October 3, 2012 Kamukuywa

Greetings

I have come to the conclusion that mosquito nets are just as effective of keeping the mosquitoes inside the net as they are outside of the net.  As with every night I try to drop the net early and check the bed for the nasty little pests before I drop it.  Usually I only have maybe one or two in the room with me.  Tonight I was able to get one of them before it got me.  Last night I wasn’t so lucky.  I was trying to get some sleep and I could hear that distinctive sound buzzing my head.  For a while I did not hear a thing hoping that the mosquito was really outside of the net.  A little while longer as I lay on my side I felt it.  I swatted my back and my thought was that I got it.  The proof came this morning when I got out of bed and where I was lying was a mutilated corpse with what looked like at least two full drops of my blood.  The little you know what took so much blood that it could not fly away.  To mosquitoes blood is money and just like us humans too much greed is a bad thing.

I have been telling everyone for years about tomatoes.  Here in Kenya there seems to be only one type of tomato available and it is similar to our Roma except a little larger.  Well today one of our passion fruit farmers was showing me her tomato plants that were planted right before the orchard.  She picked one for me and it did not look like a tomato at all.  I tried to tell her that it wasn’t a tomato but she insisted and I could very well be wrong.  She gave us some to take back with us.  Once I got back to the guest house I cut it open, took a picture and then ate it.  Not bad with a little salt however it really did not taste like a tomato at all and if you are not careful the barbs break skin.

This is a tomato really?



Today we were off to Kamukuywa to visit the four orchards that were planted near the base of Mt. Elgon.  The unusual drought that hit last winter took quite a toll on our seedlings however it has become quite apparent that those that did survive have survived very well for the most part.  The first three orchards that we visited today the surviving vines all have fruit on them and they look really great.  I was disappointed with the fourth orchard and even though there were a hundred surviving plants only a very few looked really good.  You could tell just by looking at the orchard that the caretaker had not been weeding.  The couple of vines that looked good had been weeded and the rest that did not look so good were surrounded by weeds and the vines were pretty pitiful looking.

As you can see in the pictures of the various orchards below these farmers took their training seriously.  They have all let the vines drop in single rows to the ground and the fruit is easy to pick and be seen.  The first three orchards are fairly close to each other and they have been sharing techniques and helping each other.  The fourth orchard was many miles away and this might have contributed to some of his lack of proper care.  All of these orchards are in their first fruits to be harvested.  I talked with Pastor Augustine whom has seemed to take somewhat of a lead role with the other orchards near him told us that he has been able to sell a little bag of four or five fruits for 20 shillings.  I had asked Robert how many fruits make a kilo.  We were told in the beginning that the farmers should be able to get 80 shillings per kilo and that each vine upon mature harvesting would yield one kilo per vine per week or so.  A kilo is two pounds and four to five fruits is a half kilo.  So if my math is correct Pastor Augustine is getting the 80 shillings per kilo as promised.

Pastor Augustine and his wife

Pastor Augustine and 20 shilling bags of passion fruit to sell

Passion fruit flowers

Passion fruit ready for picking

This is a half of a vine with fruit allowed to hang freely

This is what happens when you do not weed properly



As we explained to everyone last October we would provide enough chemicals to get them to the first harvests.  My understanding is that everyone fed the surviving plants accordingly as best they could.  We also told them that after the first harvests the chemicals would change to more maintenance chemicals (CAN) and some of the income generated from the sales of the fruit would help pay for the maintenance.  Our intention was not to continue sustaining their orchards.  However after looking at these plots I feel that we will have to come in and help boost a little.  Right now most of these orchards have lost up to half their vines plus and even though the surviving vines look great I am not sure if there will be enough income to buy the chemicals, pay back their loans, keep a little to help feed their families and most importantly give to the church.   

We are in the very early stages of ripening fruit and there are not huge yields right now.  What I have come to find out is that some of these fruits are being sold but not all of them are being sold.  Some of them have been given away to others in the church and the community with great joy.  As we were leaving Pastor Augustine’s orchard he was collecting ripening fruit from the vines and filling a plastic grocery bag like we have in the states.  Upon us walking off he hands Hezron the bag with such a smile on his face and much excitement it brought tears to my eyes.  Personally I want him to sell them to feed his family but Hezron tells me Augustine wants to be blessed so we must take it.  The bag was more then half full and had to weigh at least a kilo if not more.  These people are poor and that bag might have been anywhere from a half a days wage to a full days wage for many Kenyans.  We have just started a new job and I ask you how many of us would give away our first days wages.  We were already back to the vehicle and starting to move down the road when Augustine is yelling for us to stop.  His wife was running with a bag with a good five to ten pounds of maize for us as well.

I am convinced that there is something to the passion fruit and if done properly the possibilities of helping many is great.  Even though we have lost many vines there are thousands of fruits on the surviving vines.  Pastor Robert alone has one thousand vines with most of them with dozens upon dozens on each vine.  To clarify a vine is actually supposed to be two vines upon reaching the wire.  One of them goes right and the other left.  Each one of these vines then has tentacles that reach to the ground and this is where the fruit will be as you can see in the pictures.  I am also convinced that the size of the orchard matters too.  Pastor Robert has one thousand vines however he has numerous people working his orchard at different times.  I am beginning to believe that unless there is a larger amount of people to work the orchards an average family orchard should not exceed 100 vines.  I know of a 10 acre orchard in Moi’s Bridge that employs dozens of people to work the orchard.  These little babies need daily maintenance to keep them going and without a commitment from all involved they will not survive.

Tomorrow is another rest day here at the guest house.

Take care and God bless

Dave