So many amazing things had already been experienced by me on my first shuttle mission to Bolivia and I am only on my 4th day! This morning I traveled to a local dairy in Santa Cruz area, a nice farm. Production here is 10-12 liters/cow vs. 3-4 lt. in Yappacani. Machine milking units are in use here. This man has done embryo transfer on a cow of his own, a 30 lt. /day cow. I was very impressed with the modern features at this farm. We synchronized some cows here to use as embryo recipients. When I returned to the office I finally tried to call home and let others know I am OK. Talked to my wife Shelley – she gave support- love her!
In the PM I traveled with the Mission Director Phil Bender to his dairy. On the trip out we broke the truck’s steering tie rod and almost rolled the truck. I used wire from nearby fence and inner tube rubber to repair it for a slow trip to farm. Had to repair again 2 times more before we got home. Returned 4 hours late due to the problems- tired. Phil’s dairy is not profitable. I will make some plans for him- he needs to increase income if he is to continue to provide his employees jobs. He loves the farm!
On the 5th day I prepare to present at The First Annual Bolivian Dairy Symposium. I write in my journal and pray. I do lunch with Phil Bender and Dr. Arteaga who was first mentioned in part 1 of my Bolivian shuttle mission. I hope to solidify Dr. Arteaga as a resource for the Bolivia mission team. Dr. Arteaga is not fond of Mennonites- Phil is Mennonite but realizes they are often part of the problems in Bolivia. He explains to me that Mennonite colonists are separate from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) which sponsors the mission ministry in Bolivia. I hoped this meeting could dissolve some of Dr. Arteaga’s prejudices and begin a process of mission support.
Lunch with Dr. Arteaga and Phil went very well concerning Mennonites- I got this issue out up front. Phil and I are excited about Arteaga’s involvement. He is looking for something to contribute his time and talents to. He offered 15 cattle for recipients for the next embryo shuttle. I will go to his farm Sunday to see them, but not set them up due to lack of time before I leave. It takes a minimum of 10 days to synchronize the recipients for embryo transfer. We will look for local vet to help with these recipients. This will be a first time including a local practitioner for Heifer Project International (HPI), if I can swing it. Dr. Arteaga wants to go with me to countryside on Monday to see projects. This is exciting to me and Phil.
In the afternoon I went to the symposium to present. Milton Whittaker, a dairyman first mentioned in part II of my Bolivia mission shuttle story, was my translator. I spoke from 5:00-6:30 on the economics of efficient reproduction. Good response and much interest! I will try to send the newly developed R-B 51 Brucella vaccine for a Bolivia university study. I discussed forages with Phil and Milton Whittaker and we concluded that ryegrass was the best choice.
On day 6, I traveled to the Los Gamas Women’s Project. These women have formed a cooperative to begin a dairy for support of their families. Each mother I spoke with had multiple children- beginning motherhood at 15-16 years old. I got the impression that most of the fathers were not around any longer. Many “marriages” are common law and the men often take very little responsibility for the children and provide little support. There is no legal enforcement and no social safety net for abandoned families. The poverty cycle continues without help of projects such as this. Mateo, another American missionary, shared this information to help me understand the great need for this demonstration project.
HPI stepped up to provide cattle from other contract farms for these women. They have a budget and must plant crops now and build a milking facility by November. If crops are OK after the summer rains, and the milking center is finished, the cattle will arrive in February. The women have bylaws detailing the nature of their work and describing their ownership rights. The have much work to do. Currently there is a drought in the area and the critical crop planting is being delayed.
My concerns for the project lie in the ability to produce and transport enough food for the cattle for adequate year-round production. There will be a limit to the ability to buy grains and will need nutrition input from a specialist. Someone will also need to help in forage production and harvest. Planned ownership of individual cows by the women as individuals also has many drawbacks. I proposed that all animals be owned by the coop so that one individual would not be at risk to lose everything if an animal gets ill or doesn’t breed. Also, the individual ownership requires that all of the women milk each day and this will eventually become too confining and will put at risk the survival of the project. At present the temptation to “own” a cow of your own is too great. I could convince the women to own the cattle jointly, even with the above reasoning.
There is adequate planning in the facility and there is adequate land for forage, if they can transport forage from a large 12 hector plot to the site where the dairy barn is to be built. I would prefer to have the dairy on the large plot but the power supply could be a problem. I discussed these concerns with the HPI and mission personnel and they felt the comments justified some re-planning effort. I wish to keep in touch with this project which is a first in their country.
