I have rabbits

Three rabbits in the bottom hutches.  The top hutches are for raising the babies when they come

I got my rabbits this week. Two does and one buck. Neither doe is in heat so I'm trying to get them enough to eat so I can start breeding. I only have about nine months left which is maybe four breeding cycles. I would like to show that a controlled breeding program will produce healthy bunnies more effectively than the traditional colony method (Does and bucks are housed together and will breed anytime. Babies may be killed by others in the colony.)

Feeding rabbits in Ghana, certainly in my part of Ghana, means collecting the food. They don't sell rabbit pellets although I can buy corn and mix with dried pito distillers grains to make a dry feed mix. I've not done that yet. I generally give the bulk of the food in the evening. Roger brings by some food in the morning. The rabbit will eat about its weight in leaves and hay each day and I think they tend to eat more in the evening and early morning than during the day.

This is the start of dry season, so my choices will become more limited and harder to get over time. Right now is it fairly easy to feed the “after season bean vines” collected from the school farm behind my house. I'm looking at the sources for grass and hay – most of it is already dried out.

I built hay racks for the feed into the hutches. The idea is the rabbits will not eat dirty food so you stack the food in a rack and they can pull from it, rather than just putting the food on the floor were they can walk on it (etc.). This is a great theory and works good for two of the rabbits. One of the females thinks the hay rack full of food it is a great place to climb into and eat. The cage is on so sunny side so that might be part of it. She likes to stay up there so the food gets compacted and spoiled. I have to put her food on the floor. This continues to be a learning experience.

I'm happy with having the rabbits, but it does mean that I have additional work to do in the morning and evening. I will need to have a backup when I'm traveling. However, by that time Roger should be done with harvesting and have more free time.

Care Package!!

I got a care package from my mother this week.   THANKS MOM!!!

It was delivered in less than three weeks which is crazy fast.  Although it was held by the Lawra post office rather than delivered to my local post office as addressed.  A fellow teacher was going there anyway so I did not have to travel.  If I conserve the M&M and smarties she sent - added to what I still have from what I brought back from my visit - I might be able to make it through the next 280 days or so.  Ha!.

Dry season garden

I'm bringing two buckets of water to the garden every morning. Every other day I'm bringing two buckets in the evening. I have some plants growing and I am starting more seedlings for orka and kudzu. I'll be planing beans directly and seeing how it works. I will try to plant close together in stages and the harvest for leaves for my consumption as well as for the rabbits. I may need to increase the amount of water I bring. It will be a learning experience like most everything else in the Peace Corps.

Repair of form three blackboard

The contractor did not use enough cement when making the backboards. All of them are somewhat damaged, but the one in the form 3 classroom was particularly bad. Breaking apart with each use.

Blackboard in the form 3 (third year) classroom

Old blackboard chipped away and a new layer of cement is being added to make a new board.

Finishing touches to the cement portion of the new blackboard.
Now if only we could find blackboard paint.

The contractor said they would fix everything in the first six months but this is Ghana and none of the local people believed it. Everyone presumes that the contractor paid bribes to some of the local officials to get the job and to insure that there will no be repairs after the school is handed over. This is what I have been told by multiple people but I don't have any proof other than I've already had to fix the roof, a shutter, a door, and the blackboard. Still, there is no sense complaining, it is the way it is. Everyone just moves ahead with what we can do and makes do with the rest. At least I have some money from the computer room grant to do the repairs. The total cost of the blackboard repair was only about $30 – which is a lot of money to most of the villagers. However, we have been very frugal in the funds from the Peace Corps and have a balance from the money we've saved on other parts of the project.

Health

I was not feeling well most of the week. I think it was partly something I ate (bad can of tomato paste) and partly the weather. The humidity is falling and it is getting hotter. Once I drank some ORS (oral rehydration salts) on the third day of not feeling well I started to feel better. My shoulder pain, cough, and congestion is still present – nothing serious – just annoying. My shoulder pain may be getting slightly worse and may be related to carrying water – (a lot of exercise with one set of muscles in one direction with almost no exercise of other muscles) – but I'm not sure. I have been fetching more water, but the students help it they are around.  I might get more student help in the future.

My congestion may be getting worse as I'm handling grasses and such for the rabbit feed. If it has pollen or spores I'm basically allergic to it. Still – I'm basically fine.


Love always,

John