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.

The Ribeira Alta Biofuel Adventure

Okay,
So I've been doing these dailies, like the turtle stuff, interpreting, and helping farmers weed and such, but that's not really where my heart is at. I've been really setting my sights on this thing me and the Association leader from Ribeira Alta, so here goes;

Ribeira Alta is a tiny isolated village west of Cha de Igreja. It does not have road access and is a gruelling two hour hike from the nearest road. It is so isolated that makes Cha De Igreja look like St. Louis in terms of accessability. While for a couple months during the year the sea is calm enough to cut the travel time down with boat access, most transportation of goods and people involves a donkey at some point. There are about 200 inhabitants who live in the sheer cliffsides of the valley. The primary industry in Ribeira Alta is remittances and agriculture. The agriculture is principally sugarcane for making "grog" liquor and cassava.

The town has some fishing potential, and raises a fair amount of livestock as well. Unfortunately, these industries are of limited viability because of the electricity situation in the village. Ribeira Alta is not part of the electrical grid of Santo Antao, due to its location. Diesel fuel is provided by the local government to be put into the town's generator. However, this allows the village to have electricity for only 4 hours a day. Generally from 18:00 to 22:00. Furthermore the village is dependent on expensive imported fossil fuel.

The leader of the development association of Ribeira Alta, Cesario, has spoken with me about the solution to this problem. In Ribeira Alta's cliffsides, the Jatropha Curcas plant grows abundantly. The Jatropha plant's seeds, once processed, produce a biodiesel fuel capable of being used in the village generator. Cesario intends to refurbish an abandoned wellhouse and transform it into a miniature biofuel plant. My goal is to help Cesario realize this goal. We have met a number of times on this subject, and its success is my new all-consuming passion. I intend to help Ribeira Alta not only get the training and machinery necessary for this project, but also help encourage the locals to take advantage of the abundant unused lands to cultivate Jatropha on a small scale. Any thoughts?

Primary Project

Hi World,
I've been in a project soup lately. The last several months have largely consisted of me helping in some small part to the improvements of projects initiated by Cape Verdeans. This has been rewarding, as during our pre-service training (which was now over a year ago) we were taught to make sure all projects are sufficiently led by the host country nationals to ensure both interest and sustainability. This is a philosophy I agree with. People support that which they create, and the Cape Verdeans in my region have created a number of respectable projects. Most notably of those projects, has been the fishing community of Cruzinha which has made a conscientious shift in their treatment of Sea Turtles (Caretta Caretta). To my buddies in San Diego "The Caguama". Once a community that ate this endangered species, Cruzinha is now leading the fight in Cape Verde for their preservation. Recently, their efforts have earned them an international prize and some additional resources. I am proud to be a partner with this group, admittedly my contribution to this organization is mostly through my time spent doing turtle watches, and nothing much more sophisticated. The sea turtles haven't been nesting much in Santo Antao this year, but there is still some time left. I hope to participate further with this group in "sensibilization" which is travelling to other communities and for lack of a better word "preaching" the gospel of conservation over consumption.

I´m still here

Okay, long time no post, and unfortunately work related travel and a busted laptop have prevented me from being as bloggy as I had originally intended. The last month I got to meet a stellar group of human beings which are, the 2010 class of Peace Corps volunteers, their presence and go-getter spirit are an inspiration. Plus, they are a very lively group of people. Having the opportunity to go to Santiago and help with their training is one of the highlights of my service so far. Post more later.

End of May

Basic update of the things here

Computer donation project: Local government has promised us logistical assistance once the computers are shipped to the island of Santo Antao. Translation: If we get the $22,000 dollars to arrange, ship, ship again, inspect and transport the computers to the schools, they will accept them. Big thanks.

English instruction: After the average class size became .5 I decided to begin again with a different demographic. I started teaching English for tourism, and had a good number of people declare strong interest in the class. Wednesday's turnout: 5, 3 of which came upon my pleading and were just passing by, 1 of which was me.

Drip irrigation project: The minister of education laid down the first brick for the new resevoir tank last month. It is to date, the only brick there.

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New projects:

Study for the foreign service exam.
Study for the GRE
Cook every recipe in the Peace Corps cookbook
Eat the tomatoes I planted in February
Take photos of everything I own
Alphabatatize my TO DO list
Write another unpublished book

Suggestions?

Cooking

Cooking is important here. The time spent cooking is probably the easiest time to multitask that exists. Boredom is easy to withstand when your belly is full and the numbing presence of a food coma prevails throughout your body. Throw a cup of coffee on top of that and what was once tedius becomes "relaxing".

Street Value of a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts

My official country counterpart last night decided he would include me in something the association was doing. In a week or so, the association will be hosting a meeting to unite the other local associations to form a network of associations for greater bargaining power. An excellent idea. My role, as a college educated volunteer with experience in facilitation and running meetings has finally gotten a role in something the association is doing. I have been requested to wash dishes and help peel the manioc for the dinner.