Erosion – a double disaster.
Soil erosion is a huge environmental and economic burden to many developing nations. In the tropics, torrential rain can wash away tons of topsoil from each hectare in just a few hours. In drier areas, swirling winds and flash floods can be equally disastrous – huge amounts of valuable soil are being lost every day. This is typical in the Maroua and Bamenda areas of Cameroon. Even worse, the soil accumulates in rivers, reservoirs, harbours, estuaries and other waterways where it is unwelcome, destructive and costly to remove. Erosion is therefore a double disaster.
But God has provided an answer – he created vetiver grass to take care of soil erosion just as he sent Jesus to conserve our souls! Please just try to get hold of some vetiver grass and plant it. Contact the Vetiver Network, 15 Wirt Street NW, Leesburg, Virginia 22075, USA, or write to me.
Ngwainmbi Simon, MCWA, BP 382, Maroua, Cameroon.
New intestinal parasite
Attention please all medical personnel! Do you see people (aged between 5 and 30) coming to your clinic or hospital with a hard, palpable growth in the lower part of the abdomen – about 5cm in diameter? If so this may be caused by an intestinal worm – Oesophadostomum bifurcum, originally a parasite of monkeys. This worm has crossed the species barrier and now infects humans, transmitted from person to person. Research is being carried out in Togo and Ghana, where infection rates can be as high as 70%.
This may be a new infection that is spreading through Africa – or it may be that this infection has only recently been recognised. If you have seen such cases – or you would like information to help you watch out for this new disease, please write to:
Philip Storey, Baptist Medical Centre, Nalerigu, via Gambaga, Ghana.
More about moringa
We would like to offer some further information about the use of Moringa oleifera. (Its use for water purification and oil production are given in Issues 20 and 28 of Footsteps.) Moringa is grown and eaten widely in the villages of Southern India. Here it is known by the name drumstick. The main product used is the immature fruit pods, brownish green in colour, which are about the diameter of a man’s finger and 30–45cm long – like a stick. The outer fibre is removed and the pods are cut into pieces about 5cm long. These are boiled with spices like tamarind and pepper and eaten as a side dish. The pieces of drumstick are chewed to get out the juices and the fibrous stem is then spat out!
During the rest of the year the leaves and flowers are harvested and used for medicinal purposes and for curry. The high iron and vitamin A content is well known.
Farmers with little land plant moringa as a fence around their kitchen gardens. This not only reinforces the fence but increases production from the tiny area of land they have available by producing a second tier of crops.
Farmers either plant seedlings or take cuttings about a metre long from a mature branch. The open cut end is sealed with cow dung and the cutting planted and watered regularly until a strong root system has developed.
Jeremy Groome and M U Joseph, Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind, Karnataka, India.
Family management
The counselling artice in Footsteps 27 by Gladys Mwiti was most encouraging and appreciated and deserves comment. We also found the Bible Study on families touching. It helped me to settle disputes on matters concerning family management and was challenging to family lives. I hope this advice has helped many elsewhere in the world. We find Footsteps a constant source of new ideas which do not cost much to implement.
Can any reader help me with advice on simple methods of developing and printing photographs?
T J Ayub, International Aid Sweden, PO Box 43, Koboko, Uganda.
Breed from the best!
In Footsteps 25 on fish farming, nursery ponds for carp were mentioned but not for tilapia. However, these breeding ponds are very important. People here empty the ponds and keep only the smallest fish for breeding. After a few years they only have very small fish – permanently as a result of inbreeding!
When emptying the main pond keep the biggest female and male fish and place them in a separate breeding pond. Remove small fish when ready from the breeding pond and place in the main pond to grow. The parent fish will continue to produce young fish but should eventually be replaced.
This method of positive selection not only applies to fish but to all livestock and even plants. Don’t sell the best and the biggest animal or vegetable – keep them to breed from.
Siegfried Gerber, PO Box 10, Limuru, Kenya.
Birth control
My staff find Footsteps very interesting and practical. However we were surprised and disappointed to read in Issue 27 that you encourage the use of IUDs in birth control. These devices interfere with the implantation of fertilised eggs and can therefore be seen as a form of abortion. The Christians we serve with are against abortion in any form, no matter how subtle. Please inform your readers because many may not have thought through this issue clearly.
Bert B Oubre, BP 382, Maroua, Cameroon.
Thank you for your excellent publication Paso a Paso which we receive regularly and is shared with other organisations here in Nicaragua.
There have been several mentions of contraceptive vaccines in recent issues. I would like to express my concerns. The Women’s Health Movement around the world has taken a strong position concerning research on contraceptive vaccines. We have spoken out and written extensively about the ethical, moral and scientific questions raised. I hope you will let your readers know that there are other points of view on this issue.
María Hamlin Zúniga, Director of CISAS, Apdo 3267, Managua, Nicaragua.
EDITOR: Issues about contraception methods are always controversial among Christians. Within Footsteps we have tried very hard to provide information in a way which does not cause upset, and which allows people to decide for themselves. Basically, Christians differ on which methods are acceptable and which are not. Much of the controversy centres around whether life begins at fertilisation or at implantation. Some Christians believe that no artificial methods of birth control should be used, while others believe that family spacing is a vital part of stewardship. However, in many parts of the world, people have little choice over what methods are available. We therefore felt it important that all methods were mentioned together with information on how they work, leaving readers to make their own informed choices. This does not mean that Tearfund necessarily encourages the use of any one method.
Save fuel – read Footsteps!
Thank you for the effort you put into making sure that Paso a Paso reaches so many parts of the world. I am able to put into practice the advice I read through your articles. In this area for example, there is no money to buy gas, kerosene or wood. Thanks to the information in Paso a Paso we have learned how to save fuel. We find a lot of practical information in your paper.
I feel I can count on your paper to gain experience and learn new things which I can then pass on to the people in the rural areas. With the knowledge we gain, people trust me more and I feel I am able to help them resolve more of their problems. Please keep sending us your paper which I consider to be the main tool in my work!
Leoncio Huamán Jiménez, Avenida: Piura #478 El Faique, Piura, Peru.
Footsteps behind bars
On a recent visit to Peru, I discovered that Footsteps is being used as an educational and Bible study tool within the top security prisons of Lima. The group that are working with people in the prison find them very useful. We have now ordered extra copies to be left within the prisons.
Gordon Davies, Latin America Desk, Tearfund,
A voice for the poor
Ecuador has tremendous social and economic problems – which affect the young in particular. The education system is out of date and more concerned with developing the memory than the person as a whole. We work with poor children in Santa Domingo trying to develop their independence and encourage their sense of responsibility towards themselves and their families. We believe in the quest for the Kingdom of God and his justice and in raising our voice for those who don’t have one.
We have just discovered Paso a Paso and found it full of support, advice and new ideas for our work. Hoping that you will continue blessing and helping God’s people and the world!
Edwin Sigcha Culqui, Correo Central, Santo Domingo de Los Colorados, Ecuador.
Free advice
An Independent training bureau (BEATD) for associations working in development has started in Isangi, Upper Zaire. It is made up of individuals with specialist skills who want to provide free access to advice and assistance for development projects in the area. They are particularly interested in groups seeking advice about communication and animation. BEATD offers a welcome to everyone!
Benoît Boumo Antio’kondi Benito, BP 861, Kisangani, Upper Zaire.