Hi everyone!  Sorry I haven’t written anything in two months.

I have been finished with the project since February 22, 2012.  For those whom didn’t know, I extended my time here an extra month (total of ~ 7 months) to see the project through and make sure it has the best possible chance to be  sustainable.  I just arrived back to San Francisco after personal travel for 1 month.

Thank you donors for helping because the surplus funds you contributed went towards my extra month stay (not my personal travel).  Tantamount, and the highlight of this blog posting, the surplus funded a training for the rural villages surrounding Wat Opot Children’s Community (WOCC).  The target beneficiaries were people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) and/or low income family households.  Thus, BRAVO for everyone’s kind donations 8 months ago!  Thank you so much.

Training
I planned and coordinated the first community training, which was conducted on 2/20/2012.  Twenty Five target beneficiaries representing 15 villages, PLHIV and/or low income family households, were chosen through WOCC’s already existing service community.  These 25 individuals are leaders of their respective villages surrounding WOCC.  These leaders will hopefully utilize and share what they learned with others in their village.

Basic sustainable agriculture techniques were taught in a one day training and workshop performed by Global Service Corps’ (GSC) partner CEDAC.  CEDAC has been promulgating sustainable agriculture and food security in Cambodia for the past 14 years and is a key partner to GSCs and WOCCs work in Takeo province. 

The CEDAC Khmer trainer was very impressive, effective and efficient in teaching two styles of composting, three styles of raised beds, and liquid compost.  In addition, everyone observed the demonstration center (raised bed, compost, water storage) we built to see the beneficial results of using these valuable techniques.  These techniques can be especially critical to this province because it is one of the driest and lags behind in agricultural production relative to other regions in Cambodia, if not, most of SE Asia. The itinerary consisted of ice breakers, setting goals and expectations for the entire day, discussion sessions, promulgating sustainability and organic over conventional farming and chemical use, how to utilize feasible and readily available resources, how to form farming groups to sale their produce to CEDAC through market incentives, lunch!, and hands-on training of all techniques, among others. 

In summary, the training was successful, community attendees had a fun and fruitful time, and there was chatter amongst all attendees about the possibilities with their new found knowledge.  The total cost of the one day training was $269.88 and approximately $238.73 is remaining for a second training.  Again, congratulations everyone for donating and giving this community a chance to thrive. 

Demonstration Center
As a reminder, the Demonstration Center consisted of three key sections: 1) demonstration plot/bed, 2) rain water storage pond, and 3) gray water filter system.  All three planned sections were completed and are fully functional.  Though, the gray water filter system will continually be improved via future WOCC volunteers. 

The following pictures is a visual representation of the Demonstration Center progress … a photo time line:

 
         Before (1)

         Before (2)

        Before (3)

Bed Preparation (1) 

Bed Preparation (2)

Bed Preparation (3)

Bed Preparation (4)

  Final Raised Bed

Planting and Transplanting

Completed Demo Center

Gray Water Filter System (1)

Gray Water Filter System (2)

Gray Water Filter System (3)

Hafir (Rainwater Storage Pond)

Seedlings Growing (1)

Seedlings Growing (2)

Seedlings Growing (3)

Fruiting Vegetables (1)

Fruiting Vegetables (2)

Fruiting Vegetables (3)

Final Garden View During Training

Composting
In summary, we generated approximately 751 kg (1652.2 lbs, 0.83 tons) of compost over 8 months from a total of 12 piles.  We utilized resources (food scraps, dry leaves, twigs/branches, cow/chicken/pig manure, wood/leaf ash, native soil) on-site.  Currently, four compost piles (expected to generate ~ 70 kg on average) are being managed and WOCC has committed to continually build and utilize compost daily.  The compost was and is being used to grow vegetables and amend the clayey soil, hence, supplementing food and costs and improving the land.

