In which Dr. Mensah takes us on a tour of the Ayoum village household waste project on September 26.
A VILLAGE TO CHANGE WASTE DISPOSAL
The project, simply stated, is to take household food waste, separate the organics from the recyclables, turn the organics into compost and amend the soil at the village farm. This is one of several projects that Dr. Mensah has piloted in Kumasi.
SOURCE SEPARATION
A two-tiered exercise with labeled bags so the data can be documented.
WEIGHING AND COMPOSTING
Not far from the village, the materials are weighed and composted. The oldest pile in this photo was only 4 weeks old. Organic material breaks down quickly in the tropics but as you can see the piles are heavy with corn cobs and fibrous plantain peels.
VILLAGE PALM OIL OPERATION
This operation has nothing to do with Dr. Mensah’s project but the villagers were happy to share their knowledge so we stopped and learned about it. After mashing the palm nuts, they boil them down into cooking oil.
MASH
Close ups of the mashing process.
BOIL AND PRESS
The mash is refined into oil over a wood fire and then pressed.
CUTLASS AND COOKIE BAG
Around here, the word for machete is cutlass. Camille had fun getting to know two young men, the younger of whom was carrying a cutlass. Both Eric and the child posed with it. It appears that the boy is wearing a cookie bag or a flour sack over his shorts.
MORE CUTLASSES
Here’s the two young men together, one with his bow and gang sign, the other with arrows and his cutlass. A woman asked to have her photo taken and Camille happily obliged.
MIGHT
Demonstrating his might, the young man shot an arrow into the trunk of a banana tree.
EVERYBODY GETS INTO THE PICTURE
Before we knew it, everyone wanted their picture taken. What a great group of friendly, happy people!
FOOD PREP
A woman toasts ground fermented corn into gari and another group pounds corn into banku, two African staples made for eating with stew like fufu.
WATTLE AND WADDLE
Bob stands in front of a house made from sticks and mud. A pair of birds, one chicken and one guinea hen waddle off companionably with their chicks and keets following behind.
TOILET
Jeremy and Justin made sure to check it out. Not much more than a hole in the ground.
REFUSE PIT AND OKRA
We paused by the refuse pit, noticing the plastic and pharmaceuticals. A good example of what Dr. Mensah’s household waste project seeks to ameliorate. Bob and Camille noticed an unknown food plant and found out that it is was local okra (to the left of the happy couple.)
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[Latest] * [Troutsfarm] * [A Two-Birthday Month] * [FS2BD Construction Continues] * [A New Goat] [Around the Yard and Gardens] * [Wetland Walk] * [Bopping Around the Kumasi Markets] * [Ayoum Village]
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