Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002, Page 63
the United States. However, Moon‘s investments in the past few years have all gone into his
South American property purchases. In addition to his lands in the backwater region
between Paraguay and Brazil, he owns property in Argentina and a bank, an estate and a
newspaper in Uruguay.
Life at New Hope Ranch
The sprawling ranch where the rivers Prata and Miranda meet appears to be the centre of
the project. Moon has called it the New Hope Ranch. It is four hours from the nearest big
city, and five miles outside the poor farming town of Jardim. The drive takes you through
shrublands [sic] dotted with skeletal cattle, the last part along a pot-holed gravel track.
"Welcome to the Garden of Eden," reads a huge sign hanging over the entrance.
It seems an unlikely setting for a vision of paradise. While the edges of the Pantanal were
once covered in rich subtropical forest, most of it has been deforested by cattle ranchers in
the past decade. But that seems not to have deterred Moon. "We will make from this a
fertile haven where birds and animals can roam," he promised followers — mainly from
Japan, Korea, Spain and the United States — who flocked to the ranch to help in the task of
recreating his Utopian vision.
Protecting themselves from the piercing sun with wide-brimmed hats, they brave long
afternoons by mosquito infested rivers, planting seedlings in the rocky fields. "We plan to
reforest these dusty flatlands with native species and plant crops and show local farmers
that this area can be resurrected," says Cesar Zadusky, the ranch manager.
Zadusky runs the farm in Moon‘s absence — for the time being Moon commutes between his
$10 million apartment in New York and a luxury estate in Uruguay. But he has said that he
hopes eventually to take up full-time residence in the New Hope Ranch. At present, when he
and his wife visit, they stay in a small wooden hut.
Moon has already spent more than $25 million on the ranch. The site is made up of a 3,000-
seat conference hall, a temple, more than a dozen identical dormitory buildings to house the
2,000 sect members who live permanently on the ranch, and another characterless building
for visiting devotees.
Sect members live in army-style dormitories with bunk beds and work all day ploughing
fields, building greenhouses and planting vegetable gardens. They can be seen washing
clothes in seemingly endless rows of sinks outside their quarters. They do not speak to
visiting journalists Zadusky speaks for them.
In one corner of the ranch an ostrich breeding farm equipped with a computerized hatching
machine has been set up. Ostrich meat is a delicacy in Brazil‘s business capital, Sao Paulo,
and therefore a lucrative product.
The ranch has a school for 300 children and there are plans to build a university. Of the 200
or so locals who have joined the sect, most have done so to ensure a place for their children
in the well-equipped school, which now has 250 children but aims to grow and take more
than 600.
"Before we can build a heaven on earth we have to give an education and training to the
poor illiterate locals," says Zadusky. "We are planning a university and a research centre, to
bring the latest agricultural research to local farmers."
Community Relations
Initially the local authorities saw Moon‘s investments as a way to boost the economy in
impoverished cowboy country. Landowners, heavily in debt, were also keen to sell their
mostly infertile pasture lands, the result of many years of slash-and-burn jungle clearance.
the United States. However, Moon‘s investments in the past few years have all gone into his
South American property purchases. In addition to his lands in the backwater region
between Paraguay and Brazil, he owns property in Argentina and a bank, an estate and a
newspaper in Uruguay.
Life at New Hope Ranch
The sprawling ranch where the rivers Prata and Miranda meet appears to be the centre of
the project. Moon has called it the New Hope Ranch. It is four hours from the nearest big
city, and five miles outside the poor farming town of Jardim. The drive takes you through
shrublands [sic] dotted with skeletal cattle, the last part along a pot-holed gravel track.
"Welcome to the Garden of Eden," reads a huge sign hanging over the entrance.
It seems an unlikely setting for a vision of paradise. While the edges of the Pantanal were
once covered in rich subtropical forest, most of it has been deforested by cattle ranchers in
the past decade. But that seems not to have deterred Moon. "We will make from this a
fertile haven where birds and animals can roam," he promised followers — mainly from
Japan, Korea, Spain and the United States — who flocked to the ranch to help in the task of
recreating his Utopian vision.
Protecting themselves from the piercing sun with wide-brimmed hats, they brave long
afternoons by mosquito infested rivers, planting seedlings in the rocky fields. "We plan to
reforest these dusty flatlands with native species and plant crops and show local farmers
that this area can be resurrected," says Cesar Zadusky, the ranch manager.
Zadusky runs the farm in Moon‘s absence — for the time being Moon commutes between his
$10 million apartment in New York and a luxury estate in Uruguay. But he has said that he
hopes eventually to take up full-time residence in the New Hope Ranch. At present, when he
and his wife visit, they stay in a small wooden hut.
Moon has already spent more than $25 million on the ranch. The site is made up of a 3,000-
seat conference hall, a temple, more than a dozen identical dormitory buildings to house the
2,000 sect members who live permanently on the ranch, and another characterless building
for visiting devotees.
Sect members live in army-style dormitories with bunk beds and work all day ploughing
fields, building greenhouses and planting vegetable gardens. They can be seen washing
clothes in seemingly endless rows of sinks outside their quarters. They do not speak to
visiting journalists Zadusky speaks for them.
In one corner of the ranch an ostrich breeding farm equipped with a computerized hatching
machine has been set up. Ostrich meat is a delicacy in Brazil‘s business capital, Sao Paulo,
and therefore a lucrative product.
The ranch has a school for 300 children and there are plans to build a university. Of the 200
or so locals who have joined the sect, most have done so to ensure a place for their children
in the well-equipped school, which now has 250 children but aims to grow and take more
than 600.
"Before we can build a heaven on earth we have to give an education and training to the
poor illiterate locals," says Zadusky. "We are planning a university and a research centre, to
bring the latest agricultural research to local farmers."
Community Relations
Initially the local authorities saw Moon‘s investments as a way to boost the economy in
impoverished cowboy country. Landowners, heavily in debt, were also keen to sell their
mostly infertile pasture lands, the result of many years of slash-and-burn jungle clearance.