Final Dance Competition … at least with Brian!
We held a third dance competition with kids of WOCC on the night of 2/21/2012.  I am happy to report the joy of the night, the smiles on their face, the show of support for each other, the understanding of working as a team, and the confidence that has grown in each since we started group and individual dance competition 7 months ago.  The following pictures and videos should say it all:

Videos from Competition:

Not Goodbye, but See You Later
The work has only begun.  GSC hopes to send more volunteers to follow up on partner development and help coordinate future follow-up trainings.  Also, WOCC will hopefully conduct monitoring of the 25 individuals whom attended, however, all depends on more funding.  As for me … I would like to go back to WOCC annually so I can work directly with the children and the surrounding community via another environmental day as well help WOCC further develop their organic gardens.

Took a morning hike to Phnom (Mount) Chisor to watch the sunrise.  It’s approximately a 3 km stroll through several villages from Wat Opot.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves …

Cambodia Pt.3_07-16-2011 to 01-23-2012

It has been busy the past two to three weeks.  The children were playing, the Khmer staff were maintaining and upgrading the property, holiday spirit and festivities were in the air, fish were transferred to adjacent ponds, crops were sown, and the volunteers - including me - were conducting fun and enriching activities for the children. 

Environmental Day
I finally completed the environmental day at WOCC!  I was able to get this thing off the back-burner thanks to a volunteer, now friend, Laura Kovac from Canada, for helping plan and execute.  We decided to make it a teen leadership day as well, hence, the official title “WOCC’s Annual Environmental and Teen Leadership Day: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”  The day was filled with education, a slide show (brief), and fun games and activities centered around the 3 R’s.

We met with 8 teens a day before to explain their roles and expectations as team leaders (i.e. the need for enthusiasm, communication, and controlling their team - age range of 2 to 18!).  They did very well and we are so proud of them all :)

We played “How to Make a Khmer Sandwich … Blindfolded” to start as an ice-breaker, which presented two morals: 1) miscommunication and misunderstandings and 2) the freedom to choose a course of action, but that individuals actions will affect others/the community.  Thank you Somnang/McPhan and Srey Leak/Srey Nou …

Other activities included the following:

Team Formation, Face Painting and Team Chants …

Scavenger Hunt using Recyclables and Reusable Wastes as collectable benchmarks …

Boats made of plastic bottles and salvageable materials with boat races …

Salvageable Rice “Sack Race” (later used for a Cowpea Sack Garden) …

Wheelbarrow Race …

The day was topped off with an awards and superlative ceremony after meditation.  Every group won a reward or prize.  Everyone got a snack for their efforts.  Trophies (made from salvageable and recyclable material) and a snack was given for places 1 to 4.  The rest of the other four groups received superlatives complete with a certificate (Most Athletic, Best Team Players, Loudest Team, Best Spirit) and a snack of course. 

A special reward of 1,000 Riel was given to each of the team leaders for their efforts and contribution to the environmental day.  FYI - They all shared their reward with their team members by immediately buying each treats from the WOCC Cafe!

It is the hope next year WOCC can extend this to the children and teens of the nearby community.  I hope we can make this an annual or periodic event.

Demonstration Center
To accompany the lemongrass planted ~ 2 months ago  … we transplanted the Tomato, Eggplant, and Bell Pepper seedlings in the bed.  Second, we directly planted Carrot, Chives, Jicama, Cilantro, and a variety of flowers throughout (Calendula, African Marigold, Himalayan Marigold, Morning Glory trellising saucers) from seed.  Then, we placed 22 cowpea seeds each in two Rice Sacks filled with a topsoil, compost and gravel core mix.  This is also known as a Sack Garden, which takes advantage of vertical gardening with limited space.  Finally, we placed a Cucumber Seedling, 2 Winter Melon Seedlings, and a Sponge Gourd Seedling in salvaged water jug containers.  Everything seems to be growing well.

Pest still persists on the tomato or eggplant leaves, but since our garden is small we simply hand remove them.

One problem remains, groundwater is coming up through our water storage ditch.  This is proving problematic, especially since the groundwater flows under the demonstration bed whether the ditch is water-filled with or without a liner.  ~1/4 of the bed slightly sloughed.  We have a couple of tweeks to do, but I feel confident we’ll get something solved … Cross your fingers.

