Blog Post #6 - ECHO Nursery

ECHO was an eye opening experience. It's hard to think that there are that many people in the world that have as much trouble finding clean water or enough food to eat. It's great that there is an organization like ECHO to be able to teach people in developing nations how to grow their own food and care for their own goats and rabbits and ducks. They were able to raise ducks over the top of the lake, and their waste creates an algae which the Tillapia can feed on.

It was interesting to me that they have started echocommunity.org, which allows farmers to talk to other farmers from around the world, sort of a "social network" for farmers in developing countries. That way, people can learn from the experiences of people at ECHO and other farmers.

The use of "appropriate technologies" means to build what is necessary, with what is available. Seen below is an irrigation system, a type of pump that is made of two drums, a bicycle wheel and some other everyday parts. Using everyday items makes repair easier (you don't need a mechanic to fix the irrigation system), and it's much less expensive.

This is a different type of tool than I picture when I think of American Agriculture. I think of heavy machinery, steel, and gasoline... It's amazing to think of what you can do with just some basic equipment compared to this stuff...

I feel that ECHO's work benefits the developing world in many ways. By developing new ways of doing things can really help people and save lives. I learned about the Neem , which has tons of medicinal properties, and the Moringa, which also has medicinal properties. Moringa is even used in the fight against HIV/AIDS in African communities. The plant alleviated the symptoms of HIV in patients.

I would love to volunteer or even do my service learning hours at ECHO, but it's a bit far from my house... The experience looks great, and I feel that I'd learn a lot of useful things. More Pictures on the field trips page.