Mark Sieffert from Winrock’s agriculture unit recently traveled to Nepal to visit Winrock agriculture programs. During his trip, he also met staff and hosts that have worked with Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers. Below, he shares his first impressions of the Farmer-to-Farmer program and how it has worked in Nepal:

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When American experts decide to volunteer with Farmer-to-Farmer, they need to know that they will be taken care of in an unfamiliar nation. Knowing that everyday details have been taken care of, a volunteer can quickly acclimate and get to work.

In Nepal, Winrock has a small, but dedicated and highly experienced team committed to supporting a volunteer before, during, and after his or her placement so that the volunteer can focus on the most important aspects of the visit: imparting as much information as possible to project beneficiaries.

Winrock employees Amar Thing and Ajaya Bajracharya lead the effort to welcome volunteers and coordinate their efforts. They understand the challenges of traveling in Nepal’s many remote agricultural areas with visiting foreign guests. Just as important, both are seasoned agricultural professionals who possess the broad range of technological abilities needed to translate instruction in a way that local learners will understand. Both are fluent in English, Nepali, and a handful of other local languages.

Ajaya (Second from Right)

When the volunteer touches down, the details, including lodging, food, itinerary, and contacts have been taken care of. The volunteer can immediately get down to work. (That’s not to say complications don’t emerge. But when they do, Amar and Ajaya have the experience to nimbly respond.) At the close of the volunteer’s engagement, Amar and Ajaya help him or her prepare an end of assignment report. Not only does this document justify the resources USAID has spent on the placement, it also recommends metrics to evaluate outcomes and suggests areas for future work. The Winrock-Nepal team always incorporates volunteer placements in larger projects underway throughout the country.

While the welcome extended to volunteers is a natural extension of Nepali hospitality, Amar and Ajaya pay special attention to make their guests feel at ease. In part, they do so because of the tremendous value they see in volunteer placements for the projects they work on. For Amar, the impacts on local people are almost always immediately apparent. Referring to agro-entrepreneurs trained by visiting Americans: “One thing I can assure you: all these people trained by Americans have been able to increase their prestige, their clients, and their incomes. Their confidence grows, now that they have been trained by an international expert.”

Amar in the field with a volunteer and trainees

According to Ajaya, “When an American expert provides training, it adds prestige. The beneficiaries listen very carefully because they know that these new practices are [of] an international standard.”

Because of the unquestioned value added by volunteers, Amar and Ajaya do all they can to keep a stream of American volunteers coming to Nepal by supporting those volunteers from the moment they set foot in Kathmandu.

A suite at the Marriott and drive-thru hamburgers may not be in the cards for a Winrock Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer in Nepal, but a visiting American couldn’t ask to be in better hands.

Volunteer Stephen Veryser returned from his trip to Mali last week and had wonderful words for Winrock’s field team:

I had a wonderful experience in Mali on account of all of your support, excellent relationships established the host communities. I was so comfortable in Mali due to the fact that everyone we met and worked with was very kind, welcoming, and accommodating. I learned a lot from seeing the way that people live in Mali, especially the agroforestry used prevalently, the tight communities that villagers live in, traditional architecture, and beautiful art and music.

While he was in Mali, Stephen’s training participants wrote a tribute to him on the blackboard before their second day of training:

“My friend, it is good to know when to start. Agriculture has been done without requiring skills, but now agriculture is not done in ignorance. Before, agriculture was not considered to be profitable but now agriculture has become profitable and is the greatest thing in the world. Now, a white man himself came to lift agriculture and it becomes a great thing for us. So let’s help the white man to lift what he’s lifting so that agriculture can become profitable for us.”

They also gave Stephen a local name, Kunje Senougou. Touched by these powerful words, Stephen explains,

I was pretty amazed since I hadn’t really told them anything like that directly but what they wrote pretty much described what I thought we were trying to do too. Interesting with the language barrier and all. The M’pendougou community gave me a beautiful traditional robe as a parting gift, and the name ‘Kunje Senougou,’ which means ‘old road’ (as in the long-time relationship between Mali and U.S. –they had hosted a number of Peace Corps volunteers previously) in the initial meeting with them.

Stephen in traditional robe gifted to him by the M’pendougou community where he volunteered

This is the kind of cultural exchange that makes Farmer-to-Farmer such a valuable program. Beyond just a technical exchange and training opportunity, this program builds connections and bonds that are impressionable for both sides.

