Excerpt from draft of "Apostle to the Pygmies – The Doctor Jerry Galloway Story”
I made plans to start two fish ponds and stock them with a pan fish called Tilapia. This particular fish was easy to raise and would grow to one-half pound or more within seven months. There were many lakes and rivers in the Congo, but once entering the dense rainforest there were none. There were many springs and swamps in the rainforest, but they were not deep enough for fish.
Raising fish would be a good project for the Batwa and the Ekonda, as the fish were a good source of protein and could easily be sold. I had other ideas, such as growing rice in the swamps and planting large peanut and bean fields, which were also good sources of protein. At the present time, the people were only planting starchy foods that were low in protein like manioc and sweet potatoes.
Though trained as a doctor, I was very interested in bringing agriculture, education and economics to the people. Unless there was improvement in these areas, the thousands of dollars spent on medications would do next to nothing and would be a waste.
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