Namaste! I just spent the last month in Nepal as a volunteer with the Farmer-to-Farmer program. My assignment was a little different than most F2F volunteers, as I did not travel to one location and provide technical training. Instead, I visited organizations around the country that hosted previous volunteers to follow up on how the assignments went and how we can make future volunteer assignments even more impactful.

While I only spent a short amount of time with each group, I was struck by how welcoming they all were to me. As a blonde, pale, woman, I could have easily been an outsider. My experience, however, was quite the opposite. Here is a story about one community we visited in the Syangja district.

After one and a half hours of our driver impressively navigating the muddy, steep, almost impassible road through the mountains we finally had to get out and walk. The green terraced rice fields were beautiful in the mid-morning sun. We tried not to slip in the mud as we climbed higher into the mountains, watched by the men and woman working in the fields. A truck approached us, with a cracked windshield and caked in mud. The community we were visiting had sent their only vehicle to come collect us. We climbed in, and the cheerful driver began bouncing along the road.

As we arrived, it seemed like the whole village had come to see us. I was welcomed by high school girls in traditional Gurung clothing with a garland of flowers, printed Stoll, and red powder pressed to my forehead to make a “tika,” or red spot traditionally worn by Hindu women and men.

Most of the 55-household community members sat with us in their community pavilion, and spoke about their experience with the American volunteer that had helped them improve their goat production. Both men and women shared what they had learned from the two community members they had sent to participate, and some of their continuing challenges as well. Some of the community members excitedly showed us the improvements they had made to the goat sheds, and proudly exhibited their breeding buck. The women made us traditional Gurung food and tea, which we shared with the community leaders.

Though it took us as long to get to the community as we stayed, I felt that, because of their openness and kindness, I had known the community members much longer. I was very sad to leave, and after taking several “selfies” with the high school girls on their phones, their arms linked with mine, the only vehicle prepared to take us back to our car. The girls piled in the back of the truck, wanting to spend as much time with us as possible.

This openness and sense of welcome I have felt on every community visit I have made in Nepal. The people here want to share their stories, successes, challenges, opinions, and culture. I very much enjoyed my time in Nepal, and hope to return again with the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer program and Winrock International!

–Sarah Fowlkes

This article is a contribution to a four-week blog series celebrating 30 years of USAID’s John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program.

Another central theme of the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Program is citizen diplomacy.

The Center for Citizen Diplomacy states that “citizen diplomacy is the concept that every global citizen has the right, even the responsibility, to engage across cultures and create shared understanding through meaningful person-to-person interactions.” Time and time again, Farmer-to-Farmer makes this happen.

One of our favorite examples of citizen diplomacy, and a true model of compassion and service, is Dr. Kirk Astroth.

Kirk trained representatives from 18 youth-serving organizations in Nepal, including the National Youth Federation of Nepal (NYFN), on methods to engage youth and teach leadership, communication, and advocacy skills. A year later, he is still in touch with his trainees. Kirk’s service went above and beyond the timeframe of his two-weeks in country; the assignment was just the first ripple.

After Kirk’s assignment, participants were eager to start new youth development activities. Given their keen interest and commitment, he assisted NYFN to obtain three scholarships to participate in The First Global 4H Summit 2014 in South Korea. After attending the summit and returning inspired, NYFN immediately began the process of registering a 4-H club. In January 2015, they received government approval and established 4-H Nepal, the first in the country.

Mr. Lok Raj Awasthi, General Secretary of NYFN, was one of the participants that attended Kirk’s training and the summit in Korea. He now serves as Chair of Nepal 4-H. After reaching out to Kirk for continued advice and to update him on progress, Lok was invited to come to the US – sponsored by Kirk and the University of Arizona — for three weeks. During his time in the US, he participated in youth development training and 4-H exchanges with American and international 4-H leaders, and visited farms in Arizona. Lok explains, “I learned many things and gained many skills. This is most important for Nepal!”

During his trip to the US, Lok also had the opportunity to teach about Nepal. In addition to sharing his experiences with 4-H leaders from 35 U.S. states, he gave presentations to faculty from the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and at an Arizona high school. It was a unique and fortunate opportunity for Lok as well as for the numerous individuals that he met.

Soon after Lok returned to Nepal, the massive earthquake hit the country. Putting what they learned from Kirk into practice, Lok and the members of the newly registered 4-H Nepal club mobilized nearly 600 youth volunteers to help with rebuilding and relief efforts in 12 affected districts. Just as Kirk had modeled for them, these leaders and the youth volunteers are now modeling compassion and service in their home country.

Who knew that a ripple could be stronger than an earthquake?

