Meet Francis

Meet Francis. He is a gregarious, cheerful boy living in Rumphi District, Malawi, and while we were only able to spend a few moments with him, he has made a lasting impression. Instead of going to school, every morning Francis devotes his time foraging for food for his family. With your help, the lives of Francis and his family can be transformed not only by finally having enough to eat, but by finally having the opportunity for a bright future. 

Encouragement

"Finally, I say yes, together it is possible to Dry Out Hunger."

This is from an email sent by Albert Bwinga. Bwinga is a truly passionate man our team met in Rumphi, a man eager to help others. He works with Action Aid, the international organization that strives against poverty and human injustice.

In his email, he expressed his excitement for solving the problem of food preservation in Malawi and his willingness to devote his considerable skills and enthusiasm to help Tricycle Harvest reach that goal.

We are incredibly grateful to have met him, and we are looking forward to working with him. Because he was right, together it is possible.

written by Riley Richards

Malawi Food Crisis

When someone is driven by a specific cause, gripped by a passionate goal, it is empowering to have that goal reinforced by recent events. However, in this case the news is not happy. Malawi, the country in which Tricycle Harvest International has focused the bulk of our attention, has been experiencing a drought, and because of this, 6 million people are in serious need of food assistance. It is such a significant crisis that the United Nations World Food Program has given it the highest classification of emergency. Of course, the U.N. and the Malawian government are doing everything they can to solve the dilemma, but it simply cannot be solved without help. Now more than ever, food preservation by solar dehydration is possibly the most conceivably promising way to eradicate death from starvation once and for all.  

written by Riley Richards 

Save the Date

Clean out your closet and help end hunger at the same time!

 

Mark your calendar for the Tricycle Harvest International Donation Drive on Saturday July 16, from 10 am – 5 pm at the Barkley Haggen store in Bellingham, WA.

By donating gently-used clothing, shoes, accessories, books, linens, movies, toys and small household items (no furniture or electrical), you can help Tricycle Harvest International end hunger in rural Africa. 

Visit our website to see how we are ending hunger, sustainably.  www.tricycleharvest.org

If you have any questions please feel free to send an email to info@tricycleharvest.org.

And be sure to tell your friends – the more donations we get the more families we can help!

Together we can dry out hunger!

Thoughts from Riley Richards

Wonderful people, I have recently been given the incredible opportunity to become the Marketing Director of the organization Tricycle Harvest International.

But the more profoundly exciting thing is that by utilizing sustainable solar dehydration techniques, as well as encouraging, educating, and equipping people to do the same for themselves, hunger in rural Africa could conceivably be eradicated in the foreseeable future. This is the aim of Tricycle Harvest. It is not simply about saving lives (as vitally meaningful as that is), but it is about cultural enrichment and breaking the cycle of poverty for people who have known little else. Starving people could finally have enough food.

I would be deeply honored and delighted to have you all be a part of this as well, in whatever capacity you are able. It simply can't be done without help, and we would love to have yours.

Take a peek at the website, www.tricycleharvest.org for more information.

Stay gold.

the Mission

I started Tricycle Harvest International because the idea of someone dying every four seconds simply because they didn't have enough food became unbearable to me.  The effects of a lack of food are life long and ending hunger became my passion.  But, admittedly, the task seemed overwhelming.  That is until I remembered Mother Teresa's quote: "If you can't feed a hundred people then just feed one."  And I thought, I can do that.  And then that one person turned into one family and then one village and then one district.

 The solution to ending hunger in rural Africa came to me after traveling to developing nations and seeing rotting piles of produce in fields, by the street and behind markets.  People had worked so hard to grow fruit and vegetables but because of a lack of electricity there was no refrigeration.  And without money and access to jars and lids there was no canning.  There simply was no way to preserve the food.  And then I had it.

I grew up with my mom drying food and I have been using a food dehydrator in my own home for several years.  Put that together with the sun's energy - a free and renewable resource available to all, even the extremely poor in rural Africa, and we have sustainable food preservation.  By using solar dehydrators the food is kept safe, away from bugs, rodents, and bacteria as it dries.  

That is why Tricycle Harvest International exists - to end hunger through the teaching, building, and giving of solar dehydrators to those living in extreme poverty in the villages in Africa.