dear friends- I have created a new website on a worpress platform and the archives of this blog are there and from now on that's where you can follow my activities.
So please check it out and I hope to meet you along the way!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Housesitting
Lately it seems that most of my time is spent at the computer: planning, writing, communicating, sketching, and even some entertainment courtesy of youtube and TED.
So when we took on a house-sit near Duncan the one main concern was: can I get online?
We've been here for a few days now and I am getting used to the sounds of the house, the vistas and the abundance of space. I notice that I move from kitchen to upstairs office to kitchen to bathroom to office to kitchen etc.- and I don't spend much time in the other areas of the house.
So far I really like:
So when we took on a house-sit near Duncan the one main concern was: can I get online?
We've been here for a few days now and I am getting used to the sounds of the house, the vistas and the abundance of space. I notice that I move from kitchen to upstairs office to kitchen to bathroom to office to kitchen etc.- and I don't spend much time in the other areas of the house.
Here's an exercise I do with participants of my workshops: Draw a plan of your house and trace with a pencil your daily movements. You will notice which places are always visited and which only rarely. Some never get used! Try this for your place and let me know what you discover.
Of course, coming from a 300 squarefoot living space into this ? squarefoot home is triggering all sorts thoughts.So far I really like:
- This house is facing the sun!!!! (Sadly this is worth mentioning)
- The kitchen cabinet hardware that prevents doors and drawers from slamming shut- it slows them down to a gentle stop.
- The spacious shower- no elbow bumping!
- Watching all the birds both at the bird feeder and farther away in the wetland by Quamichan Lake
- Lots of uninterrupted work time (but that's really not a design feature of this place just opportunity and intention)
- Reading some Wendell Berry (ditto)
Friday, March 4, 2011
Sally shares a story
I have received a lovely account from Sally who came and volunteered at Baobab too. For your reading pleasure:
Baobab Journal December 1st 2010
I think I will start with my last day at the Baobab shamba because it was so special and all the strands of my time with Terri, the orphans, the building works, the plantings came together.
My daughter, Alice, and her lovely neighbours in Dar es Salaam, George and Theresa, drove up to Bagamoyo. I moved out of Francesco’s Hostel and we went to the shamba.
The children and their carers were already there and having fun in the playground, Alice had bought herbs and planters from Dar so we got to work and planted them and also gave the shamba a new hose. The old one had more water pouring out of the holes than came out the end. Gabriel and David the two chaps who look after the land and animals were very, very pleased with the new hose.
Terri is American and had not had time to celebrate Thanksgiving on the previous Thursday which is the normal day so had gone ahead and organised a wonderful party for all the builders, farm workers, the children, their carers and teachers about 40 people in all. A goat had been killed the previous week and a sausage had been made with the meat left, there was a vast bowl of rice (nice change from the maize porridge) peas with peanut butter quite tasty lots of vegetables. Alice had bought up pre cooked eggs from her chickens in Dar and I made devilled eggs as a starter and she made some goat cheese. It was a feast.
With everyone still sitting on the floor or on the benches around the rondavel Terri told us that Gabriel the gardener was going to give thanks for the meal and then everyone could express their thoughts of what they were thankful for. Every single person spoke either in Kiswahili, Maasai or English or all three. Terri said thank you to me and to all the donors (you guys) and I thanked Terri and her husband Caito for putting up with me and I also thanked the lovely ladies at the Orphanage, Sarah, Helena and Gloria and the lads on the farm. For me the most moving was what David said. He had no English when I arrived and I had only managed to teach him a little bit including ‘you must water the trees every day’. When It was his turn he looked at me and said ‘Welcome every day’.
We ended up with an incredibly sickly bright blue and white cake bought from our funds I had to cut it up into so many pieces and when I licked the icing it turned my tongue completely blue. Tanzanians love food colouring. Every morsel was demolished. I took fond farewells and cried some of the way back to Dar.