Composting
We have just harvested the 8th pile, yielding a total of ~ 524 kg or ~1153 lbs since I arrived.  We currently have five more currently going with about 2 more weeks before we harvest the next one.

Potato Towers
Unfortunately, the second tower failed.  We planted a coconut potato or what seems to be a type of yam which vines.  How did it fail?  I made the quasi-narcissistic mistake of thinking I knew something when I actually didn’t. I cut the vines thinking it would increase root production.  Oh boy was I wrong!  Later I was told by the Khmer that these types of potato’s are typically grown by trellising and the vines are allowed to fruit.  Then, the fruit is picked.  It dawned on me … pick the fruit, then, root production will increase!  Nevertheless, one survived which was the one where no vine was cut :|

An interesting lesson worth sharing… something may have been lost in translation.  Any tuber grown underground is referred to as a potato in Khmer: “Dum-long”.  There is no distinction between a yam or potato.  If I clearly knew this was a yam prior to planting; then, I would have likely said no when one of the teens asked me to plant this type.   Nevertheless … MY BAD!!! :0

We had a holiday celebration with the Wat Opot Children, Staff and Volunteers (100+) at Rabbit Island, which is a get-away location off the beach town of Kep.  Kep is famous for its Kampot Pepper Crabs and beautiful views of vivid mountains and gentle ocean bays.  We all had a great time! 

From Cambodia Pt.3_07-16-2011 to 01-23-2012

We also had a Christmas Day celebration … decked out the meditation area with Christmas lights, a tree, and a round table in the middle of the room with a flower centerpiece I collected from our gardens.  We had a Khmer style dance party!  I miss you all back at home, nevertheless, my family here has been good to me …

From Cambodia Pt.3_07-16-2011 to 01-23-2012

First Training in Cambodia, The Wheels are On …
I planned and conducted a pilot training with a potential partner non-profit organization, Cambodian Children’s Painting Project (CCPP), Directed by Sandi Basset from Canada, which I soon learned was the closest thing to a Californian accent outside of California!

CCPP services (education, food, health care, and enrichment through art based activities, among others) street children and their families in Sihanoukville - a beach town in Cambodia.  We hope to conduct follow-up trainings in the future.

CCPP had asked me to conduct a training in sustainable agriculture techniques.  Minimal space and infertile land of their operations center and their community members’ land struck me; thus, I decided to bring vertical gardening techniques (potato towers and sack gardens) and compost to enrich the soil. 

The 1st day I arrived I discussed and trained two of CCPP’s staff and Khmer translators (J.B and Bun Ly) on composting and vertical gardening techniques.  Much to their surprise, they learned they will actually conduct parts of the meeting.  They were both fantastic, well educated and well spoken in both English and Khmer.  I believe the key to community development is about collaboration not solo performances and grabbing most of the attention.  I made sure they were as involved with the training as possible.  All I did was give them a couple of tools to 1) enhance their organizational and management skills, 2) make the meeting run efficiently - my pet peeve is an inefficiently run meeting with 2 hours spent lecturing by one person … bore and yawn! - and, 3) walk through step-by-step on the technical components (composting and vertical gardening).

The 2nd day was the live training and conference with the community and staff.  The training went well. Most everything went as scheduled and the meeting ended earlier than I thought.  The training and conference was 2.5 hours.   There were several changes.   First, people were late (this is typical for rural people in Cambodia) and we started an hour later.  Second, we weren’t able to conduct Sack Garden training because of the now limited time.  However, this is fine because the most important part (group discussion/workshop of their techniques commonly utilized) was carried out.  Third, we moved up the group discussion/workshop prior to lunch and cancelled the second ice breaker because people had to work immediately after lunch.

I planned the meeting, made the introduction, and ran training on specific techniques.  Paramount was JB and Bun Ly running a majority of the meeting such as the Ice Breaker, helped with the technical training and ran the discussion/workshop.  They and other CCPP staff will be key to sustaining future trainings to their community members in sustainable agriculture as well as food security techniques. 

