History of Sarona

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Sarona takes its name from MEDA’s very first investment project — lending money to refugees in Paraguay in 1953 to help them set up a dairy farm in Fernheim, Paraguay. The investment was made by a small group of Mennonite businesspersons from Canada and the U.S. who realized that while the refugee's immediate needs were provided for by charitable organizations, their long-term needs for employment and economic infrastructure were unmet. This group of eight businesspersons committed themselves to providing $5,000 U.S. each ($50,000 U.S. by today’s standards) as loan capital to help the refugees. The Paraguayan refugees named the dairy project “Sarona” after the lush, fertile plain of Sharon (“Saron” in German) in Old Testament Palestine. By choosing that name they were expressing the hope that the dairy, like the plain of old, would also prove to be successful. Their hopes were realized — the dairy brought many economic improvements to the refugees, and the country at large. This investment allowed farmers to increase the milk production of their herds, provided jobs and, over the longer term, improved Paraguay’s stock of dairy cattle. The Sarona Dairy is still in operation today.