Benefits of tree planting
Since 1978 the Methodist Mission Agricultural Programme in The Gambia has helped construct hand-dug wells in many parts of the country to encourage village orchards and dry-season vegetable gardens. With Ansumana Mendy, the Manager, and Lamin Badji, Supervisor of well digging, I visited the community vegetable garden in Nyofelleh Bah village. When the four wells there were dug, back in 1981, the site was without trees and the wells had dried up so quickly that the villagers quickly abandoned the garden and instead planted a fruit orchard. Twenty years later these fruit trees have become large trees, providing shade and thus reducing evaporation and their roots have improved the ability of the soil to soak up rain. At the time of our visit there had been no rain for seven months but each of the wells had a water level of at least three metres deep.
Bob Mann, From Newsletter 21 of MRDF, 25 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5JR, UK.
Ideas for latrine slabs
Last year I visited my home area in the north of Uganda and noticed that several latrine toilets in the village used a slab made of pottery. These were originally made locally for use as large cooking pots, but after they became too old to use for cooking, a hole was made in them and they were being used as weak, ineffective slabs in latrines. They are unsuitable because being already old, they soaked up the urine and quickly became weak and unsafe.
I am hoping to make a latrine slab out of clay, consolidated by local pitch. However, I still need a top layer made from local produce (maybe fruits, bark or leaves?) which can make it waterproof to urine. What products can I use in our region of Central Africa?
Mitano Feydeau, Institut Technical Médical de Boga, PO Box 25586, Kampala, Uganda.
PAUL DEAN, on the editorial committee, suggests coating the clay slabs with gloss paint with a little fine sand mixed in to make a rougher surface to avoid slipping. If possible, reinforce the slabs with wire bars or chicken wire. If a local potter is able to fire the clay slabs, then a salt glaze could be used.
Chicken feeder
I found my few chickens were very wasteful with their food, so I solved the problem by using a large plastic jug. I cut two holes in the jug sides just large enough for the chickens to put their heads through. You can easily add food through the holes. The food lasts longer because there’s less waste.
I read this idea from Inetia Corbin in Organic Gardening, Jan/Feb 2000, and tried it out with my new flock of chickens and ducks. She was right – it does work better than commercial feeders. I used large plastic jugs for the chicks and then switched to largercapacity feeders made from plastic buckets, with the holes higher up on the sides as my birds grew up.
Ken Hargesheimer
Lubbock, Texas
USA
Taking care of God’s creation
The young boy in the photograph has been given responsibility to take care of a young antelope, whose mother was chased away by fierce dogs. He loves the animal and feeds it maize meal (ugali) and cold tea. ‘I even share my biscuits with it’ he says. He is a good example of how we need to care for God’s creation.
James Kipnyango, PO Box 179, Turbo, Kenya.
Community days
We run a skills training centre just outside Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, called the Ekuthuleni Carpentry Project. We try to equip the young people who join us with a wide range of simple and practical skills besides carpentry that they can share with their communities, mostly in the rural areas. We don’t want to be a stepping-stone for people to come and live in town, but encourage them to see the needs around them and go back and help. We have recently started monthly ‘Community Days’ when we raise awareness of needs and possible solutions. We often use the suggestions we find in Footsteps. We are now working on drip irrigation for our garden and plan to build a water filter and latrine. The Bible studies are a great encouragement. Thank you for being such an important source of information!
Ekuthuleni Carpentry Project, PO Box 491, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Problems with bats
Here is a further response to the question of readers about dealing with bats. In Africa there are often problems in large buildings such as medical centres, schools and even churches. We recommend hanging nylon netting to cover all the surfaces or timbers of the roof structure so that there are no spaces for the bats to get through. Make sure you do not make a ceiling with the netting as they like to fly between the timbers and rarely underneath. Choose netting with small stitches, made with thin thread so that the bats will not get caught. Our experience has been that they will leave the building a few weeks after the netting is installed.
M Elysée Tossy, BP 114 Eniiab, 2ème Année, Parakou, Benin.
Our global village
Adjusting to the contrasts in our ‘global village’ is a challenge in many ways. An American farmer recently expressed his dismay that, firstly, each product leaving his farm is worth less than it costs him to produce, and secondly, that when it arrives at the other side of the world, it probably ruins the livelihoods of several local farmers. In Nigeria cassava is currently being used as cooking fuel since its market value has been undercut by cheap imports of starch crops. Oranges are really cheap yet imported, expensive soft drinks increase in popularity. In the centre of a productive region of Nigeria, I was served rice imported from Thailand! These issues result in worldwide injustice to farmers and the creation over which we are called to be stewards. Jesus was not only a little baby in a manger but also the One who overturned tables in the temple in his righteous anger over inappropriate trade. Place is important – and local markets are being sacrificed too much.
John Wibberley, RURCON, 48 High Park Road, Ryde, Isle of Wight, PO33 1BX, UK.