Recently the EDGE project heard back from Andy and Keeky (our primary contacts on Lingira). We had sent them a long email with project proposals and questions hoping to get a good idea of the project's legitimacy and potential. Each project leader sent questions and the responses were quite fantastic! I am going to paste a few examples of Andy and Keeky's responses to questions asked below so everyone can get a good read on the projects we are working on (responses are italicized):
We would like to bring a permanent irrigation system to the garden. This would involve a manually powered pump and what I assume is around 200 feet of conduit to the lake shore. Would we be able to run a tube straight to the water, or is their private land and trail that we would be crossing?
This is an excellent idea, not only for the garden, but even for the school water supply! I don’t know what you had in mind for a pump, but “peddle” pumps (more like “stair-steppers”) are supposedly available here in Jinja for something like $250. (I think from Eco Vic Uganda-ecovicug@yahoo.com. Contact Person: Hannington Ogutu. I’ve never contacted these guys, but got this off the internet.) There is a trail that you would need to dig under.
In trying to seam the garden into the school, what exists already as far as agriculture education goes? The school already has an existing and required Ag curriculum/program, but it has virtually no practical at this point. Finishing fencing the school would be a huge step in a good direction, then your teaching of innovative techniques may be “extra-curricular” after hours. It would be great for you to be in contact with the Ag teacher to design a way to best teach new methods while meeting the country requirements.
Actually, the fencing really has to be completed first as it has proved impossible to keep the sheep, goats and cows out of the school property.
As having good soil nutrients around is never bad, could it be possible to have the school (and maybe SHIM as well) to begin composting in anticipation of the garden? I've caught wind of a duck project of yours and I must add that duck manure can be very valuable to a gardener and wouldn't hurt to collect as well.
Sorry, our ducks got poisoned. SHIM has started a compost pit for our own use, and having one at the school is not a bad idea, but I would not be especially optimistic about the chances of school kids or even the cooks really using it. (extra work for little/no perceived personal gain). There is not much food compost that would be collected as their main foods are maize flour and beans. An idea would be to collect cow or pig dung or to learn how to use leaves and grass for compost.
Environment team email (abbreviated):
We are emailing both of you mostly to introduce our ideas. From what I have heard, it sounds like the both of you are doing a little tree planting around SHIM for the duck pond, is the correct? How is that going?
We have been focusing on Moringa trees and fruit trees so far. You might look up some of the reported value of Moringa. It grows extremely well here, and could have some significant health impacts. …Oh, I see the health & nutrition team has already worked on this…
So, if you have the time, we would like to know what you think about the general idea of having this education nursery and any other thoughts you might have about trees on Lingira.
We would need to talk with the leadership of the Primary school…as well as Secondary. The secondary school tried to plant pine trees on the hill behind the school a couple years back, but between the goats and the drought (esp. during school holiday), they all died. For sure educating people here about the value of trees and how to handle them wisely as a natural resource is very needed but a bit tricky. You see, the people who live here do not own the land or the trees, nor do they really plan on being here “long-term”, so they don’t really care about the future (remember also Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for those in poverty). If they can take this tree down now and make money for themselves for today, why in the world not? In fact, if they wait all that will happen is someone else will cut it down and get the money that they could have had for themselves. Here at SHIM we are constantly having to protect what trees we have from village people just climbing through the bush and hacking them down. Another thing is that here if you leave the stump, the tree will grow back, so what’s the harm? They don’t think at all about what happens to the soil under that tree while it is waiting for the tree to re-grow.
Some of the major types of trees here are pine, eucalyptus and muvule. It would be good to know what would best grow near the shore and what would best grow on the rocky hillside to prevent soil erosion. You may also have some great ideas of other types of trees which would be available locally.
These are some comments returned to the health and nutrition team:
Very few women on the island have been to school. Most are unable to even write their own names. A cookbook might be used by the primary and secondary school teachers, but their cooking conditions are very rudimentary. Ladies cook over open fire pits or over charcoal stoves. Their spices are salt, curry and mchuzi mix (something like seasoning salt with beef bullion). They also use garlic, onion, tomatoes, carrots and green pepper. These are used very sparingly because of cost. They are often reserved for holidays. We have really tried to encourage the use of greens, but greens are considered “poor man’s food”. We grow our own and have noticed that more and more people are coming to ask for some. The common greens here are: skumawiki (collard), dodo, engobe (like spinach), and squash leaves. We were quite surprised to learn how tasty squash leaves can be!
Ingredients such as flour, eggs and milk are nearly unattainable for most families. They would rather pay for a soda than spend the same amount on 10 bananas. It is much more common to see a child munching on sweet crackers than on fruit, unless it is a very green mango which they knocked out of the tree.
Just yesterday I was visiting with some new mothers. I heard them discussing the idea of breastfeeding solely for the first 6 months with much surprise and maybe even disdain. One asked me incredulously, “Did you really give your baby only the breast for the first 6 months?” As much as I have spoken with the women, they still find it much easier to satisfy their newborns with sugary tea or with maize porridge. The effects of both are quite obvious as you see children which are fussy, often sick, pot-bellied with worms, malnourished, etc. I also encourage the women to continue breastfeeding for 12-24 months.
Some hindrances to breastfeeding include the mother’s poor nutrition, exhaustion due to overworking and dehydration. Many refuse to drink water. They only want soda, alcohol, or tea. However, it is extremely hot here and many work in the sun for hours every day. It is fun to see that some ladies visit me frequently, just for a drink of cold water. It is as if their bodies began to recognize their need after they began to drink.
All in all, the feedback was mostly positive for our projects. Most things that don't seem to be worthwhile or difficult to do on the island are able to be dropped or modified for the island's need. Paul and I are most likely going to combine the trees and the garden projects into one, which will be good for us helping each other. Our primary goal seems to be building a long-term fence that we won't have to worry about when leaving the island. From there, we are going to try to make a sustainable garden, one that will persist throughout the year with the help of a water pump. The projects are coming together! It was very encouraging hearing back from the island about our projects. It settles me a quite a bit knowing that they agree with much of what we have been researching. Plus, it seems like they might start preparing for our arrival in the mindset of these projects. The want to help us complete them, which is hugely encouraging. I will keep you posted on travel information...