A quick run down on my second week there. The English lessons continued to the Mamas at Baobab home and they just loved Bingo, Snap Hokey Kokey and learned so much. I would play with the orphans every day and found it very very hard to say goodbye to them. When I arrived on the motor bike all the neighbourhood children would call out ‘Sally Sally’. I visited the Montessori School for the older children and also the Nurse Training School and I hope through Mediae Trust to fund more text books. I spent some time at the hospital where the children receive their AIDS medication and was impressed with the staff and care there. With our funds the ceiling materials were bought and more cement and the windows are almost finished. The walls of the kitchen are now about 10 feet high and growing every day. I planted another 20 trees to create shade for the playground area.
This may not be my last journal about Baobab. I Just have to go back to see how the trees and shrubs are doing and how the children have grown. It was a truly wonderful experience and again I thank you all and feel that you were part of it too.
I am writing this from a spectacular house near Nanyuki at the foothills of Mount Kenya as I am staying with very dear friends. The weather is like a cool English summer’s day and a great break from the hot steamy coast. I think you may be in snow. Greetings to all
Sally
December 1, 2010
Baobab Journal December 1st 2010
I think I will start with my last day at the Baobab shamba because it was so special and all the strands of my time with Terri, the orphans, the building works, the plantings came together.
My daughter, Alice, and her lovely neighbours in Dar es Salaam, George and Theresa, drove up to Bagamoyo. I moved out of Francesco’s Hostel and we went to the shamba.
The children and their carers were already there and having fun in the playground, Alice had bought herbs and planters from Dar so we got to work and planted them and also gave the shamba a new hose. The old one had more water pouring out of the holes than came out the end. Gabriel and David the two chaps who look after the land and animals were very, very pleased with the new hose.
Terri is American and had not had time to celebrate Thanksgiving on the previous Thursday which is the normal day so had gone ahead and organised a wonderful party for all the builders, farm workers, the children, their carers and teachers about 40 people in all. A goat had been killed the previous week and a sausage had been made with the meat left, there was a vast bowl of rice (nice change from the maize porridge) peas with peanut butter quite tasty lots of vegetables. Alice had bought up pre cooked eggs from her chickens in Dar and I made devilled eggs as a starter and she made some goat cheese. It was a feast.
With everyone still sitting on the floor or on the benches around the rondavel Terri told us that Gabriel the gardener was going to give thanks for the meal and then everyone could express their thoughts of what they were thankful for. Every single person spoke either in Kiswahili, Maasai or English or all three. Terri said thank you to me and to all the donors (you guys) and I thanked Terri and her husband Caito for putting up with me and I also thanked the lovely ladies at the Orphanage, Sarah, Helena and Gloria and the lads on the farm. For me the most moving was what David said. He had no English when I arrived and I had only managed to teach him a little bit including ‘you must water the trees every day’. When It was his turn he looked at me and said ‘Welcome every day’.
We ended up with an incredibly sickly bright blue and white cake bought from our funds I had to cut it up into so many pieces and when I licked the icing it turned my tongue completely blue. Tanzanians love food colouring. Every morsel was demolished. I took fond farewells and cried some of the way back to Dar.
A quick run down on my second week there. The English lessons continued to the Mamas at Baobab home and they just loved Bingo, Snap Hokey Kokey and learned so much. I would play with the orphans every day and found it very very hard to say goodbye to them. When I arrived on the motor bike all the neighbourhood children would call out ‘Sally Sally’. I visited the Montessori School for the older children and also the Nurse Training School and I hope through Mediae Trust to fund more text books. I spent some time at the hospital where the children receive their AIDS medication and was impressed with the staff and care there. With our funds the ceiling materials were bought and more cement and the windows are almost finished. The walls of the kitchen are now about 10 feet high and growing every day. I planted another 20 trees to create shade for the playground area.
This may not be my last journal about Baobab. I Just have to go back to see how the trees and shrubs are doing and how the children have grown. It was a truly wonderful experience and again I thank you all and feel that you were part of it too.
I am writing this from a spectacular house near Nanyuki at the foothills of Mount Kenya as I am staying with very dear friends. The weather is like a cool English summer’s day and a great break from the hot steamy coast. I think you may be in snow. Greetings to all
Sally
December 1, 2010
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Home is where?
