I have been working on the farm for the last 3 and a half weeks. Here is a bit of a background on the place:
The residential areas are converted horse stables made from fired mud bricks and thatch, wich keeps the place well ventlated.
Our water comes from a borewhole that is pumped up using solar power. The centre is based around the principles of permaculture. On their website, the centre states that "Permaculture systems are ecologically harmonious, efficient and productive."
In this way, the food that is grown here is grown with as little effort as needed to receive maximun results. A nutritionist that regularly works here calls this type of food farming "low-imput, high-yeild farming". If you look at the previous post the principles of permaculture are written there.
We have a (fantastic) composting toilet!
No smell, no flies, no sickness, just wonderfully healthy soil all around!
The biggest project that NGP is undertaking now is to grow jatropha (I think that is how you spell it). Jatropha is a fuel replacement. Growing the seeds and processing them accordinly will yeild good (maybe even better but definitely more sustainable) fuel. In malawi now there is a fuel shortage. This is mainly due to the fact that there is no forex in the country (hence the demonstations - a post on this to come). However, realistically, we have few years left of fuel and we need to start making a plan, fast. Ironically, eventhough we have no fuel here to to mismanagament of funds, in a way Malawi is also better off - the country is getting a headstart at preparing themselves for when there really is no more fuel. Out come the bicycle taxis and lift sharing etc etc etc.
Malawi is lucky to have a place like NGP. Infact, Eston Mgala, the big go-to man on anything to do with permaculture, and who is also the community outreach coordinator for the centre, says that his goal is to make Malawi a permaculture country. He says Malawi is small enough to not e daunted my the hugeness of the project. He is going to the International Permaculture Conference in Jordan later this year, and when he returns he is going to present, to the Malawian government, permaculture as the model for sustainable development (real sustainable development, says Eston) in the country.
The centre is only a years and a half old. Their funding is not expansive, and things are sometimes a bit tight. Also, the centre is not starting tree propogation and the commercial garden is being revemped in order to grow and sell a larger variety of vegetables and fruits. Becasue there is so much happening, the one and only wheelbarrow that the centre owns if often needed in more than one place. A new wheelbarrow costs 14 000 kwacha, which is about R650. Nothing really, but when everthing is expensive in Malawi and the centre has other more pressing needs for their money, they right now cannot afford to but another wheelbarrow.
And so I am asking all those who can spare R50, R100, even R30, to please get in contact with me and I will give you banking details (my banking details because I want to get all the money together and then suprise the centre with the full amount in one go - obviously acreditted to you all).
I really hope that you can all, in some way, help out with getting the centre a wheelbarrow.
Kelvin (and I) say Zikomo kwambiri - thank you very much!
