permaculture advocate in Zimbabwe - too little/too much rain

Do you know the Khan Academy?
They offer online courses for free (you can donate if you want), in math for example.
https://www.khanacademy.org/
Maybe this would be something for you or your nieces?

Hi Hans, I used this a lot, to be able to break down some concepts for the girls. I am not a teacher myself but it's such sites that made it possible for me to even teach my daughters some basics.

I managed to talk to my sisters about Tari and the possible help we can give her towards rewriting. Having her
work and go to school is not feasible, when I talked to her, she said she has to tend to a new born baby and she barely steals time to clean the house, cook and do the dishes that she has to do. So, adding school to the mix is not possible at all. This is not too much of a problem because my sister pointed out that she is willing to pay for her registration and lessons.

What I have never considered when I am doing my things is to check with my sister, the one I stay with on whether she is willing to take up an additional person in her space and it came up when we were having our discussion. She pointed out that she doesn't mind us helping people, but for now, she needs her space to deal with her own issues. I was impressed by her, though. For a while now, She has had some issues that we concluded to be depression. She would express, mostly through actions, her lack of hope for a tomorrow. She was closed, and it was really hard to have her express her feelings. Now, you can not keep her quiet. Two days back, she sourced funds for us to buy stock for our peanut butter business. The business is growing, and we needed a boost to add the stock's quantities, we also had a situation that needed us to use up a little bit of our capital, which compromised the number of bottles of peanut butter, that are already on the few side. She has something she believes in now. I am not too comfortable asking for money from friends and family for myself, so I could not reach out to anyone.

When she did this, I had to reach out to my friend to see if he cannot loan Apo, the peanut butter guy, some money again. This is because we have spent more than 4 days with people coming to our place, look for peanut butter and we don'thave it. We can not buy any because Apo does not have nuts, since he is holding on to his money, to first make sure he pays up his child's school fees as well as buying other things that his daughter might need as she is transitioning from O-level to A-level. I hope we keep our business growing because my sister has something she is fighting for, and it's amazing. Also, it is one of those businesses where people are actually looking for our product for days, hoping they will find us with some stock.

I was concerned about how Tari would feel, the moment I would let her know she was not going to stay with us. It seemed that was the least of her worries. She was more focused on whether she would get a second chance or not. When she knew she was going to go to school she was so happy she even had another plan as to where she might do her lessons.

A huge load has been taken off my shoulder, I was not sure if she would consider this as rejection, she is okay.

Yesterday, we got peanut butter from Apo. Before we got the peanut butter, Apo called with some concern on how fatty his peanut butter was. We didn't think this could pause as an issue, for as long as we were going to be getting peanut butter, that's a product from real peanuts. When the peanut butter got home, my sister tasted it and commented on how it was different from our usual peanut butter. When I got to taste it, it was nowhere near what we usually sell, it didn'teven taste like peanut butter to me. I wasn't ready for us to sell it to our customers because it would tarnish the image we have worked so hard to build. I knew that we had no option but to sell because we could not afford not to. So we agreed not to give any of our customers more than two bottles. At least they won't stock on a not so good of a product.

Before we went to bed, mai Kumbi called to tell us she would bring us some beans and kale. This was from out of the blues. I like this because the fact that she feels compelled to want to give us some product from the field could mean that she wants us happy because she is benefiting. I used to ask her for some kale and there is a young man who is Kumbi's best friend who stays close to us, who usually goes to the plot, and he is someone they could just give, for him to bring the kale to us on his way home but this would never happen. Again, my understanding of this is that whatever she was benefiting from us, then, was not good enough for her to feel like she has to  send someone with some of the products for us to eat. I am glad we are where we are now. We waited for her to come, but she called canceling her trip. She said she had to sell the beans she had packed for us because she suddenly got a demand for the beans, and we no longer have mature ones in the field. The excitement she had in her voice was priceless. It was not a problem that we were not getting relish for the day. We are getting something more, heightened productivity. Bean crop is proving to be beneficial, and it will not take a lot of work to convince mai Kumbi that we need to create a bigger space for beans. I now need to work on the next thing to further improve the quality of our lives (theirs and ours) before they outgrow the current benefits. Separate from the plot, I am working on our productivity as well, so that mai Kumbi and her family won't be working for us as such but we will be meeting half way, where we can give and grow the system at the plot the best way we can and they in turn will also bring their best effort.

