Last week we were very priveledged to receive a visit from long term FWS vounteer and permaculture guru – Corky! Corky was on his way to give some agricultural advice to a project in Uganda and managed to squeeze in some time to visit his favourite place in the whole wide world (well that’s what he told us anyway).

While he was here Corky was able to give Don and Glen some background and advice on all things farmy and constructiony and even managed to get his hands dirty helping to drain out the aquifer and do some digging. We all really enjoyed being taken on a site tour of the project by 'the Corkinator' and asked a zillion questions about the background of FWS and why different decisions were made during the construction and set-up phases. We were also able to ask his much valued opinion on some of the challenges that the amazing 2010 team are facing (Just how do you make a single crate of beer last a week?) Most importantly… he was able to fill us in on some of the funny stories that took place during the 14 months that he spent here in 2006.

The highlight of the trip had to be chipsi and an Eagle beer at the infamous ‘Engosheraton’ pub where Corky met his girlfriend Erin in 2007 (she was a volunteer at Edmund Rice at the time). Assistant manager, Mudi and farm manager, John are currently keeping Corky company in Uganda where we know they’ll learn lots and come back with lots of exciting new ideas for us to try out at Kesho Leo.

Patience

By Kate Brooks

When I started at FWS, almost 6 weeks ago now, Sarah warned me that I would spend a lot of time waiting. At the time, this didn’t faze me much at all, as I generally consider myself to be a pretty patient person, even by African standards. But by the time I leave Arusha I expect that I will be the most patient person on earth, that or I will have put my head through the computer screen and there will be a ‘Mzungu down’ in our office.

Indeed Sarah was right, and I do spend a significant amount of my time here waiting- waiting for the response to relatively simple questions from other people, waiting for the rain to stop so I can walk to Kesho Leo, waiting for a page to load on the computer while our internet server slowly ticks over, waiting in line at the market, waiting for the car to start, waiting for the Dala Dala to fill up, waiting for the water to boil, waiting for the power to come back on... moments that you have no control over, where getting annoyed achieves absolutely nothing, moments where there is nothing to do but take a deep breath and swallow a piece of chocolate.

But it is in these moments of frustration that I realise I am much happier here than many other places I have been. And nine times out of ten when the waiting doesn’t produce the result I had hoped for, all that there is left to do is burst out laughing and try again. And I find that the one time out of ten, where everything does fall into place and works out just the way you had hoped, gives such a sense of satisfaction you feel an accomplishment like no other.

Nothing beats the look on one of the Kesho kids’ faces when you see a light bulb go off above their head and something just clicks. Or making a breakthrough in Swahili and understanding exactly what it is the Tanzanian on the Dala Dala said to you. Or finally getting those photos to load and copy over on to that CD. Or having the insurance product disclosure statement you’ve been searching for, for hours, finally download. It’s in these seemingly trivial accomplishments that I feel as though I have scaled Kilimanjaro and hopped back down the other side.

Despite the waiting I have to say that time here moves very fast. Even when the days seem to drag- the weeks fly by. And I am truly very thankful for being able to be a part of the FWS team and experience. It is amazing how quickly Arusha has become familiar and the Vollage has become ‘home’. Amazing how something that once seemed so foreign is now the norm and you fall into a day to day routine that is comfortable but never boring. When I told people I was coming here many remarked that they could ‘never do that’. To which I said then and would still say now ‘rubbish’. EVERYONE should do something like this in their lifetime. I cannot sing the praises of FWS enough and would encourage anyone interested in Africa to volunteer here in Arusha. It’s not ‘too hard’ at all and a rewarding experience like no other.

At the absolute worst, you’ll learn a great lesson in patience.

Maize smut fungus: turning a disease into food

By Don Lotter, Ph.D.

One of the common "diseases" of maize in humid areas like Arusha is a fungus known as corn (maize) smut. When we harvested our maize in January I was surprised at the number of maize ears that were infected with the fungus - the most I've ever seen in a crop. The fungus appears quite ugly and the Africans discard it. The word "smut", now used for pornography, originated from different forms of this fungus, Ustilago, that infect the grass family.

However, the native peoples of Mexico and Central America, the very people who domesticated and gave us maize, consider maize smut a culinary delicacy, known as huitlacoche (pronounced weetlakochey).

A rule of mine that I have stood by for decades is that whenever a native people have a food that is unknown to Westerners but have been eating it for likely over a thousand years - I usually try it. I consider this kind of cultural "screening" to be more reliable than scientific research on new foods - too many of the potential new "foods" that scientists have deemed good for us have turned out to give health problems over the long term.

Like a fine mushroom, the huitlacoche has a delicate taste. I like to pan toast it. An Internet search for huitlacoche will offer up a number of recipes for it. A number of North American chefs call it the "Mexican Truffle".

I have eaten it raw as well. I demonstrated this to my maize harvest team. When I showed up the next day still alive I think they were moderately convinced.

Having done some wild mushroom hunting in northern California, I've learned a few rules about that hobby. One is to find out if one of your target mushrooms has any look-alikes that are poisonous. Huitlacoche has none. There's no mistaking the maize smut fungus.

I would like to rewrite this as an article for the Tanzanian newspapers. In a region where hunger and malnutrition is an issue, and where maize is the primary crop, the maize smut fungus can be a source of valuable protein and nutrients.







Above: Huitlacoche tacos.