Urgent Need! Deadline Extended to August 14!
An urgent need has arisen connected to our work with the poor in Mali as we do our best to meet urgent tangible problems. We are focusing on self-sufficiency projects which meet the concerns of the poor and help the national church with resources.
IMPORTANT! See the update in the next article.
Our current effort is an innovative and very exciting agro-pastoral project. You can read more about the nature of the project and the strategy behind it by downloading or viewing this document: The Waramajanna Project Proposal: A Self-Sufficiency Agro-Pastoral Project (Adobe Reader required).
Various studies have shown that if modern agro-pastoral projects were done on the banks of the Niger River, particularly if the “Niger buckle” were adequately farmed, this would feed not just Mali, but all of West Africa! The problem is that to this day 99% of agriculture done on the banks of the Niger is still subsistence-level farming, even as the farmer continues to depend solely on rainfall while sitting right next to an abundant supply of water that could irrigate his field. Someone has to show the way. Why not the Church? Our agro-pastoral project holds the promise of playing a part in revolutionizing agriculture in West Africa!
But we urgently need your help with a key component of this agro-pastoral project, namely the purchase of a used tractor.
Although some farmer friends from Illinois were trying to help us get an old tractor and then ship it to Mali, we have come to realize that if a good tractor could be found locally in Mali, the cost for such equipment could be drastically reduced since we wouldn’t have to deal with huge shipping costs and high import customs taxes.
We have found a used Massey-Fergusson tractor here in Bamako that is offered to us by a friendly Belgian businessman for a very, very attractive price — about half of what it would cost us if one were donated in the USA, then shipped, cleared customs after paying the high import taxes on it, plus registration and handling issues. The cost of this tractor is $21,500.
The businessman asked for a 20% down payment ($4,300). After some struggle in finding these funds, we were able to pay it on June 16. However, the balance is due in 6 days (on July 16), as the agreement allows a month to pay up from the date of making the down payment. I have in hand an additional $2,000. Our friends in Illinois are trying as best they can to raise part of the remaining $15,200 and other friends in Arizona are doing the same thing.
We have been working with a good friend, Bob Pagett, who is the CEO of Assist International, a premier humanitarian institution which facilitates relief work with funds and equipment donated by entities such as General Electric, Safeway, Rotary, and many others. Assist International has done some very substantial medical projects in many countries. Two years ago they helped us equip the cardiology department of the main teaching hospital in Bamako, Mali.
Can you help us with a donation to help cover the cost of the tractor? All donations should be sent to Assist International for accountability and tax purposes, and the donation should include a reference to “For David Arzouni / Mali tractor project.” To make a donation by credit card, visit Assist International’s donation page, but then make sure to contact Assist International by phone (831.438.4582) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to specify that your donation is for the David Arzouni / Mali tractor project. Thank you so much for anything you can do for us and for the people of Mali!
UPDATE: Some additional funds have come in for the purchase of the tractor. The businessman from whom we are buying the tractor experienced a catastrophe of sorts when a semi-tornado ruined his garage structure. This made the need for money urgent to him. At first I saw this as a strike against us in the sense that this disaster would make him impatient with us and cause him to sell the tractor to one of the many people pestering him to buy it. As it turned out, instead of being demanding, he became flexible and willing to work out an arrangement!
So we gave the businessman a substantial chunk of money (50%) with the additional funds that came in. The rest of the funds are to be paid in increments as the deadline was extended to August 14. Linda and I are hoping that donations will continue to come in. We trusting that the Lord will provide the remainder of the funds for this strategic self-sufficiency project. Thank you for praying with us regarding all of this.
Posted on Jul 10, 2009 
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