More Biodigesters

Adding a cow stomach as "starter" to the biodigester

Dan did a great job on his Imperial biodigester

Plant a seed and watch it grow… Works with plants and biodigesters. The first successful biodigester in Don Oscar has attracted interest from PCVs all over Peru. Projects are now underway in Piura, Ancash and La Libertad. I spent the day with Dan Flemming in Nuevo Imperial to help install his new biodigester tube. Dan made a beautiful presentation to many of the locals on the theory and operation of the digester. He also had two local organic farming advocates on hand to extol the virtues of the Biol (liquid fertilizer). It turns out, this stuff is being sold for upwards of 2 soles a liter, as a natural insecticide and plant conditioner.

The whole discussion raised my biodigester interest to the next level. It took me back to my Grandmother’s side in her organic garden. She studied with JJ Rodale, one of the pioneers in the field, who started Organic Gardening Magazine. She produced her own Biol in a bucket from the neighbor’s cow manure, had a compost pile, and spent hours hand-picking Japanese beetles from her plants. Dan’s guest echoed her theory that, while Biol is probably not an insecticide, it does improve the plant health to the point where its natural defenses protect it from pest attack. Anyway, I’ve now got more work to do, promoting sales of Biol and educating local farmers on the benefits.

Dan did a beautiful job of constructing the BD trench – exactly to spec, with hoop bases in all the right places. We lined the bottom with sand and the sides with cardboard – not as durable as the Styrofoam, but certainly cheaper. The tube inflation was, of course, the fun part. We didn’t have much of a breeze, but still managed to squeeze air into the big tube and lay it neatly in the trench. The only bad part for me was getting bitten to distraction by some small unseen bugs. I found relief in a small bottle of alcohol – the rubbing kind.

Peace Corps HQ has a new training plan called “Focus In – Train Up”. What it means is : give more in-depth training on fewer topics. As I life-long generalist, this rubs against my grain. My tool related analogies of wanting “more tools on my toolbelt” and “If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”, apparently struck a chord with the Admin types, who are re-thinking the policy. I feel it is important to have a general knowledge of many possible solutions. When we get to sites, we then look around and see what problems exist – and more critically, are important to the locals – we have a bigger “tool belt” (more solutions) to offer. The idea of only learning one project in great detail – like Cocinas Mejoradas – is limiting.

The Patron Saint celebrations continued for yet another night, which impacted me – literally – more than usual. I was walking home and came around a corner past a group of teens, who shouted at me as I went past. They were actually warning me about a bomb they had just lit in the street, but just then it went off about 15 feet away from me. Apparently, my heart is in fair shape, since I’m sure it took a good hit. I felt the impact of the shock wave all over my body and my ears rang like crazy, as I was “pushed” into the wall beside me. I can only imagine the trauma caused by an IED, as this was quite a jolt. I was stunned for several seconds, unable to move. The ringing took 2 days to go away. Even more tragically, I heard the next day that some poor kid was taken to the hospital, with damage to a hand and arm. These explosions, which are so common during celebrations, have taken on a whole new edge for me and made me even more of a Humbug – if that were possible – of the party practices here. Surely, there is a better way to “celebrate” than all-night drinking and explosive devices. At a minimum, there needs to be some better supervision of the explosives.

Three more earthquakes (5.1, 4.8, 4.4) in S Peru this week. Didn’t even notice one of them. Locals say that there are always more quakes this time of year “when the weather changes”. They could be right. And the weather has definitely changed here – “winter” here means the morning marine layer of clouds stays around until noon or even lingers all day, which has lowered temperatures. I’ve taken down my roof shade tarp and turned off the fan. Much to the surprise of the townsfolk, I’m still wearing shorts and NO jacket. To look at them, you’d think we were in the Arctic. Temperature is upper 60’s in the AM and 70’s during the day. Perfectly comfortable to me, though I do bemoan the lack of sunshine.

While I’m still enjoying the current glut of mandarin oranges, I discovered a new taste treat – fried coconut, coated with a tad of sugar and refried. I know it’s not as healthy as an orange, these little morsels are “wicked good” as they say Down East. The other Bad Boy treat in town are the Chicharone pancitas – a small fried pork sammich, with a slice of fried camote (yam) onion and a squirt of extra oil. I could go on…but I’m getting hungry.

Peru is a pretty “Green” country. They get 90% of electric power from hydro plants – most of which are NOT dams, but simple diversions of river water. Sadly, they are building gas-fired plants to give a market for new domestic gas production. They’re also totally self-sufficient for petroleum – no foreign oil needed here. Peru has only 68 vehicles per 1000 pop (compared to 808/1000 in the US), so transportation is MUCH more efficient. Oil consumption is just 1% of US level. Unfortunately, there are no emissions testing and most vehicles emit clouds of smoke. Recycling is well established in many areas – buyers go around on converted bikes or motos and buy door-to-door, selling to scrap yards. On top of that, most all beer and much of the soda is sold in returnable bottles. In fact, Coke just introduced a new returnable with a plastic screw-off cap. Water and (sadly) an increasing amount of soda is being sold in plastic. Peru’s biggest contribution of greenhouse gasses is the deforestation in the Amazon basin, though this accounts for only 0.4% of the world total. Sadly, Peru is one of the countries that is most affected by Global Warming – its glaciers are melting at a shocking rate.

The first solar water pump installation was tested – and passed with flying colors. The little pump-that-could lifted water from about 15 ft down and delivered it to a storage tank at the house – an additional lift of 12 feet at a distance of 215 ft. We got almost 350 gallons from the first day, in spite of the lower solar insolation caused by seasonal clouds and the sun being about as far away as it gets. Another issue was that we were close to running the well dry. It filled up the next day, but we’re right at the limit of what this well can yield. We can now proceed with cleaning and disinfecting the well and building a protective cover to keep out the animals and trash and dirt that has been blowing in. Also, by digging it out, there may be increased water. The plan was to share the water with the brother-in-law next door, but there seems to be some internal politics going on. Not sure how to solve this.

I enjoyed an afternoon with my friend and fellow PCV Dan. We went out to visit a guy who is selling Biol – the lovely liquid fertilizer that is produced by the biodigester. He is making his in batches in 55 gallon drums. He just puts manure and water in the drum, seals it (with a gas vent) and waits 3-4 months (or until the gas stops). He then bottles it in used soda bottles and sells the stuff for 3 soles (US$1.15) per liter. It was unclear how much he actually sells, but if we can sell any significant quantity of Biol at that price, Usevio will be a very happy (and wealthier) fellow. He produces about 150 liters per week !!

After that, we met another PCV, Pat from Lunahuana to help him with teaching a business class. We’ll be teaching a segment on “ethics” in late July. Should be interesting teaching ethics in a country where bribes are a way of life. So much of the business here depends on it. If you want to sell supplies to the Muni, some kick-back is simply expected. If you want to avoid paying a traffic ticket, just “tip” the cops. If you want to jump the line at the bank – the door guard can arrange that. And nobody will bat an eye.

I noticed a HUGE influx of flowers on the corner this morning – for Fathers’ Day. Turns out, the ladies say that this weekend will out-sell Moms Day 2:1. I still think it’s sad that all the flowers go to the dead. Still, I get to enjoy the beautiful aroma all weekend. On the other hand, the big Baccus truck was unloading stacks of beer cases. Baccus is THE major Peruvian liquor distributor (60% of beer and 70% of hard stuff – no mention of wine). Fuel for the fire.