This morning and each morning I have a short devotional. This morning my devotional could have been the email from Sam, III, my elder son. Although only a teenager, he had been on numerous South American mission trips and his email was about ethnocentricity. I realized I had exhibited it at the women’s dairy the day before. He quite often makes me so proud and he has been a good example for me. Shelley did a great job on him. He is truly a father’s reward (book title I read). Talked to Shelley this morning- miss her. To say I love her is not enough. I asked her how many exchange students I could bring home and just in her character she did not hesitate to say- let’s start with one.
A little stomach cramping last night- not bad. I suspect the restaurant food at noon in the Los Gamas (women’s project) area. I actually took pictures in this “restaurant”. It had mud walls, dirt floor, and palm thatch roof with a television and Coke machine. I had been impressed by the contrasts in cultures displayed in this restaurant.
On day 7, I traveled to Yappacani again. Supposed to leave at 7:00 am but left at 8:00. This is 7:00 Bolivian time. Everyone expects delayed starts and tardiness. It is part of the culture. In Yappacani we met with small farmers from the area for a discussion of problems.
At the farmers meeting, I heard a history of the farmer’s association. In 1978 the area began milk production with 400 liters from cattle donated by HPI. The project had problems because the cattle were adult European breeds. Many of the cattle died. Today they jointly produce 12,000 liter/day using native cattle and embryos raised in the area. The milk plant they shipped to in the beginning was government owned and inefficient. Finally the farmers convinced the government to let them purchase and run the plant.
One of the problems now is that this association is small and has little control at the plant. To increase the efficiency of the plant, the farmers (all) hired private consultants who recommended 67 mil $ of improvements or sell the plant. The producers did not have the money to spend on improvements so they eventually sold their plant. Since selling the plant, the milk price has been cut to unprofitable levels. $.90/lt. Bolivian for over quota milk and 1.50 Bolivian for in quota milk. 50% of milk is over quota now and in the good season only 30% is in quota. There is a need for legal assistance to help farmers negotiate for higher quota with the milk federation, then the plant, and lastly the government. Their final threat to the government will be to return to coccaine production if they cannot make a living with milk.
Discussions continued on erosion of soil and decreasing fertility of soil. I suggested that Dr. Orlando (agronomist on the mission team) take soil samples to determine needs of typical farms and give a plan for terracing etc. for erosion and a plan for liming and fertilizing. Of course, many of these practices are too expensive for this region. It will be important now to begin programs of training these farmers in good agronomic practices. Some demonstration farms will be needed. This was communicated.
There was also a request from the farmers for more training in record keeping so they can make genetic progress and culling decisions, and a request for improved breeds. I had presented a record system at the dairy symposium and this record system was presently being translated by me and the Cavaghans for use in Bolivia. Dr. Orlando will be asked to design an agronomic program including training and soil analysis. Breed improvement will best be made through artificial insemination and decreasing the use of unproven bulls. Presently, the effort is to provide better bulls through HPI by redistributing the resulting bull calves from embryo transfer.
Day 8 was Sunday morning and I accompanied Mateo and Chiqui (wife) to church. They are members of a cell church. Lunch at a local restaurant then shopping until 3:00 PM. I need some gifts for family. After 3:30 I went with Dr. Arteaga to his farm. He has a small dairy near the city. We looked at possible recipients and made plans to move the bull away. I do wish I could be the technician to implant embryos in his cows. But, perhaps the greatest service I could do here is to find a local practitioner to continue the HPI embryo project in the absence of shuttle veterinarians. I have begun a search for a trained technician and hope to have him go with me at the end of the week when I do transfers of embryos into the recipients I synchronized.
On day 9, Dr. Arteaga picked me and a mission agronomist named Marcia up at 7:00. We drove through a fertile area with many soybean farms, cattle farms and grain elevators owned by Mennonite colonists on our way to an area called San Julian. As usual, the trip held some excitement– the bridge over the wide Rio Grande River. This bridge was a single lane used by both directions of auto traffic and by the train going to Chile. It is a wood plank and steel bridge that is best described by photos but here I will say it lacks integrity. There are many holes and gaps in the planking. When the train comes, all traffic must wait or go over the river on a barge. Then the traffic has to take turns across. We were lucky going and returning to have only short waits because sometimes it can be 1-2 hours.
In the San Julian area we met Dr. Toby Hoover who was from Alabama. It was good to hear a Southern drawl again. Dr. Hoover had taught vet school at Auburn University and surprisingly shared an office with my cousin, Dr. John Jaeger. It truly is a small world. Toby and his wife have a neat place. There is no power in this area except that generated by a solar panel and wind turbine generator. They used batteries to store the power and 12 volts is converted to 110 volts for kitchen, water pump, and computer. They even have erected their own cellular phone tower, so they have most modern conveniences. It is only 2 ½ hours to Santa Cruz for shopping.
