Delivering Third Scale to Bateguedea

Bateguedea is a 20-minute taxi ride outside of Daloa, one of the main cocoa cities in Ivory Coast. It was here that several newspaper reporters were able to interview children who claimed to have been treated as slaves during their times on local cocoa farms. We continue with Evariste's comments...

The person with me in front of the sign is Lucien Guedeguhé. He is an especially prosperous farmer of his generation. He lives at Bateguedea.

The people sitting down: among them is the chef of the village. He is wearing the cloth on his head. His name is Guilbert Gavriel Ballet and his vice-chief is named Baroan Alphonse Gadé.



Interviews...

To the village chief: What are you feeling right now?

Evariste, through you we thank Mr. Tom. He is our savior. At one time, the village had a scale, but it was very old and dilapidated. Every time we needed a scale, we were forced to rent one and the pisteurs always charged a high price. Other times, people refused to lend us their scales. Mr. Tom has liberated us from the trickery of the pisteurs and the cooperative agents. May God bless this foundation with a long life so that it can liberate our neighboring villages as well.
Les interview de batteguedea:

The second question was asked of the head of the women farmers..

How useful is this scale?

First, before making a big speech, I thank you and the donor Tom for this grand symbolic geste. The arrival of this scale will eliminate a lot of problems--that is, theft and cheating. And thanks to the apprenticeship committee we will learn how to use the scale and this information will help us wherever we do business.

In the name of all the women farmers, I am so thankful, because now we will know the weights of our goods before we set out to sell them.

And before finishing my speech, I would like to say that we are looking forward to giving to Mr. Tom our ancestral blessing.

The third question was posed to the vice-chief, Alphonse Baroan.

Are you happy with the scale?

Yes, we are very, very happy with this great gift. I think all the benedictions have already been said to Tom. And as the young vice-chief, we ask simply of Tom to think about the neighboring village so that harmony may always exist between the farmers in all the villages around Daloa. Today, we are liberated, but there are other villages. We would like him to make an effort to satisfy those villages. If he can do it before the new year, that would give us great pleasure, as we can celebrate the festival of the scales.

Also, I ask Mr. Tom to think about our boots so we can avoid the reptiles that are so numerous under our cacao trees. Farmers don’t earn enough to pay for the antiserum in case of snake bite.