New Year
Happy belated new year!
Ashley and I have been working our butts off these past few weeks. With the new year comes the beginning of our first large-scale projects.
Mine is a women’s economic empowerment and food security based project in conjunction with the local women’s association. Our village has four large community gardens that grows a variety of produce from Jan to June each year. When the weather becomes inhospitable in mid-June, it becomes much harder to find fresh food in our village. Throughout North and West Africa this time is referred to as the hungry season. My project is to construct four onion preservation houses. The women will be able to store a percentage of their onion crops well in to the hunger season. They can then sell the onions at twice the price they would have during the growing season, as well as have a source of vitamin rich onions with which they may feed their families.
Ashley’s project is also food security related, but with more of an emphasis on health. She works primarily with the children’s clinic and maternity in the village and has secured a plot of land next to the clinic for a Moringa food bank. Moringa is a small tree that can be pruned into a shrub. The leaves hold an amazing array of vitamins, amino acids and minerals. One spoon full of leaf powder with each meal provides 42% of a young child’s protein requirements, 125% of their calcium, 71% of their iron and nearly 300% of their Vitamin A. Its also a great source of other vitamins and minerals.
We have 50 trees growing in the plot that should be ready for its first harvest in May; at which time Ashley will be teaching the staff to include the powder in the porridge they provide to malnourished children. In the coming month we are hoping to plant another 500 trees throughout the village, primarily in the four women’s gardens, but also in and near to compounds.
In addition to our village-based projects, I have begun working on an updated manual for Moringa growing in West Africa. The manual will be used to teach future Peace Corps volunteers the best practices of Moringa planting and care. This will be accompanied by a graphic manual in both French and Bambara for the local population to use. Ashley is spearheading the latter.
Below is a graphic representation of what the completed onion storage houses will look like:
)
. They are comfy and can hold more than enough for multi-week long trips)
(this is the same model watch I saw a number of IDF soldiers wearing in Israel. High-quality and will last)
, it gets around 14-20 hours of play time on one set of AA batteries and is great for music or podcasts).
to hook up speakers to iPod, computer or other device.
. Eneloop batteries hold a longer charge than other rechargeables.
, but if I had the extra money I would have 
. Both of which work as a AA battery charger.)
(Having a hands-free light source comes in handy).
(I’ve gone through 3 iPod chargers in 10 months; 2 Apple branded and one Chinese charger. Get a nice charger or two and it will save you a huge headache).
, but for the same price you can get the newer 
. When choosing a camera, be sure to find one with a strong optical zoom.
. Make sure you get one with a zipper. It will keep the dust and the bugs out.
with us, and it was perfect. However, it was stolen when we were in Madrid on vacation. We replaced it with a Toshiba netbook NB520-10P which is adequate.
, great battery life and weather resistant. Don’t forget to get extra batteries! (These are great for reading, and to use as lighting for your hut or outside at the dinner table).
with a 
.
. This solar charger is strong enough to charge a cell phone, NDS, or iPod.
. I use this for everything from cutting food to sharpening my gardening tools. Highly recommend!
.
. I had a Western Digital hard drive to begin with but it quit working after a couple months.
. I recommend getting one with a wired probe because it uses less batteries. However, the 
is a good wireless option.
. These are the little packets of clear beads found in shoe boxes. They are very handy at saving water damaged electronics as they absorb humidity.
(Ants are everywhere and they will eat there way through plastic bags)
(great for homestay)
(Having reusable bags that seal are hard to find)
and other sauce packets.
(Easier to clean than the small mouthed ones)
(Great for rehydration, Peace Corps provides rehydration salts, but they don’t taste very good.)
(You can buy low-quality at the big box store in Bamako, but its expensive)
(We don’t use too often, but are very nice for long hikes in the hot Malian sun)
(Plastic tube that lets CO2 escape without oxygen contaminating the drink)
(Use to sterilize buckets and equipment)
(Regular towels won’t dry when your at site)
In the summer of 2010, D. Brent Arnold and his wife Ashley set out on the adventure of a lifetime. Beginning with a summer couch surfing in Montreal, followed by five months volunteering in Jerusalem, they are now in rural Mali serving in the United States Peace Corps.
