A woman from Psyeda village with her Jatropha trees
Molly, Eston, Gladson and Marie headed to Dowa district last week to visit one of our JANEEMO sites. Along the way we picked Brad Kindler, a Peace Corps Volunteer that will be helping Gladson organize the villages that will be participating in the project.
As we drove into the Mdela Village, women and children greeted us in song and dance. They were singing about planting trees! Under the encouragement and guidance of Gladson, many of the farmers had already planted Jatropha along field borders this past rainy season. The trees look like they have been well taken care of.
We took a tour of the village and Gladson pointed out the rows and rows of Jatropha, along with several tree nurseries that were being prepped for the upcoming tree-planting season.
Next we traveled to Gladson’s village for lunch where we were again greeted by song and dance. After a great lunch of rice and chicken we went to see Mr. Headson’s orchard and agroforestry site. He has been implementing permaculture practices, such as planting sweet potatoes and vegetables around nitrogen fixing trees. On our way back Marie felt right at home scratching the head and neck of a few dairy cows.
Fish ponds in Psyeda village
The group moved on to Psyeda Village where we toured both tree nurseries and fishponds. The energy and enthusiasm from the village was unprecedented. We also saw our most impressive Jatropha trees of the day.
Additional tree planting in the nursuries will be starting in the villages soon and we look forward to updates on progress from Gladson and Brad.
For more information visit our JANEEMO project page.
