The FAO project team, accompanied by our illustrious Department of Fisheries representatives, paid call this month to check on our progress here and announced that my farmers were ready to seek out the necessary start-up loans now that the structural requirements are complete. As tomato planting season heats up, most farmers are shifting gears and focused on applying for fertilizer support loans anyway so the scheme appears that it's going to work out. I took a bit of this free time to work on a few other projects geared towards sustainable farming like building the rabbit hutch of my dreams. Admittedly this was more to bolster my protein intake in the village than a development program as many Changilo farmers keep rabbits, but the manure isn't going to hurt my demonstration perma-garden either.
I also put up a raised chicken coup for harvesting eggs and manure. My prize hen, Annabelle, just hatched chicks so I won't be eating her anytime soon. The coup is raised off the ground which allows waste to fall onto the ground for easy collection and prevents the spread of diseases like newcastle, which strikes village poultry stocks every few years and kills indiscriminately. My last chicken coup fell victim to rainy season termite swarms this past January and I have high hopes that by spreading the oil of tephrosia trees on the supports, I can save this one from a similar fate.
The end of the month brought the inswa (edible termites) up from their winter berths under my yard and into the hands of waiting children. They collected a good bag of them for me and I have to say that they aren't that bad in a stir-fry if one isn't reminded of the fact that your eating bugs. I also found them incredibly fun to try to catch. I recieved a small group of trainees aspiring to become Central Province fish farming volunteers for Peace Corps in the final days of August. I took them around to practice interviewing farmers, staking ponds, and harvest fish. They enjoyed Changilo and a quick trip down to Kundalila falls but I'm not sure they dug the bugs. All in all they're a good group and should be make fine volunteers when they swear-in next month.
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