just another picture of some of our best buddies

we know its wrong to pick favorites, but Said, 5th from the right and holding a baby, is our favorite. He is always helping out around his house (usually carrying a bucket of water back from the spring, on his head of course), he's a fearless soccer player, there is always a smile on his face, and he's so gentle and caring with little kids, as seen in this picture. I hope my mom doesn't come visit, because i have no doubt that she would kidnap him and cause a scene.

There's only one thing to do after a massive rainstorm...

and that's play in the mud.A few people have mentioned that i tend to look stern in every picture. I think they just don't get that that's me looking cool, not angry, but hopefully this smile is enough to hold them over til the next one comes along. and if it's not, the pasty thigh should be.

this is how we roll

It seems that every car in this part of africa falls into one of two categories:
1) It's a brand new $40,000 land cruiser/land rover owned by the UN, one of the countless christian ministries, or some international charity.
2) It's a beaten up frankenstein of a machine where the only remaining original part is the seat belt, and that's just because it's never been used.

We here at GOSESO are proud to belong to the latter group. As long as our toyota hiace can get us from a to b, we'll use the money where its really needed.
(This picture was taken after a rainstorm, and thus it is a bit misleading. Seen any other day, you would swear our car was painted brown.)

our house

here is our house. in the foreground, on the right side, you can see one of our gazebos. on the left, you can see our mini soccer field, and a small child.

forest economics

this is a paragraph that i found in an old book about gombe national park. i really like it, and its pretty relevant to our re-forestation goals/what we are trying to recreate.

"The economy of the forest is marvelous to contemplate. Its raw material is the same thin soil that supports a meager cassava crop in the crowded valleys beyond the park. Its income is the same sunlight and rainfall. But a forest is an investment, the sun and rain and wind of many seasons stored as roots and trunks and branches. Everything that the forest produces – The leaves and fruit that fall, the rotting branch, the bones of the colobus, the dung of the chimp, the wing of the butterfly – everything is returned to the soil and invested once more in the forest."

Saidi, head ranger

GOSESO employs 16 full-time forest rangers. They work in 12 hour shifts, 8 at a time, every day of the year. Their job entails hiking around Kitobe Forest (the 500 acre plot of land that was donated by the village of Kiganza to become the GOSESO campus/research forest) and making sure that no one hunts/cuts down trees/burns the land to open up land for agriculture. Anyway, Saidi, the head ranger, is one of the more intimidating figures i have come across, here, and in life. He is extremely serious, has an unexpectedly deep voice, he never says more than a word or two, and his omnipresent scowl generally sucks all the confidence right out of me. Basically, he is the kind of guy that you re glad your on his side, if for no other reason because it means he's not on the other. Earlier today, a bunch of us were weighing ourselves on Yared's scale, and Saidi was eventually coaxed into taking part in the fun. He weighs 107lbs. fully dressed. and i'm sure his scowl is at least 15lbs. of that. Apparently he is a really small guy, tho i have yet to notice. Regardless, i am not embarrassed to say that he still scares me. Pictures forthcoming (either when i finally gather the courage to ask for one or when i am able to sneak one from a distance without him knowing).

Dirty water, and the solution

here is an example of our bathing/laundry water. you should see it post-use.

here is our solution. we commissioned a new rain-gutter system for the house. we bargained the price from $13 down to $8, labor and parts included. why use a ladder if you can stack a stool on top of a table on top of another table? eh, at least the stool is on top...