Three days to go

Greetings

Well I thought I could write the blog every day but it just wasn’t in the cards yesterday.  I had been very tired on Saturday evening when I left the plant so I rested.  I rented a couple of movies watched and went to sleep.  I must be losing it big time.  I kept looking at the movie Inception at the video store but I could not remember if I have ever seen it before.  I could have sworn I had seen it and I am not really the type of person that likes to watch movies more then once.  I rented it, I watched it, and I have seen it before.  Not sure where I saw it because I can't remember watching it.  It must have been on one of my long flights when I was half asleep or it was implanted in my brain somehow.

I usually write my blog in the evening so I can post it in the morning.  While in Kenya I write in the evening so I can tell the days events.  Kenya is eight hours ahead Eastern Standard Time so I get to write, post, and you all get the blog first thing in the morning.

As my kids used to say only “three more sleeps before departure day”.  Today I spent much of the day getting stuff organized for the journey.  I also cooked myself some Jell-O chocolate pudding.  I am not a big fan of instant pudding.  There is nothing like cooked chocolate pudding made with real whole milk on the stove.  I made the larger package but I should have made two boxes.  I still have it in the fridge waiting for some real cream whipped cream.  Don’t worry I still have a few more days before I leave and yes Wendy’s is on the menu.  Maybe twice.

Pastor Robert has a plot of passion fruit at Wamula International which we visited back on my last trip.  We saw his techniques and learned that he experiments with different styles of planting and caring for the plants to increase yield.  Pastor Robert has been financed by US AID to build his nursery and sell seedlings.  On his plot we had noticed that we did not need to put up so many posts and concentrate on two large posts on the ends with smaller sticks or posts along the row.  This will definitely drive down the cost.  I was hoping that we can get the larger posts for 70 Ksh to 80 Ksh a piece.  If this is possible then much of my worries will be taken care of since the three major costs are posts, wire, and seedlings. 

Wamula International Nursery

US AID support

Larger support posts on the end of the rows

Passion fruit seedlings ready for planting

Inside the nursery

While in Kenya last time I had spent some time going to different Home Depots and Lowes looking for deals on wire and possibly reducing the gage to reduce cost.  Trying to get the size of the wire from the owner was difficult. He kept telling me it was six or eight gage and it was galvanized.  I do know it was pretty thick and I told him that I wanted to go thinner.  I also told him I could get by with regular steel wire.  We tried to read the tags but there was no information to tell the gage.  It seemed as if I went to Home Depot or Lowes it did not matter they had the same wire.  I asked the owner if I could see the packing slip.  No such thing.  How about an invoice?  I guess he did not want me to see what he was paying for the wire.  My choices were this thick galvanized six, eight, or ten gage I am not sure (metric) or we jump to regular steel wire that looks to be fourteen or sixteen gage at best.  Nothing in between like a steel ten or twelve gage wire.  Anyway I was able to talk the owner to drop the cost of the wire from 250 Ksh per kilogram to 150 Ksh per kilogram if I bought in bulk.  This should help us out greatly.

Again if you are compelled to donate to this or any of the other projects we are working on please send us a check to:  On your check and on the envelope write Attn: Dave Wood Kenya Trip.

Olathe Wesleyan Church

15320 S. Ridgeview Road

Olathe, KS 66062

Attn: Dave Wood Kenya Trip

Take care and God Bless

Dave