Wild all around

It seems that I've been consumed in my little Ghanaian bubble and didn't realize that the crazy fluctuation in food prices is a worldwide issue. Since arriving in Ghana, the price of one cup of rice has increased by 100%, a crate of eggs by 50%, bread by at least 50%, 50ml of water has increased 66%. I thought this was due to the change in currency and inflation (I know those play a part). On top of it, the price of one gallon of diesel fuel has gone up to 5.5 Ghana Cedis per gallon (the Cedi is actually "stronger" than the dollar these days). Dorothy works as a market seller and often acquires her goods on loan. Recently, she will return to the house with a van full of goods, sell those goods and by the time she's returned to the market to replace them, she has lost money. Though many farmers in Bormase grow maize, the price increase has not helped them. Rather than earning a great deal more money, they sell the goods to middle men who drive those goods to Accra and make a GREAT deal more money.

As far as local projects go, things are picking up. Over the past two weeks, more than 1,500 Moringa seeds have been put in the ground. I typically get to farm at around 7:30am and am forced to leave by 9:15am. It feels as though I've worded for ages and I swagger my way home like a drunkard due to my exhaustion. I return to farm at around 4pm and try to work until sundown but seldom make it that long despite the diminished strength of the sun. One day last week, I spent my morning and afternoon farming sessions clearing land with a cutlass. If you've ever thought of complaining while using a push lawn mower, think again. Bent at the waist, I walked along my land with cutlass (machete) in hand and cleared grass and roots for hours on end. In one day, I managed to clear no more than 300 square feet while developing countless blisters on each hand. Being as stubborn as I am, I refused to stop when the blisters developed. Rather than calling it quits, I would adjust my grip on the cutlass or use my left hand. Rather than having a few bad blisters, I have a few bad blisters and several decent sized blisters on each hand.

I took the next day off and dedicated it to laundry. Unfortunately, washing clothes by hand with weeping blisters all over your hands hardly equals a day off. I washed nearly all of my clothes and helped with the repair of the glass grinding machine (more to come later) and felt that I had a fairly productive day. When returning from the glass grinding site, Emmanuel asked if I was coming from farm with Stephen. Since Stephen was helping boil oil for soap making and collecting eggs, I didn't think that he had gone to farm. When I met Stephen at farm, I saw that in addition to completing his typical daily chores, he had cleared no less than ten times the space I cleared the prior day. He was tired but had no marks on his hand and met me with a huge smile on his face. Talk about humbling!!

On the issue of the glass grinding machine; it's finally up and running. Last Thursday, Patrick and I came to Koforidua to buy all of the necessary materials for the long overdue (2 1/2 years) repairs. We bought two large metal oil drums, three belts, gear oil and engine oil. A few days after returning to Bormase, the drums had been welded together and we were ready to get things going. Patrick bribed the half dozen children around the house to fetch water. In exchange for the 100 or so gallons of water that were collected by the group, Patrick gave each child a small back of peanuts. Each side of the exchange walked away looking as though they'd gotten the better end of the deal.

While the small boys and small girls made their many trips to the bore hole, Patrick, Samuel and I worked to repair the machine. In the process, one of the belts broke and we realized that the welding job left at least 10 small holes where the two barrels were supposed to join.

Though slightly disappointed, we were able to get the machine running and I finally saw how it works. One part works like a wood chipper but rather than dropping branches in one end, you drop wine bottles, plates or any other pretty piece of glass you can find. The lawn mower blades within simply destroy the glass and send the remains shooting out the other end. Sound dangerous? It is. There are no guards on either end and with each item, hundreds of tiny shards of glass are shot around the room.

The second phase of grinding glass consists of dropping the remnants of said wine bottle or plate into a small funnel through which it falls onto a flat surface. Along that flat surface, two large round stones are quickly rolled around the surfaces as though yoked cattle were pulling them. In the end, you get glass finer than sand that can be picked up with your bare hand without risk.

My favorite part of this process was that I got to share it with Joshua. Joshua is maybe 6 years old and was hanging around the hole time. Whenever something was fixed or added, I would lift him so that he'd be able to get a better idea of how the machine works. He and I could not communicate (aside from my telling him to wear shoes) but we played games and enjoyed the process throughout.

