Well it has been awhile since I got to this blog! I don’t know where the time goes. There is a lot of work to keeping ACP afloat. The work at the Moringa Orchard is taking off. Our trees across Zambia are all growing well. Water levels are dropping so work can know start on the promised wells. Reports from some facilitators are rather slow. But we are working around that. The slowest but most reliable and cheapest way of getting reports is through the Post Office. The internet is fine but not all facilitators are computer smart. Also they may arrive in town after traveling some distance to find the internet down. We have not got a country office as of yet so all reports come to Canada. The postage costs are paid from the sale of returnable bottles given by my fellow owners at our condominium here in Victoria. And yes, I have become a “dumpster diver”; I wonder if I should add that skill to my resume? I have lots of competition but “sorry fellow divers but I have needs too!”
Also a new web page is in the works!
Our future Moringa orchard at Mukuni village has finally got a name. After much consultation it will be called Mukasiamachoka Moringa Orchard (MMO). It is located on the main road into Mukuni Village. The perimeter fence is being built as we can afford it. A compound will soon be built on site for Luke, his wife and their new baby. Luke is the nurseryman at the tree nursery in Mukuni Village. As many Moringa will be grown on the 2 hector site as possible and they will be cared for by Luke’s wife and other young mothers from Mukuni Village. The leaves will be cured, ground into powder and packaged for sale, both locally and for export. A chalet will also be built on site for a office and accommodations for visiting foresters from Canada and ACP personnel
I did not think that being away would create so much work when I returned home to Victoria. Perhaps it is because things are moving along very nicely. We have decided on using the fax machine more to shuffle documents back and for since not everyone is close to the internet. It also gives the facilitators practice in writing reports and managing budgets. We are starting to expand into Northwest Province with Jackson leading the way. Bicycles are no longer an option for transport for the crew. The distances are getting further and further. We need motor bikes. I used a Honda 125 when I was with VSO and have found it the best; so the next thing is to source the money for them. Like I said I am busy, perhaps I should change that to very busy.
Well that has been the fastest month every in my life. I have been to Zambia, did all that I needed to do and have returned home safely. Over the next while I will post some reports on what we accomplished this trip. I will say that I kept healthy and moved about even though our logistical plan had collapsed with the engine blowing up near Zimba on our way to Livingstone. Even the Spitting Cobra we surprised on a forest trail at our Kamalamba Demonstration Forest missed its mark; namely me. He was just as scared as me but his reflexes were quicker. It only took him a second to stand on his tail and strike. The pause in my reflexes almost cost me fang holes in my shirt and soiled shorts. Thanks Fred for pulling me back and breaking its spell.
I am finally back where I can send emails. Yesterday we travelled to Livingstone from our newly created Kamalamba Demonstration Forest and Nursery off the Great North Road where we have been getting things organized. We also planted out trees from the nursery and replanted in the nursery with more seeds. There is 70 hectors of denubbed forest that will be reforested within KDF.
We left at 3:00am and arrived in Livingstone afternoon. Our trip was interrupted at Zimba (80 kilometres from Livingstone) when the engine in our transport seized. The bearings have gone. We continued by mini bus to Livingstone and are now settled in to start work. The road into Livingstone is being redone by a Chinese company. It is strange to see coulees working in Africa.
Donations are always needed and appreciated to expand our program of Reforestation and Environmental Education.
