November post

We had quite the excitement last month as we waged war on mold in our house. It was a long, hard battle but we have come out victorious! We had mold on many walls, on our bookshelves, beds, toys, clothes, just about everything. It.was.not.a.fun.battle. Here is a picture of one of the molds we found (did you know they come in a LARGE array of colours?!)

 We have learned an invaluable lesson from this battle. We will keep the humidity under 60% in our house. Thankfully, we will not likely see rain for many months and as we head into a dry, "cold" season, we get a reprieve from the likelihood of mold.

As we do head into the dry season, we continue to work on getting water out of the ground into local homes using materials that are available and using human power.  First, we worked on making a pump. Ideally, we would like to train locals to make their own pumps and below, we have a picture of a worker fixing the pump at our garden. It was such an encouragement to see him work on the pump with very little instruction from Rog!

The next step has been to figure out how to dig a well most effectively. In the experimental garden, there was already an existing hand-dug well (which can be dangerous and unhygienic), but for locals' homes, we are hoping to be able to drill, with available materials and human power, narrower bore hole wells (safer and more sanitary) that will be up to 100 metres deep! Below is a picture of us testing out some equipment in our yard. We did not hit water yet. :)

 I have added a few more pictures for fun. I saw Rog's shoes this morning and thought "I have to take a picture of these!" I used to be so embarrassed that my husband would go around with ratty clothes/shoes on but I have learned to embrace it. I am proud that my husband does not spend money frivolously (like me!) and does not like to spend a lot of money on himself. This, however, may be a bit extreme. The bottoms of his shoes have come off (due to heat AND age?!) and yes, like the answer to many of life's questions, he has used duct tape to keep them together. I think I know what I should buy him for Christmas!!

Transporting meat
I had to snap these pictures this morning on my drive back from dropping the kids off at school.  The driver is holding on to his fresh meat to make sure it does not fall off!

This taxi had its trunk AND roof stuffed!! I must admit, I do appreciate being able to have access to good beef...I just need to eat it without thinking about how it got there!