Our Story
Having always known he wanted to study Agriculture, Chuck knew he wanted to outwork his growing faith and make a difference in the world by helping others in the developing world. Chuck settled on studying Agricultural Engineering. During University, and having always known that he wanted to go through life with a partner by his side, Chuck met and married Susan Tutt, who has remained his faithful companion to date.
After University, Chuck started work full time in an agricultural engineering company. Instead of buying into the money, Chuck wanted to use his life to make a difference, so he started to investigate other possibilities, and this is where the fun began!
In 1992, Chuck and Sue’s home church had a group of businessmen called Busaid, who sent them to Fiji to assist villagers in increasing their income through the growing and selling of seaweed. The Busaid had committed to buying their seaweed and then selling it overseas. However, the villagers were only bringing it in, in dribs and drabs. Chuck’s role was to see what the problem was and to try and find ways of improving the situation. Chuck soon learned that Fijians tended to sell produce only when they had a specific financial need, such as a funeral or a wedding. This inconsistent supply characterized many of their small enterprises. It was apparent to Chuck that if they were to preserve this overseas market, they would need a baseline of production. So they leased four acres of undersea farm and planted seaweed. This was going well until Cyclone Kina wiped out the first crop just before it could be harvested. At this point, only 5 months into Fiji, the Busaid investors lost interest in the venture and suggested Chuck and Sue return home.
Unwilling to return home so soon, Chuck and Sue opted to stay in Fiji and see what opportunities presented themselves. At that time, the Government of Fiji was desperately short of teachers and was willing to employ anyone with a degree. Believing that he could make a difference, Chuck applied for a job as a teacher. Chuck was placed in a rural school teaching Biology and Mathematics. Here, Chuck learned an important lesson, that the best way to learn or remember anything oneself is to teach it to others.
In 1994, Chuck and Sue migrated to Nadogo Secondary School where Chuck taught for six years. This school had a boarding hostel where the boarders were fed a very meagre diet. Chuck and Sue stayed on campus in a small and simple house with an insufficient water supply, a pit toilet that needed to be decommissioned and a scarce local income. Chuck and Sue decided to investigate appropriate technologies to solve the problems in their current living conditions. Using only World Vision fold-out brochures, they built a ferro-cement water tank, then an improved pit toilet and then an adobe drum oven. They continued to build a water filter and a hand pump to suit a well.
Having solved these small problems, they looked to the school hostel and took permission to start a few small projects to help improve the nutrition component. Together with the students, they learned to grow laying hens, plant rice and raise tilapia in a hand dug pond. Here, Chuck and Sue began encouraging the school to buy and plant citrus trees and to purchase a couple of bee hives. Amidst these projects, Chuck had become thoroughly addicted to appropriate technology, sometimes getting local builders to help him build side projects. Chuck was invited to teach such projects in other villages across Fiji and once in Papua New Guinea. Susie ran the library and started a pre-school for the teachers’ kids. It was at Nadogo, that Chuck and Sue adopted Litia, their daughter.
During this time, Chuck seriously began to question the importance of teaching academic subjects when 80% of those students would forget the lesson after leaving class. Chuck felt that what the students really needed was life skills to help them not only survive but thrive. He wanted to teach subjects such as Agriculture, Construction, and small business. Chuck’s faith led him to believe that ethics should be taught to compliment these skills. Chuck finished teaching school at the end of 1999 and looked for a way to start such an institution.
In 2001, after living and visiting a year in Australia, Chuck and Sue returned to Fiji and teamed up with Marion Male to build the Northern Christian Training Centre. This was to be a Bible based vocational training centre. Chuck was given a very small budget with the task of developing the facilities. Here, he learned to construct a variety of buildings and experimented with various materials and techniques. On the side, they grew pineapples and raised chickens, ducks and pigs to supplement the students’ diet. It was Chuck’s hope that each student would one day start a small business and use those funds to get a head start in life. Chuck learned how to do house plan drawings as well as how to build composting toilets. Altogether, Chuck and Sue worked relentlessly for six years at NCTC, Chuck teaching the practical, Susie looking after the finances and Marion looking after the Biblical training. It was at NCTC that Chuck and Sue adopted their son, Mitchell. At the end of 2006, the family relocated to a different part of Fiji and assisted in the start of another small training centre. Both of which are still thriving to this day, though with a slightly different direction.
Ever since 2006, Chuck and Sue have felt drawn to a certain scripture verse from Psalm 37, which states, “Dwell in the Land, and feed on His faithfulness.” This passage continuously swirled around Chuck’s head until one day Chuck felt the calling to finally act on it. At the end of 2006, with the help of two dear friends, Chuck and Sue were able to purchase a piece of property in Tabia, Fiji. To Chuck, the whole purpose was to plant his family in that land, to live off what the land produced, to steward the land in a godly way and to trust in the Lord for their daily needs. It was time to place themselves in the land and to model to others, the lessons they had taught, and to prove that this lifestyle, free from outside financial support, was not only viable, but provided the ability to thrive. Chuck, Sue, and his family moved onto their farm on March 20th of 2009. They named their farm “Cegu Valley Farm,” Cegu pronounced, Thengoo, meaning Peace or Rest in Fijian.