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Manic kind of Friday July 18, 2008 |
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July 18th, 2008
Talk about a manic Monday kind of Friday!! This blog is a journal of what is going on with us here in Kenya so I must be honest. Today was a real mixed bag going from low to high all in one day.
Allie and I got up and around early to take off to Karatina. I tried to upload yesterdays blog last night but the connection kept getting bumped off and when it did connect it was at 238kbs. I had to keep doing the blog over because I would just about get it together and the connection would fail. When I did get the connection back again I was logged off and it wouldn’t let me do it. After about three tries of this I quit at about 1:00AM and went to bed. I had the same problem this morning and finally after the 4th try we got it up with the photo’s and all. I had arranged to meet Pastor Harrison at Karatina to discuss the future of aquaponics there as the system that was installed in 2006 was currently not operating. I built the standard Barrel-Ponics systems and since then they had changed it up a bit. When I saw it last year I was totally thrilled they were thinking about it and taking the initiative to make it their own but there were a few things I personally would have done different. Allie and I made it to Karatina in about 1-½ hrs and drove up to the school behind it’s founder David Fields. He and his wife have been in the mission field for over 50 years in Kenya and definitely proved their muster to be sure. We greeted and I introduced Allie and asked about Mama Fields. He said she was doing fine. I then said I was there to look at the aquaponics system. The mention of that seemed to set him off for some reason. He frankly told me the system was down and would continue to be down and that it was a total zero as far as he was concerned. I asked him what the problem was and he said it took too much time. I asked him to explain because the system at home…… He cut me off and would not let me finish. He said it was my profession and that was why it is no big deal for me to be doing it. Any attempt on my part to ask questions was abruptly cut off. He said it had been down for a year to a year and a half (which was not true I saw it running last Oct.). I then asked why no one contacted me if they were having problems? He said he would not discuss it any further and any other attempt to dialog was abruptly cut off and he walked away. Wow!! Needless to say I was crushed!! I am not sure what brought all this on but it felt like getting sucker punched with a sledge hammer. Allie watched the whole thing and the look on her face was astonishment. I sensed Papa Fields has really not been interested in the system from the beginning but I was under the assumption this was all about the students education. Needless to say, for what ever reason this thing had been a point of contention. I really don’t know why, I guess some things will never get explained. I went around to find the system cleaned out and dry with the parts scattered around a bit. It did seem odd though for something to not be productive, there were a couple volunteer plants trying to sprout even after all this time with the system not running. Some of the students came around and I discussed the demise of the system with them. Turns out they really did not have much to do with the operation of it. It was Pastor Danny’s (who is no longer there at the school) thing and he had told me the reason it failed was the transformers that converted the voltage for the pumps blew up. I personally thought that was strange as they were 100 watt transformers with 36 watts of load. I suspected that the transformers got used for other purposes which were too much load and I asked the guys if that was the case. They confirmed my suspicions. Pastor Harrison came up and we began talking about this thing. He was concerned about the bare concrete being a factor that the fish really did not do well. They stayed small and did not get very big. I told him there may have been other factors. As we talked the reasons began to unfold. First of all the fish did not get regular feeding. Sometimes they would go for a day or two before anyone would attend to it. If pastor Danny was away the system got neglected. I asked Pastor Harrison if he failed to feed his children would they grow? Second the temperatures are a bit low up there for growing tilapia. They had to go to the lowlands to get tilapia as the local hatchery did not provide them. This was problem number 2. I always say to use a local species suited to the climate the system is in. I told them if the local hatchery did not raise tilapia then what did they raise. They said trout. I told them something like trout may be alright if not too intense until they learn the capacity of the system with that species. I told them catfish would be a better choice in my opinion. We then began to talk about the modifications to the system they had made. The growbeds were over twice the size of the barrel-ponics system and the depth was about 20“ if not a bit more and they had put both the flood tanks on it which were designed for a much smaller growbed volume. I had mentioned that last time when I was there. The problem with putting tandem flood tanks on a common bed was that the flood tanks would not go off at the same time and thus the growbeds would never really flood properly. I told them if this thing was a problem to them I knew of a place where I could take the parts and they would be used. It was just too sad to see everything just lying around. Pastor Harrison said they want to do this and he was interested in taking it in hand. He understood the neglect that the system had gone under and that was a reason it did not work I told him if the expectations for this small system were to turn a profit it would not do that. It was designed as a learning tool. He said he understood that and that is what he wanted to do with it. The interesting thing is when it was running people from all over the community came to visit it and see what was going on. There were even pastors from around that wanted to see this thing. There were many opportunities generated by this little attraction to interact with the community and share the gospel. Too sad it was allowed to go dormant. I suggested we build a single flood tank and use only one pump if they wanted to make it work. I also suggested they get their district fisheries officer involved. We tested the pumps and one worked. I told hem to keep the other for parts. I tried to explain what would be involved in building a flood tank and an easy way to figure out what volume would be needed. I was not sure if they understood completely so I explained what materials we might need to do it. Pastor Harrison said he would see what he could do to get the needed materials and I may come back a day or two early to see if we can come up with a game plan to get this going. I also told them if it was too much of an issue with Papa I would not be interested as the last thing I want to do is create a problem. They said it was not a problem because he would not be involved so he wouldn’t care. I really hope this is the case. We talked a bit about the system, went inside with my laptop and I showed them pictures of the latest things we have been working on. We had a good conversation for a while and went outside. Pastor Harrison introduced me to Papa Fields son-in-law and Steve (Papa’s son) came up as a truck delivering bibles backed in. I asked Steve if Papa was alright and I did not understand the response. He said Papa said something about it and he told Papa the technology does work but no-one took care of it. I really do not understand the situation and hope it can get resolved somehow. Not that I am asking Papa to grow to like aquaponics or anything like that I just don\’t like being part of any kind of discord. I just wish I knew what the real issue was but it is not open to discussion. I helped carry the totes of bibles in and Steve and I talked about things for a while and Allie and I drove back to Nairobi.
When we got in we made something to eat as we had not had anything since breakfast and it was getting on 4:00PM. We prayed over our meal and prayed for Papa. After eating we began packing to leave tomorrow and while in the kitchen Allie started crying. I asked her what was up and she said the way Papa talked to me was very disturbing to her. I told her it was alright and sometimes there are misunderstandings and differences of opinion. We should always walk in love and we should pray for him as I suspect he had a lot on his mind and there were probably other things affecting him as well. I must say it did bother me though because it upset my daughter to see a man speak to me this way. It hurt her heart to see someone disrespect me. I have no problem with someone disagreeing with me, or anything I do, but to make harsh statements in front of my children and refuse to even have dialog of any kind to resolve the issue is a bit over the top.
Allie and I got the van packed with minimal things in the apartment to move tomorrow and went to Maurice and Maureen Potters place for coffee. We had a wonderful visit and wished we had gotten together earlier. They share very much the same viewpoint we do concerning missions and I look forward to getting to know them better. Allie returned to the apartment to get ready for the trip tomorrow. It will be a long day driving to Kisumu to meet Grace, the coordinator of the “Best12women Group” a development group in Bondo. We will have two men from Mfangano Island Silas and Joseph riding with us on the way out as well. They will help me get some fencing supplies arranged in Kisumu when we pass through and it gets them a ride out to the island. Like I said it was quite a manic day to be sure. Going from a devastating low concerning the conflict of the aquaponics system not running to glad the guys are wanting to get it going and are willing to get some resources together to make it happen and make new friends. I am glad it closed like it did.
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