Equipment delivery next week

Kim dropped off a laptop and digital camera at Spirit of Joy Lutheran church this week. The mission team will be packing those items next week and will be arriving in Burundi, Africa on June 17th. Pastor Jeff Linman will meet Jean Marie on Saturday to hand over the laptop and camera. Jean Marie will be using the camera to capture photos of the plantation. He will use the laptop to write reports on the plantation progress.

I heard from Michael in Costa Rica this week. They had a delay in getting the Jatropha cuttings, but they have them and will be shipping any day now. If all goes well, they should arrive in Burundi next week. Ed Acosta, the plantation owner, added an additional 200 cuttings, so we should have 500 total. That will be a good start for our testing.

We’ve also been working on the funds that will be used to pay for the land, irrigation system and operating expenses. I had to wait for Spirit of Joy to approve the funds for use on this project since we are donating them through their church. Their board approved the funds, so I expect to be able to wire them by the end of next week.

I was in Seattle last week for a Division Manager’s meeting, so it’s been a couple of weeks since my last update. My Jatropha is growing well, with some interesting variation in the 4 cuttings. One is still nearly dormant, but the other three are doing well. We replanted them in larger pots because they were outgrowing the old pots. You can see the new pots below.

I included a close up of the largest plants. Note that the new growth is now over twice the original cutting length in the plant below. The two tallest plants are 11” inches high (~28 cm). 

John

“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” Mark 11:23-24