Day 10 Kitale May 18, 2011

Hi all

Today we got off a little later then planned due to Hezron having to go back to a tire place and getting them fixed properly.  The car does not shake anymore and he was able to get our speeds back to 110 to 120 Kph for a much quicker journey.  This morning we headed off for the two hour journey to Kitale at the base of Mt. Elgon.  We had two stops planned for the day and our first was to visit a start up Passion Fruit Orchard and Nursery.  Our second visit was with Pastor Joseph and his wife Judith whom mission to the IDP’s and squatters on Mt. Elgon.

On my first trip to Kenya back in December 2009 I met Rose Tuiyott on the flight from Brussels to Nairobi on a layover in Burundi.  At the time I met her I had no idea why I was going to Kenya I just knew that I had to go.  We spoke briefly while the ground crew was trying to break the lock off of the fuel pump so the plane could refuel.  You would think that someone at the Bujumbura airport would know that an Airbus A330 was coming through and might just need some fuel after a 9 hour flight from Belgium.  I might add it was quite a site to look out the window and watch about 20 people trying to figure out how to get us some fuel.  Of course it was two in the morning and I am sure that the airport closed at nine so everyone just locked up and went home for the evening.  The pilot did come over the loudspeaker and state that after they had broken the lock on the fuel pump they were unable to keep the pump primed and it was taking much longer then expected to fuel the plane.  We finally did make it to Nairobi quite a few hours late but we made it safe just the same.  Sorry for the tangent but I thought it was a good story.  Anyway I told Rose that once I came back to the states that I would give her a call.  We were able to meet with her again along with her husband Shawn in Minneapolis a few months later.  I had no idea that she would be in Kenya during this visit until I emailed her and told her of my plans.  She arrived in Nairobi the day before I was supposed to arrive.  She told me of this Passion Fruit venture that her and her family are doing and I thought that this just might fit into our plans.  I thank her, her brother Colin and her parents for being so gracious to allow both Hezron and I to visit with them this afternoon.  Kenyan hospitality and friendliness can be overwhelming at times.  The amount of time and effort Kenyans put into visitors, cooking meals, or just making you feel welcome to their home and country is a real testament to their character.  Thanks again for the wonderful meal and tour of your farm, planned orchard and nursery.

During our tour of the Passion Fruit orchard and nursery Colin explained in detail how they are taking disease resistant yellow Passion Fruit stems and grafting them with the preferred purple Passion Fruit stems to get a disease resistant purple Passion Fruit.  The brothers and sisters are using ten acres of their parent’s 123 acre farm to plant this Passion Fruit orchard.  The ground is plowed.  The irrigation from the river is in progress and the grafting is almost complete.  Soon the seedlings will be ready to be planted.  Colin explained to us that it takes 6 months after the seedlings have been planted to start harvesting Passion Fruit.  Each vine will produce Passion Fruit for harvesting every week for 5 years.  One acre of Passion Fruit properly maintained with the right amount of water, weeding, and proper bug control will provide income of up to 40,000 Ksh or about $500 per week.  Understand that most Kenyans do not earn this in a year and the orchard can be as small as a quarter or half acre.  Colin took us to one of his neighbors that planted three quarters of an acre 9 months ago started harvesting 3 months ago and is making about $250 to $300 per week.  This small orchard is not being weeded or properly sprayed but it is still producing a large amount of money for the owner.  The Passion Fruit is sold to Coca-Cola and others in Eldoret to be used as concentrate and juices.  The market is wide open for this fruit and exports to other African countries and abroad makes this a very profitable commodity.  So there will be a family orchard of 10 acres to start with.  A nursery for the grafted seedlings so other farmers can buy the disease resistant Passion Fruit to plant in their own orchards.  Lastly Colin will provide a service to local farmers to buy their weekly harvest for cash so they do not have to manage the fruit to the Market.  During the tour of the nursery we had to go through a foot bath to kill any bacteria.  The yellow Passion Fruit plants are on one side of the nursery and the purple Passion Fruit plants are on the other side.  In the middle of the nursery is the grafting area where he pays locals to perform the grafting and then the plants are allowed to grow under tents until ready to plant.  Here are some pictures.

Some of the farm with 14,000 foot Mt. Elgon in the distance.

A permanent water source for irrigation from the Nzoia River

Future 10 acre Passion Fruit orchard

Purple Passion Fruit seedlings

Yellow Passion Fruit seedlings

Grafting area and grafted plants to be planted

Passion Fruit vine

Passion Fruit flower

Purple Passion Fruit ready for picking

Part of the three quarter acre Passion Fruit orchard

After lunch we were off to visit with Pastor Joseph and his wife Judith who is a nurse and helps take care of the locals and IDP’s on the mountain.  We discussed what would be needed to get the clinic on the mountain that Judith had requested we help her with during our first visit.  The mountain Elgon is an extinct volcano whose base is over 50 miles in any direction and just so happens to be larger then the state of Delaware.  I am amazed on how big it is and a picture does not do it any justice for how really big it is.  It looks like a big hill but this a mountain over 14,000 feet high.  I was reading that by volume Mt. Elgon is one of the 2 or 3 largest (not tallest) mountains in the world.  The island of Hawaii is the largest.  The Pastor and his wife have purchased 4 acres on the mountain and have 3 acres just outside of Kitale.  We told him of the Passion Fruit concept and he would be more then willing to provide an acre or two to the effort of getting this clinic on the mountain.  The village where he missions just a few hundred yards from the Ugandan boarder is about 20 kilometers from the nearest first aid station and almost 40 kilometers to a hospital in Kitale.  Because of tribal conflicts and influx of refugees from neighboring countries looking for good land such as the rich volcanic soil that Elgon provides the area has and is a very volatile area and many people die because they cannot get basic first aid.  Our prayer is that something can be done to help in this matter.

Tomorrow is a down day so I can continue to write up some of these projects and take a break from traveling around.  Today after Webuye on the road to Kitale it was literally 40 kilometers of potholes.  The road was just one long 40 kilometer slice of Swiss cheese.  Some big, some small, some not so deep, and some really deep and I just love the way Hezron drives he should get points for every pothole he misses.  Friday and Saturday are going to be travel days again.

Asante (thank you)

Dave