An earthworm biologist visits N Côte d'Ivoire

In June of 2008 an invitation extended to me in an email from my son, Luke, became reality. I was in Cote d'Ivoire! After 4 days in Abidjan, the port city on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, we headed north on a main highway through a country about the size of New Mexico, USA. The drive took all day: pot holes, security checkpoints set up by the rebels in the north, and narrow two lane roads with all sorts of pedestrians, animals, and other surprises.













About an hour from Torhogo and the Baptiste Dispensaire, our destination, we began to see from the highway Senufo villages, rectangular and circular buildings made of clay bricks topped with thatch.

















Not long after arriving in N Cote d'Ivoire, I went to the home of Robin Hampton, the Director of the Baptiste Dispensaire. There on the screened front porch sat Dohtana, ironing the laundry, one of his many jobs Mon-Fri. (Having this particular employment -- managing Robin's home -- is considered a great privilege.) He's a Christian, with a delightful, gentle spirit. We could not communicate much directly, I was extremely weak in French and Cebarra and he was weak in English. Generally he'd begin our conversations with, "Ce va?" and I'd answer, "Ce va!" Then we'd look for a translator.













On the first Saturday of my visit there was some time to explore the soil around the perimeter of the dispensary. The person on the right is Jemina (soft "j" sound), the son of the Chief of Zanapokaha, and on the left is Jane, a long term missionary to North Cote d'Ivoire. Jemina is a Christian but his Father is an animist (a common spiritual practice in this region of West Africa). Jane grew up on the dispensary and has worn many hats: nurse, director of the dispensary, educator, translator (Cebarra and French) and avid birder. The megadrilologist (earthworm biologist) in the middle is moi, with the first find in N. CdI of a nice megadrile specimen - what else would explain such a nice smile for the camera?















This particular Saturday was Market Day in Korhogo, a large city 7 km from the dispensary. First we went and had lunch at a Lebanese "sandwich" shop (don't drink the water!) R to L, is Amanda, Carrie,and Christina, nursing students that spent two months in N CdI. They drove up with Robin, Luke and me from Abidjan and stayed at the dispensary for two weeks. The two tobahboos (white persons) in the food market, are Christina and behind her is Carrie. Somewhere nearby is also Amanda, likely covered with smiling children.













On this visit to the market, Robin (L) and Jane (R) bought enough fresh fruit, vegetables, and other produce to kept the seven of us fed for about a week (Luke on the steps with sunglasses). The majority of the food eaten is prepared from scratch. No Sonic drive-ins or Whataburgers here. The noon meal was the big meal of the day, and we took turns cooking.


















Kunvolo is admiring Luke's Senufo hunter's hat that he purchased at the market. Luke played soccer with Kunvolo, taught him English once a week in the evening, along with a handful of other young Ivorians, and generally befriended him during the nine months that he was in CdI. I got to know Kunvolo pretty well also, he even helped translate for me a little. He occasionally attends a Roman Catholic church.













Soongolo is giving me my first lesson on a man's daba (yes, there are women's dabas too.) Acres and acres (hectares and hectares) of marginal farm land is "plowed" with these hand tools. Strong backs! They wait for the summer rains before they attempt to work these gravelly sandy clay soils (Ultisols). Soongolo was one of the older sons of Fuseni, a farmer that I worked with the most.















Fuseni (red shirt, hat) was gracious and agreed to allow me to plant a few short rows of pepper plants differently from his usual method. I dug a deeper hole, put a small handful of chicken manure (from Fuseni's chicken egg laying operation), backfilled some soil, added two large handfuls of rice hulls (organic matter) and then mixed in some more soil and planted the seedling. Fuseni was dubious of my method. The results? See next slide...














After three weeks of growth (a couple days before I left West Africa), a few heavy rain showers, and constant guarding by one of Fuseni's younger sons, here are the results. The ruler is SI (metric). The plant on the right was one I planted, on the left is one of Fuseni's. Actually all of mine weren't so pathetic, but overall his were out-perfoming mine. My hope was that with increased precipitation, my seedlings' roots would reach that manure I placed beneath, and then take off. (The toes are mine.)













The first full week that I was in N Cote d'Ivoire, Robin arranged, per my request, for me and Luke to stay with a family in Zanapokaha, a village about 0.5 km from the dispensary. Guel (Guebesssonguile) is the Husband/Father, Rachelle Wife/Mother, Alain in Rachelle's arms, Suzanne (R), Christine (middle), and Honore (L). We arrived on a Sunday evening, before dinner, and left the following Sunday. The general routine was arrive late afternoon after working all day, bathe (water drawn by Rachelle or Suzanne), eat dinner (men inside the house, everyone else outside), visit on the porch till 10 p.m., wake around sunrise, bathe (water drawn by Rachelle or Suzanne), then depart. There is no running water or electricity. Guel was raised Muslim but is now an elder in a local Baptist congregation, a precious brother in Christ.
Rachelle is the daughter of an elder in Zanapokaha, who was one of the first animists to repent and chose to follow Christ. At the time of his conversion he had two wives and villagers were so upset with his conversion they broke both his arms, and made him leave the village and his two wives. He remarried, settled in Zanapokaha, and had many children. I had the great honor to visit with him on several occasions and he always had words of praise for the Lord Jesus and blessings for those with whom he conversed.

TO BE CONTINUED...!