More Than Giving Bread, Teaching How to Make Bread

To solve the problem of hunger we must have a heart that is willing
to plant seeds. Seeds are planted and wait unseen under the
soil until they are able to germinate and break through their
outer cover. Similarly, it is better to teach a person how to plant and
harvest wheat and then turn it into bread than it is to give a piece of
bread to a person who is about to die. The former may be more difficult
and not result in as much public recognition, but it is the only way to
arrive at a fundamental and sustainable solution to world hunger. We
need to begin now to study the climate, the soil, and the character of the
people in areas that suffer from hunger.
In Africa, there is a species of tree called manchuka. The people in
Congo feed the leaves of this tree, which are high in nutrition, to their
cattle to fatten them up before taking them to market. They also pound
the leaves of this tree on a stone mill, add some oil, and fry them in batter.
It may be a good idea to plant many manchuka trees and make powder
out of the entire tree after throwing out the root, which is poisonous.
The powder can be used to make bread. Also, Jerusalem artichokes,
which resemble sweet potatoes, grow very quickly once they are planted
in the soil. The amount that can be harvested is three times greater than
that of other famine relief crops. Planting a lot of Jerusalem artichokes
is another way to contribute to resolving the hunger problem.
In Jardim, a large earthworm is used in farming, and this makes the
soil quite fertile. This earthworm exists only in Campana, but perhaps
we can study its ecology and use it to help agriculture in other areas.
Koreans are working in the Mato Grosso region to study silkworms.
If the cultivation of silkworms is successful there, it will be possible to
make silk cheaply and sell it to buy food.
There is no quick fix to the problem of world hunger. People in each
country have different tastes for food and different customs, and the
plants and animals are different. The important point is concern for
our neighbors. We first need to develop the heart that, when we are eating
enough to fill our own stomachs, we think of others who are going
hungry and consider how we can help them. True peace will not come
as long as humanity does not solve the problem of hunger. If the person
next to me is about to die of hunger, peace is a mere luxury.
It is as important to teach the skills needed to become self-sufficient
in producing food as it is to distribute food directly to those in need.
To teach such skills, we need to build schools in remote areas to combat
illiteracy. Technical schools will need to be established in order to give
people the ability to support themselves. The Westerners who conquered
Africa and South America did not provide technology to the
people who were already there. They only used the people as laborers
as they sought to dig up and take away the resources that were buried
in the ground. They did not teach the people how to farm or how to
operate a factory. This was not right. Our church has, from the early
stage of our foreign mission work, established schools in places such as
Zaire for teaching agriculture and industrial technology.
Another problem faced by people suffering from hunger is that
they cannot afford proper medical treatment when they become ill. On
the other side of the world, developed countries are seeing an overuse
of drugs, but people who are hungry often die because they cannot
afford simple medicine for diarrhea or a cold. Therefore, as we work
to eradicate hunger we must also provide medical support. We must
establish clinics and care for those who suffer from chronic illness.
I created New Hope Farms in Brazil’s Jardim region as a model to
show how humanity can live together in peace. We tilled a wide expanse
of land to make farmland, and there is a cattle ranch in the higher elevations.
New Hope Farms is in Brazil, but it does not belong only to the
people of Brazil. Anyone who is hungry can go to New Hope Farms,
work, and be fed. Some two thousand people from all races and from all
over the world can always eat and sleep there. We will establish schools
all the way from elementary school to university. People will be taught
how to farm and how to raise cattle. We will also teach how to plant and
raise trees and how to catch, process, and sell fish. We do not have only
a farm. We use the numerous lakes in the vicinity of the river to create
fish farms and fishing grounds.
Paraguay’s Chaco region occupies 60 percent of that country’s territory,
but it has been a neglected land. The Chaco region was formed
when the sea rose to cover the land, and even now you get salty water
gushing up when you dig into the ground. I was in my seventies when
I first went to Paraguay. The lives of the people living in this longneglected
land were impoverished beyond words. It caused me great
pain in my heart to see them. I sincerely wanted to help them, but they
were not prepared to accept me, a person of a different skin color who
spoke a different language. I did not give up, however.
I traveled the Paraguay River for three months, eating and sleeping
with people from the area. At more than seventy years of age, I was taking
on a task that people said was impossible. I taught the people I met
what I know about fishing, and they taught me their language. We were
on the boat like this together for three months and became friends.
Once they began to open their hearts, I talked to them again and
again about why the world must become one. At first their reaction was
indifferent. Year by year, though, the people of Chaco began to change.
After ten years, they changed so much that they held a global peace
festival with great enthusiasm.
Resolving the food situation does not mean that peace will follow
immediately. After the hunger issue has been resolved, it is important
to carry out educational programs on peace and love. I have built many
schools in places such as Jardim and Chaco. At first people didn’t send
their children to school but instead had them help raise their cattle.
We worked hard to convince them that the children and young people
needed an education. As a result, we now have many students. We built
a light industrial factory where they could produce items using simple
technologies, and the students became more interested in attending
school so they could work in the factory.
We are all responsible for the people around the world who die of
hunger. We need to take action to help them. We need to feel a clear
sense of responsibility and find a way that they can be fed and saved.
People who live well should come down to a slightly lower position and
raise up those who live poorly, to bring about a world where all people
live well.