Demonstration Plot
Back at Wat Opot, we started the double-digging technique, which introduces air, fresh compost, and increased soil depth to the prepared soil bed. 

Next is planting the nursed vegetables, but this is currently on hold.  The water storage located adjacent to the demo plot sprung a leak.  I came to find out after the placement of the water that the children saw a snake, took a sharp bamboo stick and began veraciously hacking away at the poor snake as well as the poor liner!  Consequently, groundwater flowed from the lined pond to the subsurface of the soil bed.  A temporary setback and yet another delay before the final planting.  Nevertheless, we’ll get there.

Other Updates
Potato Towers
Potato Tower #1 failed, but we’ll keep trying until we get one to work.  Four more remain and were done slightly different.  The likely reason for problems in tower #1 was the purchasing of wrong seeds via root/eye nodules were carved out.  Towers 2 - 5 have eye/root nodules.  We’ll see soon! The silver lining = we have some extra compost/enriched soil.

Air Layering and Stem Cuttings
The wounded/air layered stems are not dying so they seem to be working.  The stem cuttings dipped in honey rooting hormone did not work.  I did not wrap each in a plastic bag, which imitates a greenhouse.  I thought the outdoor greenhouse would suffice, but the immediate atmosphere was probably too dry and lost much water to evapotranspiration.

The flowers are blooming, the butterflies are coming, pollination is occurring and things are growing.  Also, I just completed a training with a partner organization, Cambodian Children’s Painting Project.  Look for the text version of the blog post coming soon …

Cambodia Pt.2_07-16-2011 to 01-23-2012

I finally got up early to see a SUNRISE.
Vivid soft colors and the REFLECTION of the sky,
what you don’t see is the CRUST in my eyes!  :)
Water lapping, foliage swaying, a party I one day hope to join. 
Popping fish, ripple and tide, looking over my haughty feet
a breath of fresh air, followed by a proud sigh … Enjoy!

Water Storage
Within the demonstration center, A 4 cubic meter plastic lined pond was constructed directly adjacent to the planned demonstration plot/bed.  It will now be easy to access water for watering the demonstration plot daily.

The lined pond, also known as a “Hafir” in GSCs Tanzania program, was designed to collect rainwater during the rainy season and store for the dry season, which started in November and lasts until about June.  According to my calculations, the lined pond stores 4,120 Liters or 1,089 gallons of water.

Three issues may arise (hopefully not more).  First, degradation of the plastic lined Hafir over about 1 year due to UV exposure.  Secondly, mosquito breeding.  I purchased a thicker more durable plastic to address degradation of the plastic liner and may experiment later with lining the inside bottom of the pond with a thin clay layer.  I placed water thriving plants (i.e. water hyacinth and another plant I don’t know the name of) which commonly grows in local ponds to provide extra shade for the liner as well as occupy surface area otherwise available for mosquito breeding.  Alternatively , if mosquito breeding persists, then, I will either place a couple of mosquito eating fish and/or place ~ a cup of vegetable oil to pool on the water surface to minimize mosquito propagation.  Lastly, evaporation of stored water.  I will try a bamboo, tarp, or metal cover to minimize evaporation, although, the water thriving plants may suffice. 

Nursery
The primary nursery where we are growing tomato and eggplant is doing well.  We transplanted most of the tomato seedlings to the secondary nursery or flats.

Wax Gourd and Cucumber - seeded initially in the flats - are doing good, but not all the seeds have germinated.  Sponge gourd takes awhile longer to germinate.  I hope they’ll start sprouting soon.  There has been a vegetable casualty.  The seedling cucumbers were mysteriously cut down by a pest.  I suspect the cutworm.  Any suggestions to control this pest?  I researched and found the cutworm comes out at night and typically attacks seedlings.  Some fixes may include: aluminum, cardboard (toilet paper tubes) or wood ash collars around stems or digging adjacent to cut seedling to remove before they lay more larvae, among others.

