Cheetah's Big Goal. Another Impact Story

Cheetah is poised for even greater impact in 2015. You can help make it happen. Greetings! Cheetah Development's goal is to raise $50,000 by December 31, 2014 to fuel our growth. We are poised to make great strides in 2015 in the scope and impact of our work in Africa, but we need your help to do so. You can help in two important ways: First, make a donation DONATE NOW Second, forward this email to a friend or colleague that should know about Cheetah and our work.  Impact Story. A Farmer's Life Changed. Five Years Ago   Jekoniah looks over his 1.5-acre farm in the Iringa Region of Tanzania and surveys his crop of maize (corn). The crop this year is no better than last year's, which is not very good. Jekoniah didn't have the money to buy the quality seeds or the fertilizer that would have produced a higher yield. He has nothing but his small mud hut that he shares with his wife and five children so no bank will give him a loan for better crop inputs.   If the weather holds, Jekoniah will produce five big bags of maize (about 250 lb. each), so Jekoniah has a problem. His five children are all teenagers and eat like teenagers. He needs at least ten bags just to feed his family for the year, though the maize is far from optimal nutrition.   He is one of the world's poor who makes less than a dollar a day. By international standards, he makes 42¢ per day but that number counts what he grows, not his income. To have any money he will have to sell some of the maize and make his family even hungrier. If a family member gets sick he will have to choose between medicine and deeper starvation. School for his children is not an option. Amazingly, some families starve their children just to put them in school in hope of a better life.   Jekoniah lives with the cruel irony that the hungriest people on the planet are usually farmers.    Today   It is harvest time and Jekoniah is bringing in the best crop he  has ever grown - more than 25 bags of maize. Things started to change for Jekoniah when he joined a farmer group organized by Pearl Foods, a Cheetah Development company. He waited two years to join, verifying the success of his neighbors because couldn't take the risk of a loan with his family living at the edge until he was certain.   The farmers in his group are mutually accountable for the loan they receive from a local bank. If one member defaults, the other members of the group are responsible for the full repayment. The  bank is willing to make the loan to Jekoniah's group because Cheetah provided collateral and the sale of the farmers' crops is guaranteed by Pearl Foods. It will cost Jekoniah 5 bags to repay the loan, he will keep 10 bags for food, and sell 10 bags for around $280.     This is the most money he has ever had and Jekoniah can now imagine a brighter future for his family. The rising incomes of farmers in Jekoniah's village also has big benefits for their community: the local clinic has been upgraded, the villagers convinced the local government to improve their road, fields are being surveyed for land titles, and a church is being built paid for by the villagers. New lives are growing from the soil of Jekoniah's farm.   DONATE NOW You can support our work helping subsistence farmers become commercial farmers by making a charitable contribution to Cheetah Development.   To learn more about Cheetah Development visit our website.

Forward this email This email was sent to ray.menard.cheetah_spots269@blogger.com by brad.brown@cheetahdevelopment.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Cheetah Development, Inc. | 906 East First Street | Hastings | MN | 55033

Cheetah's Big Goal. Another Impact Story

Cheetah is poised for even greater impact in 2015. You can make it happen. Greetings! Cheetah Development's goal is to raise $50,000 by December 31, 2014 to fuel our growth. We are poised to make great strides in 2015 in the scope and impact of our work in Africa, but we need your help to do so. You can help in two important ways: First, make a donation DONATE NOW Second, forward this email to a friend or colleague that should know about Cheetah and our work.  Impact Story. Preserving Produce in the Village of Ukumbi Every year Rashid Joseph Dunda, a farmer from the Ukumbi village, lost about two thirds of the produce he had worked so hard to grow because he didn't have a way to preserve it after harvest - that is, until now. Now Rashid is using a Reservoir solar dryer (one of Cheetah Development's brands) to preserve his produce. Rashid and other Ukumbi villagers had heard about the dryers from word of mouth and sightings of dryers in nearby villages. As interest grew, community members invited Cheetah to visit their village and train them on use of the Reservoir solar dryers.  Villagers in Ukumbi trying out the Reservoir solar dryer. Rashid wants a solar dryer so he can grow different types of crops that command better prices at the market and preserve foods with higher nutritional value for his own family.  Just like here in America, the best product advertising is word of mouth from one customer to another, and that what is happening with Reservoir solar dryers in Tanzania. There is another story here, and that is the story of of how Cheetah Development devoted several years and considerable expense to design and develop our solar dryer before it could ever be brought to the farmers of Tanzania. The costs of product development for the dryer, and other products beneficial to our farmers, are paid for by the charitable contributions of our supporters. Cheetah Development develops products that increase the productivity and profitability of subsistence farmers. We operate in what some call a "pioneer" market where it takes charitable funds to get life improving products into the hands of the poor. Rashid and the other farmers of Ukumbi are waiting to see what new farming product Cheetah Development comes up with next that will help them on their way to profitable farms.   DONATE NOW You can help us fund our design and development to create products that help subsistence farmers become commercial farmers by making a charitable contribution to Cheetah Development.   To learn more about Cheetah Development visit our website.

