Recently, as a new crop of maize (corn) began to germinate and emerge, Headteacher Nancy traveled to the mission property in Gem to supervise weeding and top dressing of the first crop.
Top dressing is the application of nitrogen in granular fertilizer form to boost the nitrogen available to the plant as it is growing. The rich, fertile equatorial soil on our property has produced healthy maize plants that are now weeded and dressed.
This ongoing agricultural activity will provide temporary employment for those in the area who are in need of work and benefit our mission work through crops sold at the market. As we progress, we will gradually be able to offer more opportunities for local growth and employment to help improve overall spiritual and economic conditions. This latest visit provided several days of paid work for 20 villagers.
As the Vicar of the Kakamega Deanery, Father Arsenios has envisioned for us to become the spiritual center for this region so that the Orthodox Faith through the Gospel of Christ can spread and grow; we strive to meet that vision, and will continue to hold an outdoor liturgy twice a month. The Kakamega Fathers attend our liturgies faithfully, offering their blessings on the work being done. Baptisms always accompany these joyous occasions.
Water is life for salvation and agriculture. For our crops to grow, we need irrigation. So far, God has blessed us with good rain, but drought is always a worry in Africa. We are accepting donations towards our well project for those interested in supporting that vital part of our mission construction. The well will provide us with proper irrigation, and serve as a clean water source for Siaya County and the surrounding villages.
Please join us and be a part of the paradigm shift in Orthodox mission work across all Africa- that of self-sustainability!
(If donating, please specify the donation is for the Saint Mary of Egypt Orthodox Mission and Refuge of Kenya)
Beware problems of Zea mays ("corn", "maize") for livestock feed, human diet, and soil fertility. It's not the "silver bullet" solution it may appear to be or that it may be "cracked up", touted to be. Cornfed meat is the product of American agriculture (primarily on the Great Plains) that produces huge surplus of corn and needs a market for it (typical American mammon wor$hip) — hence stockyard (penned, lack of exercise) produced meat from livestock fattened on corn, and wasteful ethanol production from corn. Ironically, the Great Plains once produced hoards of American Bison whose meat was much healthier than the beef produced today by Western American "agriculture" with its "market", mammon wor$hip mentality.
The following sources may prove helpful in finding assistance with development of Permaculture, via a Permaculture advisor/teacher — Permaculture Intiative Uganda Permaculture Research Institute Uganda SCOPE Uganda — SCOPE is a member of Regional Schools and colleges Permaculture program (ReSCOPE) which comprises of country Chapters in Kenya, Zimbabwe ,Zambia ,Malawi, Uganda. If practice of conventional plowing tillage of soil is going to be engaged, it's critical to at least contour plow (plow with the contour, lay of the land) and create soil terraces to prevent soil erosion to which plowing makes soil more highly susceptible. The Impacts of Furrow Diking, Terracing, and Contour Cultivation on Water Conservation in Texas Agriculture
Eastern Christianity has a cosmology of interdependence and interconnectivity between God, humanity, and All Creation that contradicts Western mentality of exploitation of material Creation. Humanity was Divinely created to be selfless steward of Creation, not its selfish, overbearing, exploitative overlord. For theology of Eastern Christian cosmology to be evident in praxis of spiritual mission to the material "undeveloped" third world, it's essential to develop alternatives to destructive Western systems of material manipulation of Creation (mammon worship) that have come to globally dominate human civilization. That way, the otherwise abstract, eternal "spiritual" message of Eastern Christianity becomes evidentially real in the here and now of everyday temporal, material life.
Chemical fertilizers pose threat of contamination to ground water and wells. Chemical fertilizers destroy soil organic matter, the source of soil fertilization as Divinely designed, a more beneficial, sustainable, and historical form of fertilization. African economic development would be wise not to look to Western destructive practices of Creation, but to alternative sustainable agriculture, such as Permaculture (Wikipedia). No till farming methods avoid release of carbon from the soil that occurs from soil tillage, further exasperating excess carbon in the atmosphere. Rather than Western wasteful field cropping, more labor intensive family community garden plots could better serve the needs of Africans. Drought affects groundwater levels, so drought resistent crop sources are preferrable to crop irrigation. See — (1) (2) (3)