New Intern Comes to ECHO

What do you call cheese that doesn't belong to you?
Na-cho cheese

Ruth Tshin, the newest intern addition to the ECHO farm, loves corny jokes. And puns. She can't get enough of the silly word plays.

'My brother works for the UN,' Ruth tells us. 'So, I like to say, he's UN-employed.'

Hailing from Mississauga, Canada (just outside of Toronto, ay), Ruth brings a unique international blend to our North Fort Myers community. She is ethnically Chinese, although her family is from Indonesia. She has relatives spread across Southeast Asia.

At ECHO, Ruth is in charge of the Semi-Arid region, the goats, and will be working in the seedbank. She has already had several firsts here on the farm: the first time touching a frog, the first time slaughtering a chicken, and the first time making molasses. Her favorite treat? Fruit from the strawberry tree.

Goat Haiku

All I do is eat
munch munch chew munch chew munch burp
Can I eat your shoes?

-- attributed to myspace user, 'Goat'

At ECHO, our goats love to eat! Interns Aaron and Ruth collect forage for the ruminants every morning.

We have a mix of Alpines and Nubians, both male and female, and a buck named Curry.

If you are interested in small-scale goat raising, check out this selection in our bookstore.

HIV/AIDS, Nutrition, and Agriculture Workshop 2006

By the time you finish reading this article, 10 people will have become infected with HIV. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, 95% of these new infections occur in developing countries.

At ECHO, we find that many of the countries in our network are not only threatened by hunger, but AIDS as well. We decided to host a workshop that would use our agricultural knowledge to the benefit of those working with people living with HIV/AIDS.

Highlights includes: a presentation by Margaret Tagwira, of Zimbabwe, on nutritious foods as part of AIDS care; a seminar on cross-cultural communication, given by Dr. Dan Fountain; and a workshop on plants for special nutritional needs hosted by Dr. Martin Price.

Sugar Cane Pressing on the Farm!

Unless you grew up in Clewsiton or Bell Glade, not too many folks in south Florida have had the chance to taste fresh sugar cane juice. Today at ECHO, interns, staff, and volunteersrs alike got a taste of the sweet nectar. Even Stan, our Executive Director, took a turn around the sugar cane press brought from Cambodia. After all the cane was pressed, we boiled down the juice to make molasses.

For more on small-scale sugar cane production in developing countries, check out Cane Sugar in our bookstore.

Interns Derek and Katie enjoy the treat, while Nate and volunteer Dave give it two thumbs up.

2006 ECHO Agricultural Conference

Over 200 delegates representing 29 countries gathered in Fort Myers for the 13^th annual ECHO Agricultural Conference. These visitors included missionaries, students, foreign nationals and other development workers sharing the same desire to fight hunger wherever it occurs. The three busy days of November 7^th, 8^th and 9^th were filled with delegate presentations, workshops on the ECHO farm and many hours of conversation and networking.