Air Layering and Stem Cuttings
Air layering and stem cutting is a technique to propagate a desired plant by stimulating root growth through the hard or softwood of the plants stem.  We want to propagate ornamentals already grown on site (bougainvillea, a woody red flowering shrub, and a beautiful low lying tree).  I will use this technique on a papaya tree soon.

Stem cuttings were taken from new green growth and planted directly in soil media.  However, most plants need to be dipped in a rooting hormone.  I could have purchased a chemical rooting hormone from a market in Phnom Penh, but I used honey, which is a known natural rooting hormone because it can rebuild cell structure.  There is a large batch in reserve here at Wat Opot.

Air layered soft and hardwood stems were started by first wounding or stripping the outside layer of stems.  I packed a ball of compost and coarse sand potting mix around this stripped layer and tied a plastic film, then, a white cloth over.  Roots should start growing from the wounded stem.  I will check in two weeks.

Cambodia Pt.2_07-16-2011 to 01-23-2012

A visual update to Cambodia:

Planting of seeds, flats, gardening/agriculture progress, and ice cream during the weekends for time off in Phnom Penh … Cambodia is starting to grow on me.

2nd Monthly Dance Competition
The second installment of the Wat Opot Dance competition took place Thursday, 10/27/11.  It was a great time and the children improved tremendously since the last competition.  Their rhythm, confidence, creativity and team dynamics, organization and coordination has improved.  Though, the next time we need them to explore other music.  It’s either “On the Floor” or a K-pop star named Hyuna, song “Change”.  It’s a bit like a broken record, but still we are all having a great time … enjoy the videos posted on my Picasa Web Album!  (Note: I am having some trouble posting some videos onto my Picasa so I may post a couple directly onto this blog.)

Demonstration Center
The demonstration center is nearly complete, thereafter, we will be ready to plant once all seedlings are finished nursing.  As discussed before a blackwater drainage and filtering system is being set-up adjacent to the demo plot, which contains pooled water, meandering ditches and will grow native grasses and adapted plants, sugarcane, pineapple, banana trees, and hyacinth and morning glory (kakong) in the pooled ponds.

We planted Lemongrass surrounding the first demonstration plot,which will deter pests such as mosquitoes.  Also, adjacent to the lemongrass we will plant Marigolds, which deters many pests including beetles and nematodes.  Finally, flowers - already grown on-site - will be planted to attract bees and butterflies, which are important to the lifecycle of plants.  Herbs will be planted such as Thai Basil (deters flies and mosquitoes) and mint (companion planted with Tomato to improve its growth and flavor)

As for the actual vegetables to be grown Tomato, Eggplant, Wax Gourd, Sponge Gourd, Cowpea, Jicama, and/or Cucumber.

Nursery Progress
We have prepped the primary bed and sowed two types of seeds obtained from a local organic farmer: Tomato and Eggplant.  The other seeds will be directly sown into the primary nursery or into the bed itself depending if the plant is sensitive to transplant shock.

The secondary nursery flats have already been built as discussed in a previous blog.  A table top has been built to hold the flats at an elevated position.  This table top is located adjacent to the demonstration plot. 

Composting Progress
The fourth compost pile is finished.  As discussed in a previous post, I tried a new technique via stakes to increase compost yield within the same amount of area used.  I expected to double the yield.  Compared to the previous piles we actually quadrupled the yield!  Compost pile #3 yielded ~41 kg and compost pile #4 yielded ~160 kg.  However, I suspect the yield also increased because we were able to dry out the compost better (the air is drier now, few rains), which allowed us to effectively break apart compost/soil clods into smaller pieces.  This increased surface area and allowed us to sieve more compost product.

Check out the community puppies in my photo album if you haven’t seen already.  Also, the second annual dance competition at Wat Opot is included.  The kids are improving, getting more creative, and gaining more confidence!  I am getting other photos of the dance comp. in pieces and will update as I go along.

Cambodia Pt.2_07-16-2011 to 01-23-2012