Day 15 Kakamega May 23, 2011

Hello all

Today I am really glad I took a rest day.  Today Kakamega was hit by a pretty nasty hail and thunder storm and the wind just kept on howling.  It seemed as if the thunder was continuous for well over an hour.  Of course we lost power again as we do most every other day here.  That storm passed and then another smaller one came through later in the afternoon.  I do not believe that Kenya has tornados like the states do.  I read today that Joplin MO was hit pretty hard and many are dead.  The US is getting its share of disasters this year.

Today I spent most of my time reading about fish farming here in Kenya.  I researched different types of tilapia and catfish.  Peter had told me that sometimes he will not get the proper tilapia and I guess the proper sex of the fish is important too.  I read about different types of feed and how to reduce costs to the farmers by using the proper feeds for the type of fish that they are raising.  One technique that is used by farmers to fertilize their ponds is to raise chickens or rabbits above the pond and let the droppings go right into the water.  Here is an example of a chicken coop above a pond and the pond with the chicken coop on the right that I had seen at the fish hatchery.

I also spent some time reading about passion fruit and macadamia nuts.  Most of the macadamia nuts are grown in Central Kenya but I would assume that they can be grown in Western Kenya too.  Passion fruit can be grown in Western Kenya as long as there is a water source.  I thought that maybe the fish farmers could also plant small orchards next to the ponds.  The water supply might be sufficient to sustain both the ponds and the orchards. 

Tomorrow is a return visit with the widows here in Kakamega.  Their regular meetings are on Tuesdays and I wanted to speak to them as a group to get input from all of them about this yogurt project.  I am also expecting to get some costs from Liydia Barasa about some of the equipment and materials associated with their project.  I also hope that the gentleman that is presently making the yogurt will be there as well.  Hopefully Liydia and I can further investigate this project this week and come up with a game plan to move it forward.

Thanks

Dave