About Us

We got married in December 2007.  Together, we have a vision for working internationally.  Nate's experience in design, project management and construction along with Cecilia's studies in food science, agriculture, and development are beneficial in our work as we help in a small, but significant way.

We have exciting news...   
We're relocating from Baltimore, MD to Fort Lauderdale, FL!  
Cecilia has joined a multi-national company that provides certifications on standards of excellence (e.g. organics, fair trade) for the food and agriculture industry, among others (industries/services).  Her primary role is to help companies implement sustainable farming practices in the sourcing of raw materials.  She can tell you all about it, if you're interested.
You may ask, "So what's Nate going to do?".  Check it out!  www.natetarter.com



What we've been up to:

In Baltimore (2012-2015), we've spent almost 3 1/2 years.  We've grown to love the city, and as exciting as it is to start new endeavors, it's hard to say goodbye.  We love the community of friends and colleagues we’ve built during our time here.  Aside from working with World Relief, we built community with our church, international fellowship, and some good friends that made our stay unforgettable.  We joined the Ultimate Frisbee community, just as we did in Ithaca.  We had our fair share of travel that took us many times back to Haiti, Ecuador, and also to several countries in East Africa and Central America.

Most recently, we went deeper into our professional interests, which got Nate involved with a local Historic Restoration Start-Up.  Did you know Baltimore has the largest number of historic buildings per-capita in the USA?

Cecilia was engaged in global issues of food and nutrition security.  She interned with Catholic Relief services and helped organize the integrated nutrition conference.  She also reported live (#GFS2015) on the agriculture-nutrition-health nexus as part of the junior-researcher task force for the Global Food Security Conference, and wrote a summary blog post.

A year in Haiti, it was an amazing time of learning and hard work...
In 2011, we spend two months in Ecuador, where we got involved part-time with Dulce Refugio (Sweet Refuge), a before/after school program that works with 250 low-income kids giving them holistic help.  We helped in the construction project as we built two small walls, moved sand, painted some rooms, and even painted a 10x13foot mural with the help of some youth from the church. We had a pleasant visit from a wonderful couple from Georgia, who we met during our time in Texas. They spoke to the various classes at Dulce Refugio about the Golden Rule and Honesty, helped start the mural, and also helped move sand. We organized an afternoon of group problem solving and games for the teens and pre-teens. What fun!

In 2010, thanks to the love and support of our family and friends, we played with many orphans in West Africa and Haiti. We sang joyful songs with young men and women at a prison in Benin. We joined three excellent short-term teams and met people from all over the world. We've logged thousand of air and road miles as we prepared and went overseas to six different countries and all across the United States. What an unforgettable year!  

Ecuador -  Quito, the capital, has a special place in our hearts as we have visited it multiple times in the past four years. It is a large city located within the Andes. At 9200 feet of altitude, it is the highest capital in the world. We went there also on November 2010 to help Cecilia's mom as she had to deal with some health problems. She is well and back to her active life.  More about Ecuador: http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Ecuador.html

Haiti -  In October 2010, we joined two medical Mercy Teams from the United States at an organization called Mission of Hope in Haiti. Since we don't have medical training we ended up working with the medical supplies. It was such a big task, but we made a dent on a portion of the work and organized hundreds of boxes of supplies for the use at the clinic where they were needed. It was encouraging to see the work of Mission of Hope in this country that is still recovering from the devastation of the earthquake in January 2010. More about Haiti: http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Haiti.html

Sierra Leone -  In September 2010, we were privileged to spend a few days in Freetown, Sierra Leone, as part of off-ship programs advance team with Mercy Ships. The stay was brief, but fruitful as we had the privilege to see the good work of local organizations and meet wonderful people serving in many ways. More about Sierra Leone: http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Sierra-Leone.html

Ghana - During our time in Togo, we traveled by land to visit for a few days a good friend from Ghana who we met in Ithaca, NY during her studies at Cornell University. It was such a refreshing time for us and so good to receive the hospitality of a friend and her family. More about Ghana: http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Ghana.html

Togo - In August 2010, we worked with the Mercy Ships' land-base team in Lome, Togo helping with the closing activities of the hospital ship, Africa Mercy, before its sail to South Africa, and also at the land-base facilities. When we finally finished that task, we flew to Freetown, Sierra Leone.

More about Togo: http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/Togo.html

Benin - In July 2010, we worked on an outreach to a local prison and children's home in a short 2-week training program. We worked in Abomey, Benin. We fell in love with this place over the two weeks we were there, and would love to go back someday.
More about Benin: http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Benin.html