Friday - Some Activities This Week

This morning was a board meeting. It was interesting to listen to these wise community members discuss where we are headed and how far we have come. As always, it is a learning experience. The potential of the program continues to encourage and bring new ideas. Board members can now see groups in their own communities who could benefit by working together and providing computers of their own. We shall see what happens.

Yesterday I travelled to nearby Siguatapeca to search for seeds, especially Moringa. Alas, no Moringa seeds. However, I did find a few other species that will be of use. The seed centre collects tree seeds from around Honduras and the world. The workers there have done a great deal of research and are always full of information. The species are, to me, almost like magic names. So many varieties to choose from and so many benefits from each.

I settled on five types that will fix nitrogen, provide fodder and or fuel and, one which will provide insecticide potential. Tephrosia is a tree I have read about but never tried. It fixes nitrogen but is poisonous (rather odd for a leguminous tree I think). The leaves can be used as an insecticide, a medicinal wash and, when on a branch that is beaten on the walls, to keep mosquitoes out of the house. Not a bad pharmacy and resource.

Mucuna and lab lab beans are edible, good forage and also suppress weeds. Will see how they work. They are supposed to be great in maize crops as well.

Seeds are such exciting opportunities - prayers for the future. We will be planting them in a variety of places and ecosystems. It will be great to see them grow - at least that is the hope. 40,000 seeds should provide at least a few trees ... right?

As I was working on our digital library, I came across one of the books which needed some work. As I checked on the information I revisited a way to purify water using sunlight. We talked about it at the board meeting today. The whole system is so very simple that it is puzzling why it has not become universal overnight. Tested in Switzerland, it uses clear plastic bottles and the sun. 6 hours in the sun and the water is sterilized by the UV rays. If the bottle is placed on a dark surface and the temperature rises to 50'C it only takes an hour. I hope I can find a way for some students to do some research on the temperatures reached in the sun. That will give us a clearer idea of what to tell people.

One of our board members boils water every day for her children. She can now save time and money by using this system.

And, for a final piece of "information-you-always-wanted-to-know". A doctor told me that the best cure for gastritis is 100 ml of Vodka on an empty stomach. So there. Travel the world with a bottle of vodka and you are safe.

TTYL

BB