Dutch Bingo and that isn't hard when you already feel you have a connection. Jake and Arie Kraayenbrink were there from Ontario, Canada. We knew that Jake's parents had visited some Kraayenbrinks in Ontario and they were related somehow. It turned out that it was Jake Kraayernbrink's parents that they had visited. What a small world!

The conference was wonderful, a real eye opener to see all the work being done in agriculture around the world. We were able to network with many people who work in areas similar to where we will be in Boliva. Information flowed freely and the atmosphere was one of appreciation and positiveness. ECHO's goal is to distribute seeds, to provide education, and to be a resource to those who are working overseas. To do this they operate a demonstration farm in Ft. Meyers where they demonstrate and research farming techniques and varieties.We were able to tour the farm and take in a number of sessions. Jake took in the beekeeping and amaranth sessions while I learned more about the microfinance, programing and education aspects. I also took in a great session on stoves. So, guys, hopefully I will be able to connect with someone in La Paz who can get me a small stove that is still fired by wood, but is very efficient. He had other ideas that were very interesting and I am sure that I will try some of them when we get to Patajusal. The most impressive moment was the last evening when they asked everyone who spoke a different language to come up and pray in that language. There were 20 different languages and although we could not understand each other we knew we were all praying to the same God.

We were talking about leaving and they people were surprised that we had got a rental car in Miami. Because of the hurricane all cars were booked! And we booked ours on line two days before we picked it up! We know who had a hand in that.

We returned to Miami and boarded the plane for Bolivia. We sat on the tarmac for over an hour. The plane was overweight and they needed 10 local people to stay behind and leave the next day. Since there were no rooms available, those who were in transit could not be offered a room. I took an hour before they had 10 volunteers. The first class seat the next night and an $800 travel voucher were not enought of an incentive.

We arrived at Cochabamba at noon on Saturday and were able to take a taxi to Pete and Linda's house. It is good to have a place where we can unpack and know that we are settled for awhile.