Posts Tagged ‘energy4everyone’
sunday morning
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Sunday morning, I am reading in bed as the sun rises and day breaks. Without notice, the room is suddenly silent – the background whirl of the a/c is gone. Not ten seconds later, the reliable sound of an engine revving as the diesel generator comes to life. And add another ten seconds and I am once again blessed with the cool breeze of the air conditioner.
It is strange. In a city where only half of the population is even connected to the national grid and where a small number of these – major office building, industrial park, western hotel, and any residence housing diplomats/expats/and the Tanzanian upper class at least are equipped with a diesel generator. (Interesting enough, the Confederation of Tanzania Industry suggests that the unreliable supply of electricity is the main reason the country cannot be business competitive in East Africa; business have to focus first on costs involved with back-up power, or repairing damages incurred during the almost daily outages, many which are planned load sheds though often without any notice).
Yet here we always are, the expat community, grumbling when the power goes out. We rant that to have access to water, electricity, and the internet all at once is a rare blessing and should be celebrated. These conversations always leave me feeling awkward and uncomfortable. How many people in this country don’t have access to safe and clean water (32% says CARE Tanzania) grid electricity (10% according to the UNDP) and, the internet (CIA Factbook states 580,000 in 2008 – out of 40 Million)? Not even for a few pressure minutes a day, are the essential services that are no longer a privilege but a basic human right available. Most folks I have spent time with realize how ridiculous their whining sounds, but the ‘take for granted mentality’ is easy to slip back into when you are surrounded by the comforts of home.
It’s a shame to think that businesses will always go that extra mile to ensure that tourists and visitors to the country are comfortable during their stay, so we can get a comfortable night’s sleep in air conditioned rooms, write our blogs and email our home, take a hot shower as many times a day as our guilt ridden stomachs or blissfully ignorant heart’s desire, and suck back 1.5L bottles of water to stay hydrated. It’s a tough reality to swallow (along with my Anti-Malaria drug) some days.
And yes, I realize it is Wednesday. I would have posted this earlier, but my internet connection has been down.
Tags: energy4everyone, musings, tanzania
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Helping Bawjiase Orphanage
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Earlier today energy4everyone returned to Bawjiase Orphanage and donated various cooking and lighting energy technology and started improving the orphanage’s access to modern energy. Importantly, all of the technologies donated were affordable and sustainable for the orphanage. In total, energy4everyone donated four energy efficient charcoal cook stoves, two solar lanterns and twenty crank-powered torches.
All of the staff and children at the orphanage were extremely thankful for the donation of equipment and were looking forward to using the equipment. In particular, they were very excited about having improved access to light and some of them busily set about turning levers to charge the torches. The prize: readily available light! Certainly, seeing the smiles on their faces was very satisfying and reiterated the value of our work and what energy4everyone is striving to achieve.
The donation of four efficient cook stoves for cooking enabled the orphanage to switch from using fire wood to charcoal. The efficient nature of the cook stoves, due to the ceramic liner, means that they retain heat far better than firewood stoves or traditional charcoal cook stoves. Consequently, the orphanage will be able to save money on its cooking energy costs. The orphanage estimates that the cost of a three week supply of firewood is approximately GHc 300 (Ghanaian Cede), which is approximately USD 200. This is in contrast to their estimate of approximately GHc 90 for a three week supply of charcoal; potentially, a huge saving. In addition, the efficient cook stoves produce little or no smoke and will therefore reduce the health risks to the people preparing the food.
The other area that energy4everyone was able to assist the orphanage was lighting. Very few of the buildings at the orphanage have lighting and there is no lighting in any of the twelve classrooms. As a result, the children cannot study in the evening, and walking around the orphanage grounds is dangerous because of snakes, which cannot be seen in the dark. By providing the two solar lanterns, the orphanage now has light in an outside communal area and the twenty crank-powered torches, which are charged by physically turning a lever, can be shared among the children when they walk from building to building.
Over the coming months we will monitor the effectiveness of the energy technology donated, as well as research and discuss the appropriateness of alternative energy technologies with the orphanage. This will ensure that energy4everyone continues to make best use of its physical efforts and financial resources, as it improves the lives of the children at Bawjiase Orphanage.
To view photographs of the orphanage and the energy technology donated to the orphanage, go to our Flickr pages at www.flickr.com/energy4everyone.
Tags: Bawjiase Orphanage, efficient cook stoves, energy, energy efficient charcoal cook stoves, energy4everyone, Ghana, solar, solar lanterns
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