Sunday 5th September

Went into work this morning after shopping at Kukum Market. The zucchini that we planted on Friday are already pushing up through the potting mix, in the couple of hours I was there another 3 popped out, so I think we have got a good mix going finally. The Jacaranda are all looking healthy, only an inch or so high still, but you can see them slowly growing. The Cordyline have recovered from transplant shock, and it looks like we have some to plant out next year. I’ll get some tomato and
Cayenne chilli seeds set out tomorrow to try.
And that is an interesting concept to get across here. Actually waiting for plants to grow, instead of just going into the bush and cutting or digging plants and trees out, or raiding the neighbours garden. There are a few concepts that are going to take a while to get across actually, waiting for plants to grow, then waiting for fruit and vegetables to be ripe before picking them, or leaving some to grow on and keep for seed for the next crop. I can see us having problems at the nursery once we have mother stock planted out, with people climbing the fence and raiding the seed crop, or just stripping everything out. There isn’t any thought of personal property, or the idea of saving seed. My little garden I tried growing here at Ba’hai was systematically stripped out before anything had a chance to grow, being at work every day meant it was fair game to anyone walking past.

If anyone has long a long memory, I wrote last year about having a guy track me up to my house, then persistently keep coming around for a few weeks or so asking for money. He arrived back again today. All us palangi must look alike or something, he didn’t recognise me, asked where I worked, then started telling me about the white man that used to live here that worked at the Botanic Gardens and always gave him money for his family, last year he had 4 children, he’s obviously been home in the meantime, he now has 5 children. I guess 18 months here have had an effect on me, I didn’t feel any qualms about sending him away empty handed again. Which I think is a terrible statement to make, with the poverty here, coupled with the corruption that is endemic in the system, I know the starfish story, but helping one person here leads to a lot of complications. I’d likely have his whole wantok in Honiara around after a handout, then it could get a bit ugly. I’d rather offer him a job with us, if I thought he’d be suitable. But our pay rates are barely above minimum poverty level anyway. Everyone here, well, the politicians, and Govt employees, all seem to think the Aid money is going to support them forever. Without anyone ever asking for an accounting of where it has all gone.

It’s a bit off when you start thinking Peter Bauer was a liberal socialist. And didn’t go far enough. Google will find him.

I’m hoping to get some major work done on the nursery this week, I’ve written up a work schedule, I know, stop being stupid Warren, but I figure it lets me know how much we haven’t got done at the end of the week this way. Hopefully we’ll have all the posts for the shade cloth over the beds in place, and a start on the propagation house. I did say hopefully. We have the official opening of the Nursery in the middle of October, the shade cloth only left Brisbane last week, along with the irrigation, so that won’t be here till the 3rd week this month at the earliest. And if we get stuffed around by Customs again, it could be the end of this month, so it is going to be a hectic few weeks. As well as get the water tanks and water supply sorted, the power shifted, and the fence erected.

We have finally got building permission, now we have a funding problem as the building Planning approved isn’t what we described in the funding proposal, so we have to try and get a letter from Planning explaining why they changed the building to have any chance of getting the funding still. It’s going to be the usual duck shoving competition with Planning, no one there is willing to put anything in writing, there is a lot of he said, they said, but never anything written.