In the age of wikipedia and google, it's easy to think that if there's information out there in the world, we can have it. Instantly. But remember back when things were on paper, or just in people's heads?
My main goal for the past week or so has been to learn as much as I can about the blocks of land (agricultural parcels in this area are divided into blocks, based on the distribution of the irrigation canals) that we are considering for expansion of the project. Oxfam has introduced SRI in two blocks this year, and we want to expand into more blocks next year - the hard part is choosing the blocks. So I'm trying to learn anything I can about the blocks: how many people are part of the irrigation association, whether there are any other organizations operating in the area, how well their drainage canals work, topographic and agronomic characteristics, etc.
I've been told that some agronomists who work for the local development agency have some of this information, and that there might even be maps and aerial photos of the blocks we're considering, but the people at the development agency don't answer their phones. Voice mail is one of the things I really miss from home. I've met with the committee of the irrigation association that serves all of the blocks we're looking at, but they don't like to acknowledge differences between the blocks. They tell me that everyone has the same problems with water management, that everyone is actively involved in the association, that everyone has a lot of flooding - eventually they told me to stop asking the same questions over and over because they're just going to give me the same answers for every block.
So what's next? I can try going to the development agency that won't answer their phones and hope to find someone there, but nobody is at work today because of tropical storm Chantal. I can also skip over the committee and go straight to the farmers to ask them questions - but nobody is in the fields today either because of the storm. So today I'll read my Creole phrase book and do some yoga and wait for the storm to pass and start again tomorrow.
My main goal for the past week or so has been to learn as much as I can about the blocks of land (agricultural parcels in this area are divided into blocks, based on the distribution of the irrigation canals) that we are considering for expansion of the project. Oxfam has introduced SRI in two blocks this year, and we want to expand into more blocks next year - the hard part is choosing the blocks. So I'm trying to learn anything I can about the blocks: how many people are part of the irrigation association, whether there are any other organizations operating in the area, how well their drainage canals work, topographic and agronomic characteristics, etc.
I've been told that some agronomists who work for the local development agency have some of this information, and that there might even be maps and aerial photos of the blocks we're considering, but the people at the development agency don't answer their phones. Voice mail is one of the things I really miss from home. I've met with the committee of the irrigation association that serves all of the blocks we're looking at, but they don't like to acknowledge differences between the blocks. They tell me that everyone has the same problems with water management, that everyone is actively involved in the association, that everyone has a lot of flooding - eventually they told me to stop asking the same questions over and over because they're just going to give me the same answers for every block.
So what's next? I can try going to the development agency that won't answer their phones and hope to find someone there, but nobody is at work today because of tropical storm Chantal. I can also skip over the committee and go straight to the farmers to ask them questions - but nobody is in the fields today either because of the storm. So today I'll read my Creole phrase book and do some yoga and wait for the storm to pass and start again tomorrow.
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