Pest control

In the yard, there was evidence of the activity of moles, who love to eat the roots of mango and orange trees.
Silver was called in to set traps, a fine wire loop, baited with a potato and activated by a bent branch.




He set two traps one evening, but by the time we'd left there was no mole caught. They will keep after them, as poisons are too expensive and this will eventually work.

Josephine's Home

With the gift from a former employer Josephine was able to buy the materials to build this house on a piece of land given her by her father just before he died. The house has cement floor, four rooms, each with an outside door. The front of the house has a wide, roofed veranda the length of the house. The walls are built from bricks and mortar, with iron sheeting for the roof. The doors are made of wooden planks and fastened on the outside with a metal hasp. There is no electricity or windows. Josephine is most embarrassed that the house is not plastered and painted inside and out. However, it was warm and dry during the night and the rains and free of bugs and vermin. So...all in all a great place to visit.

Fun is where you find it

Two boys, about 7 and 8, went to untie the goats in the field and bring them to the shed, an evening routine. This time, only 2 of the 6 goats went in easily. Two others headed towards the shed and veered at the last minute running through the shrub fence into the neighbor's yard and cooking area, helping themselves to the water in the pots and some of the maize, etc lying around. One of the boys caught up with them, but couldn't catch hold of the trailing rope. The goats dashed off towards the field again. Meanwhile the other boy had chased the billy goat and a young through the kitchen area of the compound and back towards the shed. The baby when inside and the boy was quick to tie it in. However the black billy trotted smartly out past the laundry line into the scrub brush behind the clinic.

This merry chase must have lasted over 15 minutes, with all the goats finally in the shed and tied off. Lots of exercise for boys and goats and much laughter for the rest of us.

Busia area

Recently I traveled with Josephine to her village near Busia, a border town with Kenya. She and her family have a large amount of land there and hope to find ways to develop it to benefit the community.

Only Josephine, her nephew and his wife spoke English,so I spent much of my time journaling observations and learning from them about life in this village area, Tiika.

The land has a bed rock of lava and sedimentary stone just below the surface. In some places the soil is only 6” thick, while in other places it may be as much as 4'. The soil is fertile and grows good crops of maize, groundnuts, sorghum, cassava, sweet potatoes, as well as other crops. Here, as around the world, the seasons and weather are changing. Many of the farmers are trying out crops that have not been grown previously.

The experimental plot behind the family compound now has seedlings for
mango,

orange,

and matooke trees,

along with starts for pineapple.





Because of the termites and moles, there are also kinds of trees planted to keep these pests at bay.

Paul, her nephew, has planted a kind of mango which produces fruits about 8” in diameter and are very sweet. The crops begin at the third year. He is hoping the revenue from these will cover school fees for his children for the remainder of their primary and secondary classes.