Toby is a Baptist missionary now and has worked with our mission team in the past. He took Dr. Arteaga and I into San Julian, a region the government laid out for highlanders migrating into the Santa Cruz area. These people were given 50 hectors of land to farm on and very little other help. HPI had begun a cheese-making project by providing loans and expertise in dairy manufacturing. HPI had done embryo work in the area to help with genetics for milk production and many of the animals to be gifted on H.P.I. contracts will end up in the area. These people have no power, so they must make cheese which they take to the city to sell. Without power and refrigeration, fresh products are not possible. We saw the cheese plant, but there were problems meeting with farmers. It rained last night, so roads were so bad that no one could get to the village. They only have bicycles. We also could not get to the farms to see them.
Because of this problem, we decided to go to another area and see some of the farmers at home. In the farmer’s village, there were only 2 wells. One with a hand pump and one with a diesel engine. The houses were one room, thatch roofed shacks, made of local wood, and had dirt floors. Once again I took pictures of the poverty and then spied a great cultural contrast. I photographed a grass hut with a solar panel beside it and a TV inside. I began to question why the first use of the power was not refrigeration and then I remembered the lesson of ethnocentricity. Perhaps having a TV would show the children born out here that there was something other than this life and its poverty existent in the world.
The farmers mentioned 3 problems- pasture problems in the drought leading to low production, declining genetics, and lack of water for the cattle causing at least half of them to sell their herds. I talked to Dr. Toby Hoover and he agreed to run an artificial insemination program as a genetic improvement project. This will require the donation of semen by studs in the U.S. and possibly estrus synchronization drugs. The ideal time for this is July, August, or September to have calves born in the winter (April, May, and June). Our team member, Marcia, is an agronomist and she will be given the opportunity to develop pasture improvement programs. Finally the water needs were discussed and a solution was found in another Baptist missionary, named Terry Walker. He had developed a manual deep well drill that he supplies to poor people in the area and then forms water clubs, which operate to drill wells for all in the community. The wells cost only $75-100 and this includes a primitive pump. We stopped by his place on the return to Santa Cruz and looked at his program.
Dr. Arteaga was very excited about this project and encouraged me to set it up in the mission program. He has pledged the first money to it. I have talked to Phil Bender and he assures me the project will be started involving Toby Hoover. I have decided to try and raise funds for the first 10-15 wells in the area; and also to try to enlist the help of a mechanical engineering department in North Carolina to design a $200 windmill to pump the water. If the design is sufficient we will try to fund some windmills.
We stopped by the farm of Dr. Arteaga on the return from San Julian to look at cattle he wishes to donate to HPI for recipients. This necessitates that I find a local vet to transfer embryos. Tomorrow the search begins if I get the blessings of Dr. Roger Hinojosa head HPI. All total, I now have given myself 14 projects to initiate or complete in conjunction with this shuttle mission. I think, perhaps I am a workaholic. Tonight I pray for God’s help and guidance. I am not worried anymore; He will give me what I need and will give others the guidance to continue these efforts on behalf of His children.
This day, number 10, I arose early, before 6:00 am, even with the long 18-hour day yesterday. The excitement of so many things going on keeps me alert. I know I will crash if I slow down. I got to office early before anyone was there to open up. I worked through my university veterinary college presentation one time sitting in the stairwell. When others arrived I began looking at my emails.
My meetings with Dr. Hinojosa, Heifer Project International leader, were very productive. He asked for ideas on how to improve communication with shuttle participants. We arrived at a format for cataloging embryos and results of transfer work. This is now being put on a spreadsheet so it can be sent as an attachment to emails. The project of finding a local practitioner to help transfer embryos, especially for the recipients at Dr. Arteaga’s dairy, was approved. I had learned that the most qualified person for this was a Dr. Javier Ortiz, but we had not been able to locate him. That was until that very afternoon. He actually was the person responsible for translating my lecture at the veterinary college. He agreed to cooperate with us and will tell me the cost for his services. Dr. Hinojosa was not very excited about the artificial breeding and synchronization. He said many organizations had tried this but with little success. He was willing to try it again since Dr. Toby Hoover was located in the area and would be accountable and was a veterinarian. My tasks were to ID and train the local vet, push the AI program along, and facilitate communication with future shuttles.