Again, it feels as though I've written a somewhat incoherent post so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Love to all!!

Full bead process

I wanted to pay proper attention to the arduous process of making a single bracelet or necklace.

Regarding my last post: I was nervous to travel with Kua and nervous to return to site after so much time away. Travel was a pain but after an hour or so of shaking nervousness, Kua relaxed, slept on my lap and received countless compliments. Many people even asked if they could buy her. Ghana is great!!

Regarding my Moringa project: the first two rows of seeds have germinated!! Within a few days, I'll know how many of the 600 have germinated. I continue to receive suggestions that I'm planting the seeds too close together. It's hard to argue with the former farmer of the year when I'm so inexperienced but I'm sticking with what I've learned from word of mouth and literature.

Now to the pictures!

Out of rhythm

After a week long IST, two days at site and now 5 days at the Kumasi office with the recovering Kua it feels as though I'm a bit out of sync. I'm not terribly excited to travel with Kua on my lap and no Americans to offer a buffer from scared Ghanaians.

I get a bit unsettled when I spend too much time away from site but I'm not sure if I always share those feelings.

I'm out of here early this morning. Should be fun!!


Love to all!

Not sure if it's interesting.

Dear network members, Lowell Fuglie sent us an updated list of vernacular names for Moringa oelifera. You will find it in the document section of te moringanews website. Other news documents have been put on line (medicine, fruit production).

Chers membres du réseau, Lowell Fuglie nous a envoyé une liste mise à jour des noms vernaculaires du Moringa oleifera. Vous la trouverez dans la rubrique documents du site moringanews. D'autres nouveaux documents ont été mis en ligne (médecine, production de fruits).

Dr Armelle de Saint Sauveur
Directrice, Moringanews

The adventures of Kua

Travel in Ghana is enough of a hassle when you're only in charge of yourself. Traveling with a mildly trained dog on a packed tro in a country full of dog fearing people makes for a whole new adventure.

When Cheri, Daria, Travis and I were leaving the Eastern Region on our way to Kumasi, Kua was a welcome but unruly guest. For the majority of the 4 hour ride, Kua was pacing back and forth across my lap. She made a few lunges for the window and scared countless Ghanaians while checking out her new surroundings.

While at the Kumasi Sub Office, Kua shredded two screen doors and incessantly chased the two rabbits that graze in the front lawn. Luckily IST (in service training) was within a mile of the KSO so aside from the standard remarks, travel was easy enough.

Kua came along for the first day of training and talked(can't describe exactly what it sounds like but she talks). The following three days required what my friend Gray calls "the zen of dog ownership." I left Kua at the hostel and she had free reign outside. She ran wild and was ready and waiting upon our return. In exchange, she got the scraps of all 30 meals (goat bones included).

Following IST, Jon was kind enough to watch over Kua. Kua and Pedro (Jon's dog) are old friends from our training days. Unfortunately, Pedro is only one of 5 male dogs in close proximity to Jon's house. After a night sleeping on the cement floor, I had the joy of fighting off 5 riled up dogs while waiting for a tro back to Bormase. Jon was a huge help in that regard!!

Last night, Jon was on his way back to Kumasi from his site (about 45 minutes) when Kua jumped ship and ran away. She jumped out at the stop next to our IST site. Picturing a flattened Kua in my mind, I ran from the KSO to the hostel (maybe a mile) in my flip flops. If the adrenaline of a runaway dog can get me to run that far, I can completely believe stories about mothers lifting cars to save a trapped child.

Breathless and drenched in sweat, I found Kua running around the lawn she'd claimed as her own during IST. As usual, she was excited enough to pee on my feet while greeting me.

This morning, Kua, Jon and I went to the vet. The two room building looked very official for Ghana but was staffed by vets with visible blood stains on their white coats. I had the joy of holding Kua for her sedative, for the shaving of her stomach and as she writhed in pain during the shots of local anaesthetic. Jon and I left for an hour and returned to find Kua laying on the tile floor in a drug induced torpor. I carried Kua in a cardboard box from the vet to the tro and have had maybe thirty minutes to relax following the ordeal. She has worked her way out of the box but is very out of it. I'll administer antibiotic injections tomorrow and Monday and should be ready to brave the 4 hour ride home on Tuesday.

Love to all!!