Kiliya Trip

A while back I took a trip to Kiliya (Ukraine) to visit the loan fund there, and to see several of the projects that the fund has lent money to. The board of the fund there consists of the pastors of three Baptist churches in that area. Kiliya is in the somewhat disconnected southwest corner of Ukraine. Just across the river to the east is Romania and Moldova is a short drive to the north. Even though it has a moderate-sized shipbuilding factory, statistically it is located in one of the most impoverished regions of Ukraine.

Wages from the factory are very minimal and those who are not employed there are hard-pressed to find another source of income. One member of the fund’s board told me that both his son and son-in-law are long-haul truck drivers, based 800 km away in Chernivtsy. Both of them have young families who live in Kiliya and had last seen their fathers/husbands about two months ago.

Needless to say, most people are looking for a way to earn/save money. One way that is currently very popular, especially among the Baptist community, is to purchase small plots of land to raise strawberries. These plots of land are usually around 250m² and a poorly kept one will sell for around $100. I was told that, with work, one of these plots will produce enough strawberries to earn $50-250 per year.

I was shown around 20 plots of land that have all been purchased in the past five years using loans from the loan fund. I was also shown several plots that the Baptists hope to purchase in the future. Based on what I saw, it requires a lot of work. First they have to clean up the brush and till the plot the first time. They then plant small, healthy offshoots of their own or their neighbors strawberry plants. In the picture, Stas and Pavel (sons of one of the aforementioned truck drivers) are working to replant a freshly cleared patch. These are not the traditional strawberries that produce for 3-4 years, but instead are dug up every summer after production has ceased. The small, healthy offshoots are then replanted and will produce again the following year.

So many people there have taken out small loans ($100-350) and put in a lot of labor to receive significant returns (especially by their standards). It is an exciting process to hear stories about their projects and even more interesting to see them in person.

Dave