I'm on a vacation. Well, maybe not a vacation so to say, but for sure
I'm not doing a lot of field work. I've recently been spending lots of
time in the computer lab not for their connection (I usually connect
through my cell phone because it is more constant and doesn't cut out)
but for the generator power. What I really need is a solar panel and a
battery, and then I wouldn't even have to come into town.
Unfortunately, my laptop battery only lasts about an hour, so without a
power source I'm soon grounded. I've been looking up lots of different
possibilities, everything from medicinal plants to local tropical animal
feeds to industries suitable for coops of farmers to pursue. There is a
slight glimmer of peace floating around as Nkunda appears to be on the
defensive now, but there will be violence and instability for a while.
It is a catch 22 where economic development might really help stop the
rampaging bandits and people could get jobs and support themselves, but
without stability it is hard to stabilize an economy. Things like palm
oil and ethanol production on a small, sustainable way and managed and
marketed through coops might be an option. Just throwing that out there
in case someone has a lot of knowledge and wants to contact me with some
info :)
I'm working now on a rabbit production guide. There is a possibility to
increase production because rabbits are small, breed "like rabbits" and
can eat grasses and leaves of plants to survive. They might be a really
good way to introduce more protein to people's diets as well as
providing them with live rabbits, meat, and furs to sell (not sure what
the furs would be used for, but I'm confident the Congolese will think
of something). The really cool thing about what rabbits eat is here it
is available year round so no supplemental feed is needed. That said,
there are also local feedstuffs that can be used to feed rabbits too
such as sweet potato, cassava, and bananas. I'm working on researching
diets that use these materials for maximum production and limited
costs. Research isn't bad, but I'm really just waiting to get started
on more projects.
But all those projects need to wait until Lyn or Wilfrieda get back, and
the moringa is growing. I went to Mawe Hai two days ago and some of the
plants were just coming up. They are hard to spot but they shot their
stems up without leaves for a couple inches, and so it looked like a
circular blade of grass or something. I think it is still too early to
obtain any data about the germination rates, but so far I'm kind of
disappointed. In the pots that were planted before I got here the
germination might only be 60% or so, but I'll actually have to count to
see for sure. That's pretty low to me and sounds like a waste of seeds
and pots. I'll probably run out to Mawe Hai Early next week, and then
again at the end, and will post any changes.
I added a couple links on the right hand side of the site. There is a
link with news from Central Africa. This covers the DRC and the
surrounding areas, but now with the active war, most of it is on the
DRC. There are also two picture albums on facebook, and I found I can
share them with everyone and you don't have to be a member so check
those out. I tried to semi-organize them by grouping like pictures
together, but I make no promises. All the pictures are labeled with a
description though, and if you have any questions, just drop me a line.
I have plenty of time to answer e-mails.
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