Later that morning I met with the Las Gamas project leader. We discussed my two concerns mentioned earlier in this journal- cooperative ownership and location of the milk barn. He agreed with my concerns about the ownership, but his concern was that the women would not “take ownership” of the project when times were bad, if they didn’t feel responsible for an individual cow. I accepted this cultural difference (thanks Sam, III) and suggested ultimately to have 50% ownership of the individual cow by the coop and 50% ownership by the women. This was a compromise but could instill the ownership responsibility he desired while protecting the others from total income loss. The Los Gamas project people will present these ideas to the women again, however the ultimate decision is theirs.
My second concern at Las Gamas was the location of the milk barn so far away from the large land parcel where cows could graze instead of hauling feed to the cows. Much work had gone into the plans but he admitted that the small plot could only feed about half of the animals year round. Other animals would require feed hauling or cattle movement. Growth to 15-20 animals as planned would become impossible without project changes. I suggested that expansion planning was an obligation and a facility location change was needed. He is to get for me the cost of extending power to the large parcel.
Lunch was at the home of Phil Bender and his family. Delightful. After 2:30 I began my presentation at the veterinary college. I wished for the class to be informal but they were not used to this. Nonetheless by the end of the day (6:30) the group was exchanging ideas and questions with me. They requested several areas of emphasis for the next day’s lecture.
That night I met with Dr. Arteaga and his brother-in-law, Dr. Romolo. Romolo is the person who gave me the name of Dr. Javier Ortiz for the local embryo work, but he could not locate Dr. Ortiz. I shared with them that to my surprise, I had located the man that Romolo had suggested for the embryo work. They were amazed that Dr. Ortiz was the veterinary course leader and that the necessary connection to continue embryo implants was so easily made. I then reminded them of the story of how I met Dr. Arteaga – through the presence of the Spirit. We all thanked God. The next day Dr. Arteaga, Dr. Romolo, and Dr. Ortiz were to accompanied me to a farm for embryo transplants. This begins the new project. The evening ended at 10:00 pm– another 15 hour day in the Lord’s service.
On the 11th day I had time to organize the afternoon lecture and do some nutrition work for local farmers. I will use the computer feeding programs in the class this afternoon also. Class went exceptionally well. The students turned out to be most of the area veterinarians doing required continuing education. They were very complimentary and presented me with plaques for my efforts and lectures over the last 2 days. I was able to give each of them a certificate of completion and shake their hand. What a joy!
That evening I went with Drs. Arteaga, Romolo and Ortiz to a farm to transfer embryos. All went well as I trained Dr. Ortiz in my technique preferences. He is ready to continue the program. He is a well- trained professional dedicated in his work. This job opportunity actually came to him 3 days after he lost his last position at a breeding research center due to cutbacks in funding. He only makes $100/month teaching part time at the vet school and now we will be able to supplement his income. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Dr. Ortiz is a good Christian person with high moral values who needs to be able to remain as a role model for students at the college. In addition, during the evening Dr. Arteaga said that he would provide the recipients for all of the remaining embryos in the HPI tank- approximately 50- and he would pay ½ of the cost of transferring these. My goal is to fund the other ½ of the costs of the transfers. Praise the Lord! The night ended about 11:00 so I stayed at the farm. Dr. Ortiz stayed also and helped complete the work the next morning. We transferred 14 embryos at this farm of Patrick Cavaghan.
Day 12 began at 5:30 AM. We finished all the work at the Cavaghan farm at 8:00. Our ride back to town arrived at 9:00 and I finally got to clean up about 11:00. At 11:00 I went to mission office to meet Patrick Cavaghan and discuss the feeding program at his farm. I hope both he and Phil Bender will adopt some of my suggestions and act as demonstration farms. They both produce less than 10 liters/cow and should be capable of 15 liters.
After lunch I returned to the office and met with the young lady, Marcia, coordinating the project in San Julian. I was afraid she felt left out during our trip to San Julian with Dr. Arteaga because everyone was speaking English- Dr. Arteaga, me, Toby Hoover, and Terry Waller. We reviewed everything that happened in the day with the help of an interpreter. She was very happy and told me she had set a meeting for pasture management for next week and that she would follow through with appropriate people on the livestock water project and the artificial breeding project. Phil Bender was delighted with the day’s work.
Dr. Arteaga came by the office to see us and once again offered $300 startup money for the livestock water project, and again, volunteered recipient cattle for all of the remaining embryos. He had already arranged to take Dr. Ortiz to his farm to see the recipients. Once again he offered to pay his ½ of the cost of the embryo work. He left a package and note for me to take to our friend Dr. Arana in Cary, NC. I have a lot to tell Dr. Arana.
