Fort Myers

Right now I am in sunny Fort Myers, Florida. I am here as part of my training for Zambia. I can study all sorts of agriculture in Ontario but since Zambia is much warmer and different crops can be grown there, it makes sense for me to gain some experience in a tropical climate. So, I am working at ECHO, which is a training farm for missionaries, students and anybody wishing to know more about agriculture. They have six different demo areas that give examples of what types of crops and methods for growing crops in various climatic and topographic settings.

I arrived here on Monday, August 15 and I will be here until September 1. The weather here is very warm and very humid but the work here is not as physically demanding as at the organic farm I was at the last two weeks. Here I can help out in the morning and then stay inside in the afternoon in the library. I can use this time to look up information about current crops and potential crops for Zambia. It's nice because they have a lot of resources that are tailored to missionaries travelling overseas to work in agriculture.

The people here are really nice and friendly (yes, even Americans can be as friendly as Canadians). There are five interns working here that run the different areas (there is a sixth but he is not here right now - I think he's on vacation until next week). I have been getting to know all of the interns and they are very eager to help me whenever they can. Each of them is here for a full year to run their respective areas. There is also a guy from Haiti here. He is doing something similar to what I am doing. He is a student here learning more about agriculture that he can use in Haiti. His name is Joas.

I guess there's not too much to add right now. It is very warm here and I think I am beginning to miss the cold (hehehe - yup, I'm crazy!!) Oh well, I guess I have to get used to it. Zambia will be pretty warm too. I hope everyone is having a good end to their summer up there. If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail or post them (you can post anonymously here if you can't log in). I look forward to being back in Canada for a bit before I go to Zambia.