Winrock staff loved hearing from Mark Bevins as he shared his thoughts on his recent Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer assignment in Nigeria:

“Personally, this was a great experience for me. The cultural immersion that took place over the past two weeks has opened my eyes to the situations Nigerian beekeepers and the residents as a whole face on a daily basis. Spending time with students, staff and others has shed light on the circumstances they face with their families and how they overcome difficulties.

Professionally, I am now connected with colleagues across the Atlantic with similar responsibilities that I have in the US. We will work on joint publications in the near future related to our recent activities. This assignment also related closely to my job responsibilities, so it was an excellent exercise in condensing my career into 2 weeks with needs assessment, program planning, implementation and evaluation. This experience will make me a better Cooperative Extension agent when I return.”

[Great work, Mark. Thank you!]

Joe Sullivan (who has volunteered six times with Winrock’s Farmer-to-Farmer program) wrote a response so poignant, it deserved its own blog entry. Thank you, Joe, and Happy 4th of July!

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There are a couple of sections of President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address that mean a lot to me and seem so consistent with what the Farmer-to-Farmer program is doing. The first is this:

“To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required — not because the

                                                       Joe Sullivan training farmers

Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”

“Because it is right” –What better reason can there be? But America’s gift does not come without a cost. Freedom is not free nor is there a way out of poverty without effort. Americans go overseas in the Farmer-to-Farmer program and in Peace Corps to teach people how to help themselves, to give them a hand up, not a hand out, to lift themselves out.

Kennedy continued this idea:

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

“My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

“Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

On my last two assignments with Winrock and the Farmer-to-Farmer program, last year in Mali and this year in Nigeria, both of my hosts told me that I was like a father figure to them. Relative to gauging the success of your assignment, that is a pretty good measure when someone of a different race, religion, nationality says that to you. Citizens of the United States and citizens of the world have come together making “here on earth God’s work…truly…our own.”

Not everyone has two years they can commit to meeting the world where they live and teaching them how to help themselves as a Peace Corps volunteer. But sooner or later, almost every US citizen has a few weeks to a month to bring knowledge or to teach a skill to a citizen of the world so that together, as Kennedy said, we will bring about God’s work on earth. There is not anything I would rather be doing than this with my brothers and sisters whom I have met and have yet to meet around the world.

This 4th of July, I will be spending in Bangladesh helping women’s groups gain food security and financial self-empowerment by teaching them how to raise fish and shrimp. Patriotic, perhaps, but as Kennedy also said, it is the right thing to do and I love it…

–Joe Sullivan

In honor of the upcoming 4th of July holiday, we cannot help but reflect on the symbolism of this important day. All of us here at Winrock are very proud to support such great American volunteers in their quest to help others and participate in people-to-people exchanges that can forever change who they are as individuals, as US citizens, and as citizens of the world.

We asked some of our volunteers to share their thoughts on the 4th of July and the values that this holiday represents: freedom, patriotism, service –and how these values have affected them as an international volunteer (and vice versa). They have offered some truly inspiring reflections:

“I was either too young or too old to be called to arms, and it took me a good long time to realize that I could serve my country in a better way. Using my life’s work experience, I am able to help people in deserving nations by volunteering to serve as a consultant to the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer program. And, the truth of it is, it’s the best, most rewarding, fun job I have had in the 50+ years I have spent in the food business.” –Bob Corshen (Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer in El Salvador, Kenya, and Lebanon)

“I enjoyed my volunteer trip and time working with Winrock overseas on Farmer-to-Farmer honey bee projects in Africa and the opportunity to share our American values while helping people in a developing country to improve their lives. The people really appreciate the generosity and compassion.” –Dan Mayer (Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer in Ethiopia and Nigeria)

“Americans are some of the most generous people in the world – not only in terms of financial donations, but in volunteering time for worthwhile efforts. My Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer experience created lifelong relationships with ‘kindred spirits’ who are working to make a difference for small farmers. I believe all Americans can contribute and strongly encourage everyone to consider how they can make a difference!” –Kathy Colverson (two-time Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer in Kenya)

What better way is there to celebrate and embody freedom, patriotism, and service than by helping those who have less than we do?

We thank all of our volunteers for so much heart and dedication!