Introducing a New Crop

So, I imagined that this napier grass project would be fraught with difficulties, I just didn't think that so many of them would be of my own making.

Last week, my headmaster made arrangements for me to go to a nearby (25 km away) school and collect some of the napier grass that they have growing there. Since the school is in a much more moderate climate, they have many crops growing very well in the area. Well, when I went there yesterday, I was sitting on the matatu and I realized that I hadn't brought enough money for my return trip. That meant that I had to go up to Voi (an additional 25 km) to find the nearest ATM. (I had also forgotten water, which I was able to buy in Voi. That came in handy later.) That made finding matatus a bit more complicated, but on the plus side I got some grocery shopping done. (They have generic Pringles in the supermarket now too!)

Anyway, after getting to the school about 3 hours later than I had intended, I managed to find the Deputy Principal, who is also the agriculture teacher. We talked a bit about teaching agriculture, and she made arrangements for me to harvest some "splits" (I had wanted to grow from cuttings, but they had just harvested, so that wasn't possible). She had one of the groundskeepers (their school has a bit more staff than ours, though it is also much bigger and more established) come with me to collect a sack full of grass. We worked for about 10 minutes, and then I started my return journey. As I was leaving, I saw several students and teachers who recognized me from science congress. How many names did I remember? One.

The school is 6 km from the main road, and though vehicles go by throughout the day, I would have had much better luck catching one earlier in the day. I wound up walking the whole way, but I was very glad that the path was downhill. I just wish it hadn't been in the noon-time heat. I made sure to stop by the polytechnic (basically trade school), and made some connections there (I'm pretty sure that you'll hear a lot more about that later). Anyway, after a little wait in town, I found my matatu and made it back to school in time to teach my afternoon lessons. Phew.

Then after school, we planted the grass. I gave them some advice on techniques and so forth. I spent most of my downtime during travel reading books on agriculture (see Books 5.0 at the end of the month) and trying to absorb as much as I could. Let's hope they survive. The soil is pretty nutrient deprived and we are going through a pretty serious drought. No reason to be pessimistic, though. Actually, my optimism really comes from the fact that my students are really hard workers, and they are really excited about the project.