The heavy rains have subsided. The weather is dry and windy and cold at night. Neighbors are busy preparing their farms for planting.

Mr. Simeon is interested in joining the Harvest Grove team. He has been assisting with planting and soil preparation. We have started to grow some flowers and sukuma wiki in the green house.

Mr. Joseph Songok, a local bee-keeper is also interested in the Harvest Grove project and has been training members on how to keep bees. Joseph has promised to help us build two new bee colonies on Harvest Grove property. He can teach us how to harvest honey. Together we can encourage community members to keep bees, especially those who live along the river bank. We plan to invite Joseph from Illula (another Joseph who works with ELI) who has been raising bees for years and request that he share his knowledge on bee-keeping, too. Delicious honey can be sold for profit and bee products such as royal jelly and bee pollen can be used as medicine.

On November 30th, 2011, there was a celebration at the Harvest Grove Community Center. The members of the community came together to commend the Harvest Grove Community Center for its excellence. In attendance were 80 adults and 120 youths. Community members played football on the school compound adjacent to the Harvest Grove Community Center. Later, members gathered and shared some of the values concerning the youth progress in the local community and methods to improve the agriculture in the area were discussed. With 200 people present, the need for furniture was evident. People were forced to stand or sit on the ground. But we count our blessings as we move into the new year. David writes, "It is our prayer to see that we move forward with the plans that God has put in to our Hearts to achieve our Goals."

The solar panels purchased last year were installed on the roof of the community center, but they were removed shortly after for security reasons. There have been some thefts of solar panels in the area so we have stored them under lock and key. We are planning to re-install them with more secure hardware. Once installed, there will be electricity to power sewing machines and computers. Harvest Grove has one laptop. We are planning to purchase up to five sewing machines with funds from ticket sales to the annual Concert Under the Stars this summer. Each sewing machine will cost approximately US$200. We also need to purchase some furniture (four tables) and chairs.

A small mud house was built (see picture on left) to shelter the watchmen during the rainy season. We don't have a watchman yet but plan to employ one person this year.

The women continue to meet and make jewelry. David and Jayne are looking for a source to sell some of the pieces they have designed. they now have over 350 finished pieces of jewelry.

David's Family