The remainder of the afternoon I spent working with Phil Bender on his feeding program. He has gained some excitement over the proposed changes. Phil is a talented, intelligent man and I’m sure he can make his farm more profitable. I’m also sure he will share the information by opening up his practices to other farmers. All of the dairymen in Bolivia will have to increase their efficiency or risk losing their farms because the price of milk is declining as Bolivia begins to adjust to the world market.
I checked my email today and found a sweet note from Shelley and also an exciting note from Dave Lenderking in my Sunday school class at my home church. The class wants to help support some project in Bolivia. Just as I commit to help find funds for the Las Gamas dairy project, the San Julian water project, and the continuation of the embryo project, these friends show their support. To these friends I wish to quote Hebrews 6:10 “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them”. Thanks to all of these friends and those who sent funds to help support this shuttle mission. You cannot know how much this mission has meant to me and the people here in Bolivia. Thanks be to God!
Day 13. I have not been able to reach Shelley over the past 3-4 days, so I arose at 5:30 am to get to the office before I left at 7:00 and before she left home. Was good to talk to her. She always sounds so interested in what I’m doing. We left for the most remote farms that I have visited here in Bolivia- the Yappacani area. It had been 10 days since my first visit and now was the time to put embryos into the synchronized recipients. There had been much nutritional stress on the cattle earlier but rains had come to the area as in Santa Cruz and grass re-growth was already evident. The udders of the cows were much fuller with milk. I now have more confidence for success of the embryo transfers. We transferred 8 embryos total into cattle from 5 different farms. In this area, we had to hand carry all equipment and the liquid nitrogen freezer tank back into the jungle where the cows were located. Thankfully there was adequate help! There is a photo of me working in the “jungle lab”. The process was organized well this visit, so we completed the work by 3:00 and stopped for lunch. We arrived at Santa Cruz at 7:00- only 14 hours this day. I was so tired that I showered and slept through the night with no supper.
The children in the Yappacani area were as excited about the transfers as the farmers. On the first farm visit for synchronization I had given out candy, so they were all around on this visit. I had candy for this visit also and the smiles made this whole day worthwhile. I recalled the prayer from my home church the day I left for Bolivia and prayed it. “Creator God, you have made each of us in your image, and yet we fail to reflect your love and justice. You have created every child in your image, and yet we don’t treat every child as a precious reflection of you. We see some children as valued treasures and others as lost causes. We invest our time, money, and hopes in some children, while we squander the great potential of others. Open our eyes, we pray, to see that every child is made in your image and belongs to you. Help us to love, protect and nurture all children. We pray these things in the name of the One who came to us as a child. Amen.”
Day 14. The last day in Bolivia. At 7:00 am I left to transfer the last embryos with Mr. Pechuli. We put in 3 more embryos at his farm. The trip to his farm took us through one of the poorest sections of Santa Cruz. I noticed when we passed 2 poor women with little children that Mr. Pechuli made the Catholic sign of the cross on his chest as if to ask God to have mercy on these poor people. I prayed likewise and I also asked him to bless the embryo transfer project and use the results to help provide for his children in this country.
The afternoon was spent resting, walking (tourist), and finalizing paperwork. Part of the evening was spent with Phil Bender and his family at a South American beauty pageant. There were many beautiful, lavishly dressed people there singing, drinking, and dancing. This scene seemed so out of place in the context of the last 2 weeks. I guess this was the Lord’s way of easing my transition back into the American culture. I hope to avoid the reverse culture shock that many missionaries write about when re-entering American culture. But then they don’t have the privilege to work daily with the American farmers who don’t typically aspire to the materialism so prevalent in America. The farmers I serve in my practice have strong religious and family ties, and spend their lives in service to the world through food production. God bless the American agriculture of which I am a product. Amen.
The final surprises of the shuttle came on the last day and the day after I returned. At the Las Gamas women’s project, money for electrification of the milk barn relocation had been provided by a couple I met. They had decided to accompany the project personnel to Las Gamas to observe when project personnel presented my concerns. They were moved to help with the project and donated funds for electricity! The women also decided to change to cooperative ownership! The Lord continued to open doors!
I sent emails to Phil Bender, Dr. Jim Nash, and Dr. Kit Flowers (CVM director) thanking them for encouraging me to participate in this shuttle. I thanked God for so clearly answering all of my prayers and for opening so many doors. My plan now is to become more involved with the CVM and to continue my relationships in Bolivia. I ask God for help in prioritizing my life to allow Him to work through me.
