Piaya: Solar Bottle Lights

Next week I am travelling to Piaya, in Loliondo, with Jim Clements, the country director of Raleigh International, to install some solar bottle lights into some local Maasai homes.  As anyone who have ever been inside a Maasai Manyata (home) knows, they are incredibly dark.  We are going to take a concept started in the Philippines, and see how it works in the Serengeti!  

The concept is amazingly simple – take an empty plastic bottle, fill it with mineral water and a few drops of bleach, and cement it halfway through a small metal roof sheet (the kind used as roofs in wealthier area of Tanzania). Then cut out a small piece of the actual roof, place the sheet with the bottle on top of the hole, cement/seal any cracks, and during the day there is light in homes.  I love this concept for a number of reasons, firstly reusing and reducing waste generated by the tourism industry (water plastic water bottles), and secondly it is incredibly effective and cheap to make. 

I will keep you all posted on how it goes! 

   

Ololosokwan Computer Lab

I love seeing the pictures teacher Gabriel frequently sends of the computer lab that was sponsored through the Nomad Trust.
Here are a few more photos that he has sent, it is incredible how this community have taken to using computers and the internet.  Long may it continue!

Rocket Stoves: Katavi

Check out this blog post from Raleigh International about our partnership on the rocket stove project in Katavi.

Katumbi: Teachers House

I got to go and see the site of the new teachers house whilst I was in Mahale, it is at the top of the hill above the school.  A beautiful site, I am willing to move there!  The village had collected all the bricks, as well as sand and taken it up to the site so that as soon as the other material arrive from Kigoma they can start building the house.  As a direct result of this generous donation from Nigel Palmer two more teachers have been allocated to the school.  They now have 6 teachers for 720 students!
Whilst Greystoke is closed for the rains, Hassani my Nomad Trust rep from Greystoke will be overseeing the building of the house.  Hassani is currently in Kigoma buying all the supplies, and fingers crossed the house will be ready by June.
Thank you Nigel!

I always love visiting Katumbi School and spending time with the kids there, it is truly a very special place.  To finish off here are some pictures of the kids from the school.

Chimps-Mahale

On my recent trip to Greystoke, Mahale, a group of Chimps came into camp so I got to spend some time watching them.  Mahale is my most favorite place on earth, I hope these will inspire those who have not yet visited to come and visit!

Katumbi School Visit-Mahale

I recently went to visit Katumbi School to check on how the new teachers house is getting along-that is for another post-but I took along 700 Nomad re-usable water bottles for the kids.  It is part of an initiative to reduce the amount of disposable plastic water bottle waste that is accumulating in Tanzania.  The kids were thrilled to have them, and Hassani gave them a little chat about the importance of reducing waste.  It was a great day!