Changing worlds doesn't get easier over time as you may think- culture shock still happens to me when I return back to Canada. First the world seemed so much quieter and so gray here, not to mention cold. My dreams kept taking place in Africa and even now after a week still do.
So let's go back and revisit Baobab Shamba where we spent our last month.
When we returned from Arusha the kitchen walls had been built and the roof frame was started. Everyone was eager to move forward with next steps. The rains had turned the land green again and it seemed like everything was growing.
Our list of things to do was never shrinking: support the garden, work on gray water system, build shower at the house, build sinks for both shower areas, plaster, wall tiling, build stove, and so on.
Early January brought a handful of new volunteers to the farm. Some came with high skill: Eckhard Beuchel, a builder friend of mine from Germany, followed my invitation to build a stove for the kitchen. The idea was to create a stove that allows for different fuels (hoping for fuel briquettes made from agricultural waste in the future), or at least get more from a given amount of firewood.
We came up with a stove that heats three pots with one fire and an oven that can be preheated by the cooking fire as well. Have a look:
While he was working on the stove I built the third and largest concrete sink and counter:
Well I didn't do it without the help of Sean on the arches and the guys onsite who mixed the concrete on a Sunday morning.
All through the week the site was buzzing with activity. CM tells a good story of it all from his perspective on his blog.
Tile mosaics transformed the shower space, two other concrete sinks for laundry were cast in place, trees planted and another building started: Terri and Caito are now building a home for themselves.
Sean built a solid set of compost bins and we held a demonstration class for the folks on the farm. This is what our permaculture intro has come to: compost, trees, and greywater. If any two of these still work and live when I return I'll be thrilled.
Really we are introducing ideas and inviting change of behaviour and that just doesn't happen overnight. Small steps- pole pole
Finally here's a series of images taken over time from the road entrance to the farm:
Soon the trees will grow up all around, the brick making will be done and the smell of food cooking will drift towards visitors who approach the buildings. Karibuni - Welcome!
So let's go back and revisit Baobab Shamba where we spent our last month.
 |
| view from the road with the new kitchen in front |
When we returned from Arusha the kitchen walls had been built and the roof frame was started. Everyone was eager to move forward with next steps. The rains had turned the land green again and it seemed like everything was growing.
Our list of things to do was never shrinking: support the garden, work on gray water system, build shower at the house, build sinks for both shower areas, plaster, wall tiling, build stove, and so on.
 | |||||
| Tiling.... |
Early January brought a handful of new volunteers to the farm. Some came with high skill: Eckhard Beuchel, a builder friend of mine from Germany, followed my invitation to build a stove for the kitchen. The idea was to create a stove that allows for different fuels (hoping for fuel briquettes made from agricultural waste in the future), or at least get more from a given amount of firewood.
We came up with a stove that heats three pots with one fire and an oven that can be preheated by the cooking fire as well. Have a look:
While he was working on the stove I built the third and largest concrete sink and counter:
Well I didn't do it without the help of Sean on the arches and the guys onsite who mixed the concrete on a Sunday morning.
All through the week the site was buzzing with activity. CM tells a good story of it all from his perspective on his blog.
Tile mosaics transformed the shower space, two other concrete sinks for laundry were cast in place, trees planted and another building started: Terri and Caito are now building a home for themselves.
 |
| Terri and Caito's house |
 | |
| The compost bins |
Sean built a solid set of compost bins and we held a demonstration class for the folks on the farm. This is what our permaculture intro has come to: compost, trees, and greywater. If any two of these still work and live when I return I'll be thrilled.
Really we are introducing ideas and inviting change of behaviour and that just doesn't happen overnight. Small steps- pole pole
Finally here's a series of images taken over time from the road entrance to the farm:
 |
| in the beginning : the Guava tree |
 |
| the office was first |
 |
| then the eating banda |
 |
| next came Ubuyu 1 the house |
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| and now the kitchen out front. |
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