Gardening

This is the main farming implement in this country. The elders borrowed some from President Ngwelete to do a service project for a family that is struggling.

Our own garden is doing great. We planted our second go round a couple of weeks ago and everything is up and the beans are even starting to flower. We still have a few things going from the first one and we did have a few failures but it's fun trying. We are definitely enjoying the weather.

We are making a little garden for a family. The elders dug up the ground using the hoes they borrowed. In this picture we are starting to build a fence around it to keep the chickens, goats and hundreds of children out of it. Since it is starting the dry season, they will water it with their bath water, clothes and dish washing water etc. Every drop of water they use in the village has to be hauled in a big plastic tub, usually on the head of a woman or young girl. We calculated the approximate weight of the average tub they use and it's close to 80lbs. Everybody bathes and washes with a pitcher or cup and a basin. That is unless they use the hose and go behind the guard house at the chapel. I accidentally embarrased one of the workers when I went to see why the hose was running. Oops!!!

Elder Shurtz, Sampson Moyo branch missionary, Elder Ngobeni, Clifford Tauzi branch missionary, Elder Gonza and Elder Buckholz inside their newly constructed fence. They plant the poles in the ground then split the sticks in two lengthwise and put the grass thatching between the sticks and lash things in place with rubber coated strings that are found in the inside walls of tires. You can buy these strips of rubber in the markets and you pull them apart and use the strings. They are extremely strong and won't come undone. Elder Prete and I had the job to pull the strings apart.

This is what we could see in the next yard though a hole in the fence. Everyone makes their own bricks then they stack them in big piles leaving a gap underneath in spots to build fires to cure them. The ones on the outside of the pile never get hot enough so they sell for a cheaper price.

A whole bunch of little showoffs. I stayed at the house holding the baby while all the elders went back to the truck to haul the fencing materials. You can't drive to the house, you can only get to about a couple of blocks distance (not that there is anything that resembles a block here). There was a tiny pile of sand in the yard and these boys were doing flips and cartwheels onto it. I was trying to be nonchalant and not catch their attention when I got my camera up, but as always, when the camera comes out, the competition begins to see who can be the center of it all. They are always pushing and posing, getting closer and closer to you till you finally have to shoo them back. They always want to see the pictures too.

Why, you may ask, is there a frog in our toilet??? Now, could it possibly be that we left two elders alone in our house for just long enough for them to come up with something devious?? Or...did he come up the drain? My bet is the former but nobody is admitting anything.

No, I haven't given up cooking. So then, why is Elder Prete chewing on a stick? Sugar cane. Kind of hard to get in to the good stuff but pretty tasty. The last few weeks everyone walks around chewing on these 8 foot long sticks. They tear off the outside layer (looks like bark to me) then they bite off a piece of the inside and chew it for a while then they spit out what's left. Speaking of sugar, we thought diesel lines were long. Right now the lines to buy sugar are huge. About a month ago someone mentioned that there might be a sugar shortage so we stocked up. There has not actually been sugar on the shelves for about six weeks. You had to line up to get any. The new crop is supposed to hit the stores in a couple of weeks and things will be ok again.

Part of President Ngwelete's "garden"from the top looking toward the water. He has about 5 acres along the river about a couple of blocks distance from his house. He is one of the very few in this area that grow things year round. Right now he has a great crop of cabbages coming and some lettuce almost ready to transplant. He waters everything with a couple of watering cans. Elder Prete is trying to help him come up with some ideas to irrigate from the river. You can see it right there behind them in the picture but the top terrace where I am is about 10 feet higher than the water. He has been googling stuff and showing him on the ipad, things that they have been doing in China, Vietnam, Cambodia and such places for centuries. The wheels are turning now. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with. He is a pretty resourceful and hardworking guy.

Same garden only from the edge of the water looking up at the terraces.