As for the peanut butter, I tasted it today it is not bad at all. I was blinded by my emotions that were distorting my judgements. For a second, I felt like the walls were crushing in on me, on everything I was trying. The girls, the peanut butter which was not available anymore and with the maize field I have been thinking a lot about our maize which is not as good as what's around.

Now, things are not perfect, but they are certainly not as bad as I had seen them for the past few days.

I wanted to let you know that you inspired me to try eating pumpkin leaves. So we tried them today, and they were just fine. Thank you for opening my eyes to another food source!  

Thanks Su, for telling me this.

I thought to share the preps to cooking the pumpkin leaves.

Select tender leaves from the plant. Pull down the long stringy strands from the leaves. You do this by breaking the tip of the stem and you peel this down the stem all the way to the veins. Then wash the leaves thoroughly to remove any soil. Cut the leaves and boil some water and add a little bit of baking soda to the water. When the water boils, add the chopped pumpkin leaves for a few minutes until the leaves are tender and you can drain the water. You can now cook the leaves like any other greens.

Pieces of the puzzle are coming together, and there is a growing sense of connectedness with people from both the plot and the peanut butter business. We are finally tempering with the line that clearly cuts social from economic relationships in life. Apo is a visionary in that he has something he sees in the peanut butter industry, and he has been at this for years. He is willing to stretch himself to see this project grow. My sister and I, on the other hand, have found a potential income generator in selling peanut butter, and it has to be a consistent supply for us to win over our customers. We now communicate with Apo beyond just business and profit making. I feel like sometimes he goes out of his way to try and address our need to keep a consistent supply  of peanut butter. Last week, we had a brief moment when we didn't have any stock, and  Apo had not processed any peanut butter, he had no nuts and he had not planned to use the money he had, until he paid his child's school fees. We were stuck, but we understood him. He surprised us when he went to buy nuts before he paid his child's school fees. We had to sell our peanut butter like we never did before. For the first time since we dealt with him, we didn't have cash upfront for him, and we knew he had less than a week to pay for his child's school fees. We were able to raise enough money for the purchase we made and paid him a day before his child had to leave for school. He had also sold enough peanut butter, and he paid for his child's full fees on the exact day of departure, and clearing fees was a requirement for his daughter to be accepted by the school. He gambled with his daughter's fees to manage his business, and from our side, we were able to meet our side of an unspoken agreement of empathy, by making sure we raise money for the purchases we made, on time. He spent about 61% of all his funds, that is, his business capital and personal funds, to pay for his child's fees. This meant that he had to grow his funds again to a stable state. A few days later, my friend who had promised to send something through to help Apo sent some money. My friend did not just help Apo stabilize his business, or my sister and I secure some income. He is also helping an additional family. Apo has people he asks for help from, and he has a daily figure that he gives them. It's a common figure around here, but it can not take care of a person's daily needs. So when I met with Apo we talked about this at length and proposed to dedicate a part of the money he got, to increase the figure to a level that makes some sense, for starters, we can start increasing the wages of one person whom he will call his manager and then we will assess the labor turnover. This has been extremely high in the past and it's not making much sense, because employment is really hard to come by, you would expect that if one finds a job they will hold on it with their dear life, but it's not happening in Apo's business. So, we are now looking at factors that could affect labor turnover, starting with the incentive. If a person gets an amount that can cover the basics, can they stay? If not, we will have to look at other factors until we get things right. Then, if the labor is happy, my prediction is that there will be increased productivity, which will allow the business to afford paying its employees right on its own.

