Walking Around at Jembo, by Cory

11 pound cabbage a student sold to us. The students grow
much of their own food to keep expenses down.

We live at the University. It is a little less than
 a mile to the church. The old mission residence
area is not shown

We are working on extending our visas. The secretary at the national Wesleyan office is helping us get documents certified and submitted. Prayers appreciated that all goes well within the next few days. Also for the truck paperwork which is taking longer than expected.

 The academic dean, Benson, has helped us much with getting settled in, and recently took me on a walk including the old residential part of the mission property.

We could see much of the property from a hill. I don't think a person could walk all the way around the property in a day.

The well and water tank in the background was for
irrigating the nearby gardens, but is now working now.

We saw many fields that are worked by renters or students.  Mostly corn, soybeans or sunflower, many about 3-5 acres in size, tilled by hand tools or oxen, hand harvested.

Benson at the old residence area

The first settled area of the mission was in the early 1900's.  It was left because it was close to a small river and too many mosquitos so the mission moved a bit farther away.

Some of the original trees are still there and large now. The land is still producing crops well. Benson commented that "the ground here doesn't tire easily.

Cool huge apple ring acacia.
The pods are eaten by cattle, both the tree
and the cattle fertilize fields

Hundreds of acres of unimproved scrub/pasture. Seems like productivity could be greatly increased even leaving some of the bush and adding better grasses and trees.

The land could be forest but demand for trees is high for lumber, cooking firewood/charcoal and firing clay bricks for construction.

Land that is neglected tends to draw squatters so there is some urgency beyond the economic benefits of using the land

One of two old Ford gasoline tractors.
I was told this one runs but the last short drive it took
burned way more gas than it should.