Nomad Trust and our liters of light in Piaya

The enthusiasm our simple solar water bottle lights was incredible and at one point even rather alarming as the boma we picked for our pilot project were making holes in their houses faster than we could make the lights.  I had visions of us leaving everyone with holes in their roofs! 

The difference inside with a solar water bottle was like day and night!  The solar water bottles give off the same amount of light as a 60 Watt bulb.

We hope that, partnered with Raleigh Tanzania, we will be able to continue the project to bring light to as many households in the Piaya area as possible.

Installation of solar water bottle lights

After making 6 litres of lights for a local boma (home stead) we went to install them.  LeKutiti Loshoro-the chairman of the local subvillage very kindly allowed us to use his homestead for our project.  If anyone has ever been into a Maasai manyatta-house-they will know just how dark they are inside.  It is absolutely pitch black!  We took Kapalu -our Nomad Trust representative from the community- with us to help with explaining the concept in the local dialect.

 A hole first had to be made in the top of the roof, and then the bottle carefully inserted with the iron resting as flat and low down in the roof as possible.

Palmer Sponsorship of Katumbi Student

I have just received the latest school report for Zuberi, who was a pupil at Katumbi Primary School, Mahale.  He was picked for a scholarship to go to a private school in Kigoma and I was so thrilled to see his report.  Zuberi got seven A's, three B's and one C this past term.  He has worked so hard to catch up and do this well.   

Making solar bottle lights

Based on a project called a Litre of light-we decided to try it out in Piaya with the Maasai community that I work with there.  Making the "lights" looked easy from a video but it proved to be a bit tougher!  Using corrugated iron, which we cut into 10" by 10" squares we then had to make a circular hole in the middle to fit the bottles through.

  After a bit of trial and error, and  lots of leaking bottles we settled on using old rubber Tyre inners to wrap around the bottle before inserting it into the hole in the iron and sealing it with a roofing sealant.  We then filled the bottles with purified water and about 10ml of bleach, and used a silicon sealant around the bottle top.
These were then ready to be inserted into a roof of a local manyatta (maasai mud house).  

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.