Uniquely Sharing Moringa

Some excited community members and health workers at the recent moringa exhibition.

There is beauty in the versatility of our teaching program.

We love seeing how different communities decide to spread the knowledge of moringa. In Malawi, where we started working at the end of 2022, moringa is still relatively unknown. Pastor Moshi, our Field Partner there, trained a group of ten Peer Educators who together with him have successfully planted moringa trees and introduced the knowledge of moringa to all of the 69 villages in the area!

This dynamic team works in a variety of ways, including holding large community gatherings, visiting homes, teaching at local schools, community centers, and churches, and establishing moringa clubs and nurseries.

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Peer Educator Rhoda (holding microphone) teaches the community about the benefits of moringa.

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Pastor Moshi’s wife, Susan (standing), joins the Peer Educator team in preparing moringa leaves for the event.

In July, Pastor Moshi and the Peer Educator team hosted a moringa exhibition for the community in the village of Kulapa, Malawi. They invited health officers, village heads, church leaders, and families to learn about moringa and see cooking demonstrations showing how to include moringa in local food dishes.

Over 650 people gathered to hear about the benefits of moringa, including some very interested Ministry of Health officers!

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A community member tries a moringa-fied version of a local dish.

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Peer Educator Rhoda prepares moringa leaves for the exhibition.

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Community members try their hand at adding moringa to a cooked meal.

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Peer Educators perform moringa cooking demonstrations.

After a large event like this, many community members and local leaders contact Pastor Moshi and the Peer Educators, asking them for moringa saplings and further training. The knowledge of moringa is spreading quickly in Malawi, improving the health of thousands of people!

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It is exciting to be part of this good work, and to know that we are changing lives. There is no shortage of work to be done and people who are interested – we just need the funds to make it happen.

Thank you for partnering with us to change the world one family at a time!

~ Megan

Strong Harvest Operations Manager

Get to Know Us

Rick – SHI Executive Director

Rick

Rick, Strong Harvest’s co-founder and Executive Director, was born and raised on the east coast, but has spent most of his adult life in the Pacific Northwest.

His professional life has had many incarnations: business owner, chef, professional photographer, commercial/residential painting contractor, water jet cutting operator/manager, and missionary and community development worker in Tanzania, East Africa.

From 2000-2006, Rick was the director of Community Development Ministries for the Church of God of Tanzania. This experience solidified his commitment to assisting people to meet their basic needs in ways that reveal the love and care of God for each person, that empower and create dignity in the individual, that are attainable and sustainable at the family level, and that will be passed down from generation to generation.

Rick and a friend with a dairy camel in Tanzania

While training to live in Tanzania, Rick and his wife Jeri learned about the multi-faceted moringa tree. Although their work in Tanzania was focused on other areas, they were so amazed by the benefits of the moringa tree that they taught about it everywhere they went. The moringa tree captured their passion!

Rick and Jeri returned to the U.S. in 2007 knowing that they couldn’t forget the needs of others around the world. They sought the best way to put their vision into action, and Strong Harvest was born!

Rick with a moringa seed pod

As Strong Harvest’s Executive Director, Rick has adeptly managed every aspect of creating and running a non-profit organization. He has a wide variety of skills that have been vital to Strong Harvest from the start. His current focus is on fundraising – ensuring that Strong Harvest has the support needed to continue strong into the future.

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Rick and Jeri with moringa in India

Rick loves:

- - Exploring the world with his wife, Jeri (except the frozen places).
  - Dirt bike riding – it’s exhilarating, physical, and a bit dangerous!
  - Sailing – Rick and Jeri have sailed locally as well as many other places they’ve traveled.
  - Reading – Rick’s love of reading began with The Hobbit when he was 14 years old.
  - Spending time with his family – especially his 10 grandkids!

Rick says, “I’m humbled that God has given me the opportunity to impact lives in such significant ways through Strong Harvest. The reports of transformed health are my favorites, especially when premature babies and their mothers are given the nutrition needed to survive and thrive in places where survival is not the usual outcome.”

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