We got a chance to go with Apo's daughter to school, it was such an experience. She wanted to feel how it was like to be dropped off at school by guardians. She did not have one adult, but my sister, my friend and her boyfriend ended up going. My friend's boyfriend drove us and we didn't pay for fuel. I liked how we all were pulling resources together just to make this happen.

Lovely ladies!  Great photo!

My pumpkin plants are being affected by white mildew. The female flowers have started showing, I am wrapping them up with mint leaves, my hope is that the mint smell will keep pests away. For the mildew, I covered the leaves with soda water, I hope it works. This was after I had removed most of the affected leaves

We had plenty of rain non stop a few weeks back, and now we haven't had rain in a while, the maize is now thirsty for water, if it doesn't rain soon, we will have tall stalks of maize, but without healthy cobs in almost all the fields in my area.

Mai Kumbi came with our first revenue from the beans. She is excited with what we got from beans. She is geared to work. My plan is working, she is shifting her focus from her usual business of the day and she is becoming more and more attracted to my regeneration project. She couldn't care less about the term, but the benefits and the approach to doing things is what she is buying into and I think it's still okay. The basic truth about our capability and what we can do to help ourselves out of poverty is all that matters, and it cannot be anything that doesn't value the environment where our wealth comes from and also people around us, who help in steering the direction of things. My challenge now is I am little stuck. The level of desire she has to work on the plot, is something I expected to  happen after I had mapped what to plant and where, for us to increase our revenue. I also thought I would have grown in terms of equipment. This has come so much sooner and I am a little panicked. This state she is in is a window I do not want to miss. Right now we are working to just get enough revenue to put food on the table without struggling. This month, we managed raise half of the amount she needs per month for her food supply. The unfortunate part is that the bean plants will not be giving as much because its been a while since we started harvesting from them. This means with whatever we plant, we have to wait for a while before we can get any product. This opens up a gap of no income that is not good for my plan.

With the peanut butter, again our stock is almost finished and Apo has just managed to transport the peanuts he got, he will be processing the nuts today and hopefully we will be able to get some bottles tomorrow. He called me and he is flipping on me , on the idea of prioritizing paying one person well for starters. I don't think there is any machinery that can replace a person in the success of a business. For example, everything in his little workshop stopped for him to be able to go and buy nuts. As long as we want to grow this business he needs more than himself. And anyways he doesn't know that by him just paying one person enough money for survival, he forms part of a group of people who "ARE THE CHANGE IN THE WORLD" again not that he cares, but I do and it's these little inputs from evryone that shifts things. I believe his business can afford to pay one person well, all it will take is a lot of hard work from him and that other person he will pay well in producing the peanut butter and then my sister and myself in marketing. I am yet to have another meeting with him on this.

As for me I went to the dentist today and I covered everything without any help this time, and I am so glad. I will be putting dental care routine in my budget , at least cleaning of my teeth. I am feeling the cost that has come with not having had the opportunity to visit the dentist in the past years. So with health, for mai Kumbi and us, we have to be able to access nutritious food and keep ourselves away from the hospital. This will reduce financial and time resources that go towards medication. I am a little disappointed though, the tooth I had filled is the one  that needed some filling again today. I still believe the headaches I have had in the past weeks have a lot to do with my teeth, though I was told it might be something else. I hope I am wrong.

I have started Apo's thread called "What it takes to build a legacy". It's not only when we grow big, are we able to influence others, but even when things seem to be difficult. Just living life the best way we can, can be an opportunity in itself for those that are around. Apo is creating an opportunity for us financially, but it doesn't mean he has his life figured out. I am helping him financially, and I definitely have my things jumbled up.  We are relevant to each other, now as who we are, and together we certainly can.

The female flowers on my pumpkin plant turned yellow before even flowering. I am putting a shade as its very hot these days and it could be the reason why. Both the female flowers had no bite or prick on them, also the white mould is not as much as it was, so it's encouraging.

Rufaro, I saw your note about lots of rain a while ago and no water for the maize.
Can you capture any of that rainwater to use later?