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From November 16-December 11, F2F program partners are sharing their knowledge and experience providing technical assistance to farmers, farm groups, agribusinesses, service providers, and other agriculture sector institutions in developing and transitional countries. As aligned with Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, F2F works to support inclusive agriculture sector growth, facilitate private sector engagement in the agriculture sector, enhance development of local capacity and promote climate-smart development. Volunteer assignments address host-led priorities to expand economic growth that increases incomes and improves access to nutritious food. This blog series aims to capture and share this program experience.

Read more articles celebrating 30 years of F2F on Agrilinks 

Today’s blog post is from Justine Britten, sharing thoughts from her Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer experience in Nigeria earlier this summer:

“It has been nearly 2 months since I returned from my assignment to Nigeria. This was my first volunteer assignment with Winrock, or any other organization for that matter. The assignment was a curriculum assessment of a small agricultural college in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. I was an assistant to the associate head of my department on this trip.

It was amazing. I know that I cannot capture the full experience of the trip in words but hopefully I can come up with some of the essence. I am not new to traveling but admittedly it had been a while since I’d traveled to a developing country. This trip was an excellent reminder of how much I enjoy getting off the beaten path and experiencing real life in these countries. Abakaliki is by no means a tourist destination and it became apparent that we were the first Caucasians that many of these people had ever seen. So no, there were no wild animal safaris or ancient ruins to tour but what there were was real people, simply living their lives and doing the best they can for themselves, and they were warm and friendly and welcoming of us into their town.

Justine Britten in Nigeria

Umuebe Farms College is a new, 2-year agricultural technology program that takes place on an established, working farm. The idea is that students can earn a 2 year technical degree and enter the workforce with employable, practical skills. Our job was to work with the college to do a full institutional assessment of the curriculum, administration and help them to increase enrollment. I loved touring and learning about the farm. Although it is small by American standards, it was in excellent condition. All labor is being done by hand but the animals, crops and production were in great shape. On the day we toured, there were some Animal Science students from the local University visiting to gain field experience. I especially enjoyed meeting two young women, who were Seniors, and telling them that I was also an Animal Science graduate, from the other side of the world.

As part of process of gathering information on the local industry and what employers are looking for, we spent a day in Enugu City, the capital of Enugu state and about an hour from Abakaliki, talking to some local business owners. I really enjoyed meeting these owners of small businesses and hearing their story of how they got to where they are. My family owns a small business, so it touched a personal note to hear how these guys started out with nothing and through hard work were able to build their companies into thriving and profitable businesses, which is not unlike the story of my own father.

Our time in Abakaliki was capped off with a  formal presentation of our findings to the administration and owner of the college and then a huge send-off party that they threw us. There is no way I can communicate how special it is for people that do not have hardly anything, to make such an effort for us. It simply goes to show how giving a society can be, even if it is not a wealthy society. The party was a great time for everyone.

Overall, the trip was so rewarding and humbling. I look forward to doing more of these in the future.”

–Justine Britten

From Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Daniel Miller recently provided training on improved small ruminant farming practices for goat farmers in Burma (also known as Myanmar). In today’s blog post, Dan describes some of the things he saw and experienced in country:

“Burma has some of the most interesting experiences that someone could wish for.  The Delta area is well worth the effort of traveling there and sailing around to understand how people make their living, how conditions influence the possibilities, and how potential changes could affect both the environment and the people who depend on it for their very livelihood.

The Delta is the mouth of the Ayerwaddy and encompasses numerous islands that are accessible only by boat.  These islands are big enough for whole communities to live and grow crops, primarily rice.  Because of the ever-present water, tractors just aren’t practical, and water buffalo are the beasts of burden best adapted to work there.  Besides, the mind sort of boggles at the thought of hauling a tractor in a canoe and then unloading it.  Aside: if you ever get the chance to take boat rides through the area, the point at which you are in most peril is not when you are actually going somewhere.  The most dangerous moment is when you are trying to get into or out of the boat without slipping and falling into the mud.

students loading onto a boat

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In June, Kris Fricke took his first trip to Guinea. His volunteer assignment was focused on training local beekeepers on the conversion of traditional beekeeping into beekeeping as a business. Kris spoke to the Beekeepers Federation of Guinea about bee biology and behavior, instructed the group on how to inspect and improve hives, and taught them how to use the beeswax to make soap and candles. He also shared knowledge about selling the honey and wax products, and offered ideas for business growth. Upon returning from his assignment, Kris reflected on the new friends he made, the rich culture of these people, and the beautiful countryside where they live and work. He has shared his thoughts on Guinea in today’s blog: (more…)