Experiments to control whitefly.
We find that by growing tomatoes and sweet potatoes together, we obtain good control of whitefly. We have carried out experiments in two areas using different varieties of sweet potatoes and tomatoes. Tomato seeds are planted 3–4 weeks earlier in a nursery. The tomato plants and sweet potato cuttings are then planted in alternate rows. We have tried different spacings and different varieties – but each time the results have been very encouraging, giving good control of whitefly.
Miguel Rodríguez, Vecinos Mundiales, Apartado Postal 3385, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Volcanic disaster
Our resource centre has carefully collected Footsteps copies for several years and kept them in a file for quick reference. We have found Footsteps a valuable resource and often copied parts and sent them to relevant health officers.
As you may be aware, a double volcanic eruption took place in Rabaul last year. It totally destroyed two thirds of Rabaul town and many nearby villages. Fortunately, only four people were killed and rehabilitation work is slowly taking place.
Our health resource centre and offices were totally destroyed. One of the many valuable documents lost was our Footsteps file. Could you please send us a complete collection of past issues. Any other material from other groups would be very much appreciated as we are now very short of materials and funds.
Bernard Lukara, Assistant Health Secretary, PO Box 464, Rabaul, ENBP, Papua New Guinea.
EDITOR: Copies of Footsteps were sent. Can any other readers help them out?
Moringa project
The Footsteps article in Issue No 20 on the Moringa oleifera tree was greeted with great interest here. We now have 21 seedlings growing well. They grow very fast, yet need little water. After only three months some are already 11/2 metres high and people are showing great interest. What could be better for this semiarid part of the world? Especially when they produce cooking oil, can be used to purify water and provide both human and animal food!
We are planning a larger project where about 5 hectares of moringa will be planted. Consultants from Leicester University (who wrote the original article) are providing advice. We will experiment with using moringa for oil extraction, water purification and animal feed. The university here will help with the research.
Revd John P Medcraft, Ação Evangélica, CP 23, 58.700-970 Patos, Paraba State, Brazil.
Malaria control
Thank you for the good work you do in Footsteps. I would like some more information on malaria control. We know about clearing the bush around houses and not having any standing water. However, it is very difficult in the rainy season as it is so wet.
I understand there is a fish which eats mosquito larvae. Can you tell me more about it? Also what plants could be used to keep mosquitoes away from homes?
Mrs Elizabeth Paterson, East Ankole Diocese, PO Box 14, Mbarara, Uganda.
Dr Chris Curtis of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine comments…
Most fish will in fact eat mosquito larvae, but there is one that is particularly effective, called Gambusia. It comes originally from the Americas, but is now found all over the world. It does have disadvantages in that it eats the eggs of other fish. Your local Government Department should have information on how to obtain fish fry of Gambusia.
There is no proof that any plants are effective in keeping mosquitoes away from around homes, but some people claim that neem trees are helpful.
Incinerator
We find Footsteps a useful source of practical ideas. We want to design and build a cheap incinerator for the hygienic burning of our rubbish. Can any Footsteps readers give us suggestions or advice?
Dr A Sangowawa PO Box 1627 Ijebu-Ode Ogun State Nigeria
New resource centre
AAILD (The Support Association for Development Initiatives), an NGO, began two years ago aiming to collect information and spread it to groups of peasant farmers. We are now setting up a resource centre. Our aims are to pass on information to leaders of grassroots groups, spread the news of useful new ideas, provide useful books and magazines and bring together (network) similar groups.
We would like contact with other French speaking development organisations and would be grateful both for resource materials and information on seminars, conferences and training days which would help raise the awareness of peasant farmers in our country.
M Jean-Marie Bougma, AAILD, 01 BP 3368, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
AIDS information in French
I am trying to find basic training materials about AIDS in French written for Africans – especially video material. People here in Chad know very little about the situation and the church is doing nothing in the way of an education programme. Can any readers help with information and resources?
Pauline Wager, B P 127, Ndjamena, Chad.
Too many bats!
Footsteps is really appreciated here in Southern Sudan. We recently held a community health workshop for health workers, church leaders and opinion leaders. We were able to provide copies of Footsteps for all the participants.
Bats are a real problem in the area where we work – even in the new building work we are carrying out. Do any Footsteps readers have any ideas for ways of controlling bats?
Barry Hughes, ACROSS, PO Box 44838, Nairobi, Kenya.
News
For twenty years an Indian researcher, Dr Gursaran Talwar, has been working hard on developing a vaccine to prevent pregnancy. Many scientists felt his work was pointless, that what he was trying to do was impossible. However, after ten years of trials with animals, 88 women have now taken part in a successful trial for the new vaccine. Women who take the vaccine need a dose once a month for three months (during which they can still become pregnant). After three months they simply need a booster dose once a year and are then very unlikely to become pregnant. The vaccine prevents a fertilised egg from implanting in the uterus. It does not affect a woman’s normal cycle and does not change her hormonal balance, so there do not seem to be any side effects. When a woman wishes to become pregnant she simply stops taking the yearly injection.
It all sounds very encouraging. All trials for the vaccine should be complete by the end of 1995. However, it will probably still take 2–3 years before it becomes widely available.
From IDRC Reports, January 1995.