The Moses Project
The Moses Project is a 120 acre commercial farm and ag training facility. At any given time, this facility houses an average of 40 boys above the age of 13. These young men learn best practices in the technical and economic aspects of agriculture, specifically in coffee, fish, and poultry. Through this program, we are training and equipping the future generations of coffee farmers, business owners, and community leaders, who will shape and transform Honduras. At the same time, the farm serves as a source for countless jobs in the community and eventually, a source of financial stability that will support the other MUR works.Phil Davidson, a Canadian from Alberta, and his brothers along with some local leaders from the communities surrounding Santa Rosa de Copán, founded the Moses Project more than 15 years ago. The goal of the Moses Project has always been to provide access to a junior high and high school education for young men from poor families who cannot afford for their sons to continue studying past the 6th grade. Today, the Moses Project consists of a 120 working farm that provides educational opportunities for up to 50 boys at a time. In addition to their academic studies the boys work in the Tilapia, Coffee and Broiler Chicken operations that are going on around the farm. And, each of the boys receive training in the Bible and spiritual disciplines.
Ag Training Program
Management operations for sixty acres of coffee, 200,000 broiler chickens and 500,000 Tilapia not only serve to generate income to sustain the Moses Project but they also serve to train and equip the young men in our Moses Project program to become entrepreneurs in agriculture. Each of our ag-businesses have an Ag Engineer running them and the boys in our program all work and do chores under the tutelage and supervision of these Ag Engineers. This is effective training and preparation for life for these boys since they serve as apprentices for from three to six years while living, studying and working on the farm.
Well Drilling
One of the challenges facing most of the communities in Western Honduras is access to a sufficient volume of water for domestic and agricultural use. In fact, the World Wide Fund for Nature has identified that much of Western Honduras is in what they call The Dry Corridor. MUR has, as part of its mission, the desire and means to help local communities with accessing more water by using their Failing 1500 well drilling rig. We have drilled wells as deep as 800 feet in the region having to penetrate rock for the entire depth. This is just one more way that MUR serves the people in Western Honduras in practical ways helping them sustain and improve their quality of life.
Agriculture Sustainability
Mission UpReach, through its Moses Project ag businesses, implements a best practices approach to growing and delivering products to the Market. It starts with obtaining all required permits and licenses and covers rigorous bio-security measures to ensure that our products are not contaminated with diseases or infirmities that could destroy a crop or pass a disease on to the consumer. One of the non-agricultural benefits to the community in the surrounding area is that all of the MP businesses provides a large source of employment. There are more than 100 people that work on the farm at one time. Our best practices approach also includes a pursuit of excellence in business administration and marketing. This ensures that our products get to market in a timely and effective way while commanding a premium price at the same time. It is through a combination of these values and practices that MUR serves the public in Western Honduras in a long-term sustainable way.