Ideas for action
We collect all the Footsteps issues for our Library and use them in our ministry. We use many ideas from Footsteps in our training, seminars and workshops. As a result of our training:
- Illegal and unnecessary tree felling is very much reduced in this area.
- Jungle burning for hunting has almost ceased.
- Many trees have been planted in almost every village.
- Environmental awareness has been taught.
- Community health programmes are improved.
Two organisations have recently been formed: the People’s Welfare Foundation and the Tribal Women’s Farmers Association. These organisations will encourage self-help programmes for community development and food production. All these ideas come to our hearts through your Footsteps. Thank you so much.
Revd Bikau Pame, North Cachar Hills Outreach, PO Haflong – 788819, NC Hills, Assam, India
Cooking with sawdust
At the Christian Centre for the Protection of Flora and Fauna (CCPFF) we have a dream: ‘to learn how to fish better in order to feed, clothe and house ourselves more successfully.’ Pas à Pas is very helpful in providing us with many ideas.
We have encouraged the use of the sawdust stove (see Footsteps 46, p8). We see this as bringing several benefits:
- Women have more time to look after their children instead of cutting wood.
- Deforestation is reduced.
- Women have more time for education or to earn a supplementary income.
- Women’s health may also improve, as they are inhaling less smoke.
We have also used the ideas from Footsteps for collecting rain water. This helps women and young girls, as it makes their workload lighter. Before, they needed to walk back and forth at least once a day to collect drinking water.
Sokolua Lubanzadio, CCPFF, BP 14394, Kinshasa 1, Democratic Republic of Congo
Snail management
Snail farming in Nigeria can now be a successful business. Many farmers are engaged in snail farming and sell snails for meat. However, there is still room for improvements in snail farming.
One of the problems with snail farming is that the snails hibernate (cease from any activity during cold or very hot, dry weather). Can readers suggest any possible way of preventing hibernation without causing any problems to the snails?
If any organisations or individuals with experience in producing and managing snails can help with this or any other practical advice, we would be grateful.
Okoronmkwo Emmanuel, Chockinsneric Animal Farm, No 1 Eshimeshi New Layout, Owerri West LGA, Imo State, Nigeria
EDITOR: Try watering the pens in the evening during hot, dry weather and avoid overcrowding.
Trees – the providers
Trees are a wonderful gift from God:
They give us fresh air (oxygen) to breathe.
They bring rain by causing clouds to form above their canopy of leaves.
They prevent floods from occurring by helping the soil to absorb heavy rainfall.
They provide coolness through the shade of their leaves.
Trees stabilise the soil, protecting the many forms of life in it.
They prevent soil erosion through their roots which hold the soil together.
They fertilise the soil with their dead leaves which contain the minerals all creatures need for their growth.
They surround us with beauty through their variety in shape, height, colour and flowers.
Trees provide the fuel we use for cooking, such as firewood and charcoal.
They provide us with fossilised fuels, such as coal.
They provide building material for houses, doors and windows and for furniture.
Artists use their wood to carve statues and various works of art.
They provide the raw material needed to make paper for the books, newspapers and magazines we read.
They provide seeds and fruits to eat.
Trees provide wood for the coffin in which human beings make their last journey.
Trees connect heaven and earth. With their feet deeply rooted in the earth and their arms stretched to their Creator, they continually glorify God and give him thanks.
God provides for us continuously through the presence of trees.
ECO Office, PO Box AD 148, Cape Coast, Ghana E-mail: ecoffice@dds.nl
Smoking fish and meat
Can any readers help with a simple design for some kind of smoker or smoking cage to preserve fresh fish and meat?
Uwe Preuss, PO Box 6126, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania E-mail: uwe@preussweb.de
Halt!
I don’t want to be a soldier.
Listen, soldier:
I don’t want to be your partner
Because I’m only a child.
I’m only a child who needs to be protected and looked after.
I’m only a lost child who is looking for a refuge.
I’ve lost my parents and all our belongings disappeared – not just in the fire, but stolen by others.
I’m only a child in a difficult situation and I need peace.
I need peace instead of fear, rest instead of marching.
I need peace for you too:
Peace for you, soldier – you who want to force me to enrol in the war in spite of my age.
I need peace for everyone.
Tell me soldier, what would my future be like if I followed you?
Tell me honestly: those who followed you, what are they doing and what have they become?
I want to know if you love the future…
In any case, I definitely do not want to be a soldier.
I don’t want to be a soldier.
I want you to help me find a reception centre,
Where I can learn to read and write,
Where I can learn a job for the future.
I want you to hand me a toy instead of a weapon.
I want to be a dove of peace.
I want to be a messenger to everyone:
I don’t want to be a soldier
Amouzouvi E Blèwoussi, Président, Association Brimax, BP 13 182 Lomé, Togo
Arsenic removal
Scientists from the Bangladesh Agriculture University in Mymensingh are reported to have identified a number of local plants – including ferns, duckweed and water hyacinth – that can remove arsenic from water. The use of aquatic plants in water tanks, for example, could provide a potential simple and low-cost solution to removing the poisonous chemical, arsenic, which is present in many tube-wells in Bangladesh and causes skin problems and sores on hands and feet.
Work elsewhere has recommended using a nutritious diet and a simple three-pot water filter, containing sand and charcoal, to lesson the impact of arsenic.
Contact: Dr M Jahiruddin, Soil Science Department, BAU, Bangladesh E-mail: soilbau@mymensingh.net