How often do you wash your towel? Some people wash once a week, while some, once a year. The towel is a fertile breeding ground for millions of microbes, especially those found on human skin and on the gut. No wonder the towel is one of the objects that facilitate fecal-oral contamination (literally connecting the two ends of the gut). Worse still, most people keep towels in the bathroom (near the toilet). Every flush of the toilet sends mist with millions of microbes, ranging from H.pylori, salmonella and other deadly bacteria and viruses. When you wash your hands ready for a meal, and dry them with your body towel, there's high chance you are directly ingesting your fecal matter, or, if in a shared lavatory, someone else's faeces. Unless cleaned well, viruses such as human papillomavirus (causes warts, anal cancer and cervical cancer) can be transmitted when towels are shared with infected individuals. So, what to do? 1. Launder towels once a week. 2. Use hot water and det...
Dairy farming is flourishing in Kenya, as demonstrated by Gita Farm, owned by Evans Gitau, a former tout and matatu driver. The farm houses 74 dairy cows, with the majority producing an average of 30 liters of milk per day. Gitau has been in the dairy industry for 8 years and has increased his herd from 4 cows to the current 74. He collects 750 liters of milk daily from 45 lactating cows, which he sells to Githunguri Dairies for a gross of Sh. 810,000 per month at a price between Sh. 36 and Sh. 38 per liter.
Gitau’s journey in dairy farming began after he quit his job as a tout and driver due to police harassment. He returned to his village to help his widowed mother care for her cows and later decided to focus on dairy farming. He presented a proposal to the farmers’ owned Sacco and was advanced Sh. 240,000 to buy three Friesian cows. With his success, he was able to repay the loan and in 2013, used the title deed of his family land to borrow Sh. 2 million and buy 17 Holstein Friesian cows. He has since relocated to a larger farm, where he continues to expand his herd and increase milk production.
Gitau delivers the milk using tuk-tuk vehicles and expects to hit 1,300 liters per day once the animals calve down. He feeds the cows a mixture of silage, hay, napier grass, and machicha, and they are washed and scrubbed twice a week. The barns are cleaned three times a day, ensuring the health and well-being of the animals. With his determination and hard work, Gitau is well on his way to making Gita Farm one of the best dairy farms in Kenya.
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