If tractors could talk the two shinny, new V-Tractors recently arriving at their new home would have expressed their surprise and pleasure at the reception they received. Little would they have known, as the trailer doors were being opened, that a large crowd was waiting to greet them. Those outside even included the news media.
The custom designed units, V-Tractors for short, are part of a bold new incentive in research and development by Tom Rich of the L. T. Rich Manufacturing
Company with the cooperation of Richard Stephens, Executive Director of the Malawi Project. As the doors of the overseas container were opened outside the Kachere Orthopedic Hospital in Blantyre representatives from the Malawi News Service started taking notes and snapping photographs. A crowd gathered, including Kachere and Queen Elizabeth Hospital administrators, church leaders and representatives from the two agencies chosen to receive the first units. The Dzidalire Community Development Agency in Dedza, and the Namikango Maternity Clinic in Thondwe are the recipients of the first two tractors. The Universal Aide Society of Vancouver, Canada, and its contributors supplied the cost for the transportation of the two units from central Indiana to Malawi.
Thought “V” was for the Shape
Mark Thiesen, the Director for the Namikango Mission and Maternity Clinic in Thondwe made this comment about their new tractor. “At first I thought the “V” stood for the shape of the tractor. But when I learned it actually stood for “village tractor”, and how the tractor had been invented exactly for a developing county, it all made sense. I was impressed with its easy and simplicity of operation, along with its versatility to do so many different jobs. Anyone, even if you have never operated a motorized vehicle before, as is the case of most village farmers, can now cultivate their fields. A farmer who previously cultivated only 1 or 2 acres will now be able to gain production from ten or twelve, while having more time to do other tasks. This can easily make the difference between mere survival and enjoying a complete escape from poverty.”.jpg)
It’s an All-In-One Unit
Samantha Ludick the proprietor Cool Runnings Lake Resort, scheduled to receive the next unit that is currently being prepared for shipment to Malawi, “This is exactly the right tractor for us at this time in our development. Having an all-in-one unit is just the thing we need. Now the kids can go to school. They have always had to work in the fields along with their parents, but now the V-Tractor can do it all. It does everything. It can run a generator, turn a concrete mixer, plow the field, disk, harrow the ground, pump water, haul water, just everything, just everything. Now that is really cool.”
It Will Revolutionize Farming
As the first tractor started its field trials Stephens noted, “Today is a memorable day in Malawi. A single person sitting on this tractor is doing what it would take two or more men a month to do, and this one man will do it in just a couple of hours. This will revolutionize farming the same way the small John Deere or Farmal tractor changed America from a horse drawn system to a mechanized world. That led America to world success in farming. It will change Malawi as well.”
Just then the first tractor reached the far end of the field, turned and started to carve out two more rows of crusted soil.