Himalayan Institute Cameroon (HIC) celebrated the arrival of a 20-foot shipping container from Guangzhou, China, bearing tools and equipment for the development of HIC programs, particularly for the School of Energy Farming and the School of Carpentry & Construction (C & C). With the arrival of the container’s contents, newly planned community services and educational training courses are able to move forward.
The School of Carpentry & Construction received pieces of large, stationary equipment,  including a band saw, table saw, and mortising machine as well as a full complement of power hand tools for woodworking. Everything, down to the screws and nails, will be put to use in C & C’s largest project yet—the upcoming Modern Carpentry Methods training course. Over 16 weeks, beginning on June 1, students enrolled in the training program will become acquainted with the practical application of modern carpentry tools, skills, and techniques in a professional working environment. The course will emphasize business and project planning aspects of carpentry as well as specific techniques, aiming to prepare trainees to succeed in their own independent business enterprises. Upon completion, students will receive a certificate of competency that will also make them eligible for a full-time or part-time position with the School of Carpentry & Construction.
The School of Energy Farming received large machines of its own: three riding tractors with attachments for tilling, disc plowing, furrow plowing, and irrigation, as well as a trailer. The tractors are unique in this area of Cameroon where the majority of the population farms by hand, spending weeks of intensive labor to prepare the land for planting. Energy Farming will offer a low-cost service program in which farmers may hire a technician to cultivate their land using the equipment, achieving in hours what normally takes a family many days. The equipment will also be put to good use developing fields on the HIC School of Energy Farming land in Kishong Village for growing medicinal herbs, oil crops, trees, and market produce.
With each program and service, HIC is continually looking for new ways to bring rural empowerment and sustainability to the people of Cameroon.
Using eucalyptus poles, ropes, and excellent coordination, the team maneuvers a generator down from the container. The donated generator will supply power to the HIC main campus and the School of Carpentry &Â Construction.
AÂ band saw for the Carpentry &Â Construction program is being unloaded.
One of the tillers is being assembled.