Forward this email This email was sent to ray.menard.cheetah_spots269@blogger.com by brad.brown@cheetahdevelopment.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Cheetah Development, Inc. | 906 East First Street | Hastings | MN | 55033

Cheetah's Big Goal. Another Impact Story

Cheetah is poised for even greater impact in 2015. You can make it happen. Greetings! Cheetah Development has set a goal to raise $50,000 by December 31, 2014 to fuel our growth. We are poised to make great strides in 2015 in the scope and impact of our work in Africa, but we need your help to do so. You can help in two important ways: First, make a donation DONATE NOW Second, forward this email to a friend or colleague that should know about Cheetah and our work. Impact Story. From subsistence farmer to commercial farmer. It is harvest time and Jekoniah is bringing in the best crop he has ever grown - more than 25 bags of maize. Things started to change for Jekoniah when he joined a farmer group organized by Pearl Foods, a Cheetah Development investment. He waited two years to join, verifying the success of his neighbors in working with Cheetah Jekoniah and Ray Menard because he couldn't take a risk on a loan with his family living right at the edge. He's glad he did, because now he has a new life.    Jekoniah joined a small group of farmers organized by Cheetah that guarantee each other's loans. The local bank was willing to make the loan to Jekoniah's farmers group because Cheetah provided  collateral and the sale of  the farmers group crops is guaranteed by Pearl Foods. It will cost Jekoniah 5 bags to repay the loan, he will keep 10 bags for food (finally enough!) and sell 10 bags for around $280. This is the most money he has ever had. Jekoniah has crossed the line from subsistence farming to commercial farming.    But this is not only change for Jekoniah and his family, but also for his entire community. Higher farmer incomes mean the local clinic is upgraded, the villagers convinced the local government to improve the road, fields are being surveyed for land titles and a church is being built. This is what it means to bring livelihoods and economic development.    DONATE NOW A billion more Jekoniahs await their economic liberation, please make your contribution to Cheetah Development's work with African subsistence farmers. To learn more about Cheetah Development visit our website.

Forward this email This email was sent to ray.menard.cheetah_spots269@blogger.com by brad.brown@cheetahdevelopment.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Cheetah Development, Inc. | 906 East First Street | Hastings | MN | 55033

Cheetah's Big Goal for Big Impact

Cheetah is poised for even greater impact in 2015. You can make it happen. Greetings! Cheetah Development has set a goal to raise $50,000 by December 31, 2014 to fuel our growth. We are poised to make great strides in 2015 in the scope and impact of our work in Africa, but we need your help to do so. You can help in two important ways: First, make a donation DONATE NOW Second, forward this email to a friend or colleague that should know about Cheetah and our work. Jane and her dried produce.  Impact Story. From Subsistence to Self-Sufficiency Jane Mahali is an average Tanzanian and mother of Miriam and Haruni. Jane and her husband are subsistence farmers raising maize and sunflower seeds on a five acre farm and live in a house made of clay and thatched roof. For many years, Jane and her family were subject to the feast and famine cycle that plagues most African farmers. But hunger was only one way the family experienced poverty. Jane couldn't afford to pay the children's school fees and during the rainy season the roof leaked.  But life changed for Jane and her family after she engaged in Cheetah Development's solar drying program. Jane can now preserve vegetables and fruit for the rainy season when food is scarce and generate more income for her family by selling some of her dried produce to Cheetah Development's guaranteed market.  Today, thanks to the income earned from solar drying farm crops, the Mahali family has repaired their roof and put both children in school. Jane has a new sense of hope for the future and is saving for tuition for the children's secondary education. She is also helping to support her nephew, Erick, who lives in an orphanage because his family cannot afford to care for him.  Perhaps most exciting is that Jane is fast becoming an entrepreneur with plans to purchase a second solar dryer to dry crops for other farmers in her village. Through her own efforts, with support from Cheetah Development, Jane is moving from subsistence to self-sufficiency. DONATE NOW A billion more Jane's await their economic liberation, please make your contribution to Cheetah Development's work with African subsistence farmers. To learn more about Cheetah Development visit our website.

Forward this email This email was sent to ray.menard.cheetah_spots269@blogger.com by brad.brown@cheetahdevelopment.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Cheetah Development, Inc. | 906 East First Street | Hastings | MN | 55033