Jatropha in Gambia

It was good to be back in the Wellingara horticultural gardens again. In 2003 PSTS planted there the first 10.000 Mahogany seeds and these were planted all over the country by the US Peace Corps.

The moment we arrived poultry lessons were given inside the building and it was suggested that we would do our introduction outside under a beautiful tree and that was a good idea. We started with a wide circle but in the end everybody was sitting very close to the PSTS team because they didn’t want to miss a word.

The meeting was successful including loads of critical questions and as you can see in the pictures, Seedy and Musa had everybody’s attention. We asked the Peace Corps workers to come back to us with the numbers of trees and Jatropha’s planted in the villages. We also met one of the US Peace Corps workers from Guinea Conakry who liked our idea of working together and opening the doors for Jatropha West Africa.  

A positive meeting, let’s see what we will experience in Sifou this Saturday!

P.S.T.S. is online: www.ppsts.com.  We did it, of course with a ‘little bit’ of help (thanks for that)! For the project it is a big step in the right direction and I hope the funding starts coming in now. We have achieved a lot over the last months and funding is important to continue. The research and development of the oil press and the cooking stove is the next money consuming project. We found a wonderfull press at the German Bosch/Siemens website http://www.bsh-group.com/index.php?page=109906 and they made a good looking stove, I think everybody wants to cook on this beautiful stove. I’m going to contact them and see how we can work together and share knowledge.

If you like to help the project grow, please contact us through the www.ppsts.com website and have a tree with your name on it (your name will be mentioned in the site), make a link to the psts website on your own website or blog (we will link back), start avertising the project at your school, work or business or just send us a donation so we wil be able to promote the Jatropha and to make Gambia green again. We are all looking forward to hearing from you!

We are invited for the regional meeting of the US Peace Corps in Wellingara to inform the Peace Corps workers, that are working in the country at the moment about Jatropha. This is an excellent opportunity to reach  a lot of people, since the Peace Corps is covering the whole country and they are always looking for small projects to work on together with the villagers. A few weeks ago I was talking to one of the Peace Corps Officers and he was very interested in our project. The good thing is that we will not only meet Peace Corps people that are working in The Gambia, but also from the surrounding countries. I think it’s good news!

The costs for traveling and printing are rising and the money is coming from our business Global Energy but help came around: we have received the first donation from the German Dresden – Banjul rally. http://www.rallye-dresden-dakar-banjul.com/news.php  We would like to thank all participants to the 2008 Rally for their contribution: they are all helping to make Gambia green again.

All  Dutch business people were invited for a lunch with the Dutch Ambassador. During this lunch learned about a very active forestry worker named Ousainou Cham and of course I invited him for a meeting. He met here in the office with Seedy and to make a long story short: he is in! We have an active field worker!

Thank you Claudette for the introduction.

Ousainou is a wonderful person to know and to work with. He has been working with forestry for 25 years, he knows all the communities and all trees. I learned a lot from him and he committed to promoting Jatropha in Gambia immediately. He brought in a lot of ideas and proposals in how to reach all Gambians.

On the 5^th of April we are going all together to Ballie on the North bank,  introducing Jatropha to the communities. I’m looking forward to the trip.

The meeting was a success, the trip going and coming was a disaster. We left Bijilo at 6:30 in the morning and reached back at 3:30 the next morning, due to problems at the Banjul – Barra ferry. We were exhausted from the trip but it was worth it.

The reaction of the very well organized and active Ballie community was so positive and they are starting with the preparations right away, using the seeds we provided them. There were also representatives of Senegal present at the meeting and they suggested working together: my dream about Jatropha West-Africa is becoming reality! The people at Ballie all knew about Jatropha already because of the campaigns on the Senegalese radio. One can say that they were only waiting for somebody to pass by and tell them to start and this is done now.

The next promotion action will be in Sifou, Kombo South.