The Storm

Shortly after my last post my island was hit with a storm, and the road to town was cut off again. The plus side, which likely outweighs the aforementioned inconvenience is that Cape Verde will stay green another month longer, and this is great for the local farmers. This last week I've been working with them, mostly with weeding, and have rather enjoyed it. People will wake up early and grab their "inchada" which is like a mini-hoe. I'm borrowing one right now. Then people go to the fields, sometimes closeby, sometimes over an hour away. They then work for a while, eat a breakfast that is delivered atop the head of a woman of one of the working families. Usually it is Cachupa and Coffee, which hits the spot at that time in the morning. The process is repeated for lunch. Anyways, it's been a really fun week, and my body is thanking me for the exercise.

I've sent out some emails to people involved in biodiesel production of Jatropha I've found on the internet with the hopes that they can give me some tips, advice, or most importantly instructions on how to go from plant to fuel. This is my part of the venture, Cesario is working on getting land permissions and securing some funds for renovating the wellhouse where the machine will go. We'll see how these things go. Fortunately, cultivating the plant itself is easy. It grows wildly in great numbers and is considered a weed. It grows where people don't have ongoing agriculture, which in Ribeira Alta is much of the land area (people are gradually emigrating to other places and countries). I planted some in pots at my house, and the plant is growing faster than anticipated. I will need a bigger pot. They require almost no water, which is good for Cape Verde. The seeds, which are produced from a plant after a year of age, return every year and can be handpicked easily, (they are a little bit larger than grapes). Hopefully I will have more to share about Jatropha and the project as I recieve replies from my cold-call emails.