At the English language service at Gasharu Evangelical Friends Church yesterday, those of us who had not brought our own were issued with bibles, to look up relevant verses. The leader of the exercise – a discussion, not a sermon, he insisted – introduced the topic of calling and asked for testimonies. From immediately in front of me the young American, Brad, who has just returned to Rwanda with his new wife to study the language and work as a missionary, told us of a recent encounter with an old friend where he had felt compelled to speak about the place of Jesus at the centre of his life. The insistence on inviting Jesus into one’s heart to cleanse oneself of sin sits ill with me. I’m not an evangelical.
Or am I? Today wasn’t even a working day and already I’ve shown my pictorial guide to compost making to four neophytes. Theogene, director of the adult English and computer school, asked to see photos of my work on one of the teaching computers, prior to introducing the planned subject of conversation. The picture of my first solar panel in Rwanda led to discussion of renewable resources, which led to soil fertility, which led to compost. Out came the diagramme, followed by a photo of the giant heap at the local organic training institute.
T and I had the planned conversation about language teaching methods and resources – not an area of familiarity for me, though I have promised to consult on recommendations. We listened to speeches on School Teaching (or School Teachers’) Day. After a lunchtime ‘snack’ of kebabs and roast potatoes, we shifted from our tables while the restaurant floor was swept more or less clear of rainwater from a torrential downpour. As we regrouped I was handed to Antoine, head of the Friends school and my host, and his table of local education officials. My neighbour asked me what I was doing in Rwanda. I answered briefly. Could I advise him on how to make his small garden productive? I fished out of my rucksack the laminated sheet on compost. He passed it round the table to his two colleagues. Each studied it attentively. Each committed to adopting a new approach to vegetable waste. Dare I claim four converts?
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Request for advice! Until very recently Westminster has had no garden waste collection service and I started a big bin because I had no other way of getting rid of it. It has had in it small amounts of grass clippings, kitchen waste, newspaper and large amounts of cut down ivy, tho I have tried to keep the woody stuff out of it. This has been going on for probably 2 years. It DOES get all sorts of creepie crawlies in it. Is it likely to produce usable compost any time soon-- because my soil is poor, I think.
ReplyDeleteIs it too dry? It should be like a squeezed out sponge, I've read. The ratio of one to one green to brown/woody is usually recommended. I've an excellent leaflet from a county in California which describes using a bin as the slowest method, but it will work eventually. E
ReplyDeleteThe parts I can easily see, ie the top couple of feet, are still very twiggy and bitty. I can't see the bottom stuff easily. I shd think overall the ratio of twiggy to not twiggy is 1/3 to 2/3, but because of the twigginess it will be a fair while before it even packs down. I do water it sometimes.
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