And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

I’m a little behind on this blog, so I’ll be writing on today and the previous two days.

On Friday we did our final tests of the seed press, and it works! After communication with some Dutch engineers whom had used the same model press to press Jatropha as well, we finally got a system and technique that works. We didn’t get much oil out of the seed we had, but that had mostly to do with moisture content since they had been sitting through the dry season for who knows how long.

Yesterday was spent experimenting with different things. Meagan, Steve, and I set up another, smaller press to see if we could get that to work, but we couldn’t get it to work well with the resources we had. Andrew, Casey, and Aaron worked on making wood alcohol, which would later be used in the biodiesel production process. In the afternoon Meagan and I went with Matt to a metal bending and welding shop to construct the oil and seed cake trays for the press, but the workers weren’t there; we’ll return on Monday to try our luck again.

Last night both Andrew Gates and Betteridge, Casey, Aaron, and I went for a walk through town to see what the local night life was like. People were out cooking food or listening to music or just hanging out together. At one point we happened upon a church where some girls were practicing singing for church in the morning. We stood out in the yard listening, watching the nearly full moon. A little further down the road, just outside of town, we found a bridge where we sat on the edge for a while. Every few minutes a moto would go by, but there were no pedestrians out that far.

Today was a relaxing day. After church at the local French church, some of us spent the afternoon playing board games and climbing trees. Later that evening we all went to Eleanor’s house where we all had dinner together.

Besides these things, we’ve been passing our time mostly by playing board games or cards or by climbing around the cliffs or walking into town. We only have two more full days here in Mahadaga before returning to Ouagadougou, where we spend a few more days before flying back. We’re glad to have accomplished what we set out to do with the Biodiesel, but I’m pretty sure most of us wouldn’t mind spending more time helping out around the mission for at least another week.

We’re having a barbeque with the missionaries and some employees of the mission and the handicap center tomorrow afternoon, but besides that we don’t have too many plans. For the upcoming days pray that we will use our final time well and for safety with upcoming travels.

-Thomas Carson