Biochar, Laundry, and Butterfly Sanctuary – July 6

Thanks to our many friends and advisors, our days in Ghana so far have been going very well. This morning, we visited the Soil Research Institute (SRI) in Kumasi, where some of the most extensive research on biochar in the world has been done. Biochar is a substance which is produced by charring organic matter in an anaerobic environment. It has many benefits, particularly the fact that it significantly increases crop yields when put into the soil. Therefore, Ghanaian biochar scientists are trying to increase biochar usage in agriculture. Last year’s Pavlis group started helping with the education side of this effort by talking to rural farmers about the benefits of biochar (which are not yet widely known by the general public) and organizing a small garden biochar experiment for school children in the village of Babianeha.

We plan on continuing the school garden experiments at various locations, but we wanted to meet with SRI to find out how else we could support the efforts of the biochar researchers. We met with Dr. Edward Calys, who generously took the time out of his busy schedule to sit with us and explain the current state of biochar usage in Ghana. He was very passionate and proud about the progress that has been made in recent years. So far, Ghana is putting one biochar reactor in each region of the country, which is far ahead of most countries in the world. However, this number of reactors is still not enough to allow farmers in rural areas the opportunity to use biochar.

Dr. Calys told us that what he needs most is more resources and help with improving the technology of their biochar reactors. So, we proposed to him the idea of starting an international senior design project for engineering students at Michigan Tech, whose aim would be to improve the reactor design. We gave him the appropriate paperwork to fill out, and hope to hear back from him soon.

Next, Dr. Calys introduced us to a director at SRI, as well as Dr. Edward Yeboah, the head biochar researcher. Both of them were very kind and welcomed us to the area. We then got to see some biochar for ourselves, since one of our great FORIG drivers, Godwin, was bringing some back for Emmanuel’s research. Dr. Calys also made arrangements for us to visit the nearest biochar reactor when we come back to Kumasi in a few weeks.

Dr. Calys on left showing us biochar

We then drove back to the FORIG campus, where Mollie, Chelsea, and Helena went to eat at the canteen while Mike and Clayton went into town with our other FORIG driver and pal, Govina, to get fitted for some Ghanaian shirts. At the canteen, which is a nice, open air restaurant of sorts for students and staff, the girls had some rice and veggies, along with a new soft drink we have discovered, called Alvaro. After finishing our meal, we met a student from the civil engineering department at KNUST who got very excited when he found out that we were from Michigan (he said he had read travel guides about Michigan) and sat at our table to find out about what we were doing in Ghana. We were very impressed that he finished an entire plate of banku (a dense sour dough made from cassava and maize) and soup during the course of our conversation; most of us usually have some trouble finishing our food here because it is so filling.

After lunch, Mollie, Chelsea, and Helena went to visit Naomi, the woman from the marketing department at FORIG who has been helping us with the advertising for the Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary. We gave her a draft of an info brochure for the sanctuary, and she generously told us she would work on designing a brochure (called flyers here in Ghana), road sign, and info poster over the weekend. We still need some information to complete these documents, but this coming week we hope to visit Duasidan again to get the input of the villagers and wrap up our lingering questions.

The girls then went to Emmanuel’s house to do some laundry- the Ghanaian way. We learned how to wash our clothes by hand using several buckets of water for washing and rinsing. We were accompanied by some of Emmanuel’s children, who actually took some time out from playing in the yard every once in a while to help us with some of the clothes washing.

Laundry with some help from small hands

Meanwhile, Mike and Clayton were shopping for essentials in the Central Kumasi Market, after getting fitted for their shirts. They were able to get a view of the entire market (largest one in West Africa!), which spans a huge area at their tailor. They made it back to Emmanuel’s house just in time to learn how to do some laundry themselves, and then we all squeezed into Govina’s truck to drive a half-hour outside of Kumasi to the guesthouse at the Bobori Butterfly Sanctuary, where we planned to stay the night.

Driving with Govina (who has driven us many places over the past few days) has been a lot of fun, and we have become familiar with quite a few hip new Ghanaian/African songs during the long drives. It was dark when we arrived at Bobori, but we could already see how great this location was. It was about a ten-minute drive through the forest to get there, but the guesthouse was very nice, with beautiful forest-murals painted on the bedroom walls, a well-equipped kitchen, and even a “room for relaxing”, which consisted of an outdoor patio with chairs and a table. Before the electricity was scheduled to be turned off at 9pm, we had time to make ourselves some spaghetti with vegetables (including a tomato-sized type of white eggplant the guys had gotten from the market earlier in the day), and enjoy the “room for relaxing” before turning in for the night.