Friday, 27 January 2012
Solar installations in Southern and Eastern Provinces
Just back from a week on the road with the
solar team. We travelled first to Moyamba and then on to Bo, Salones second
city, and finally over the Moa River to the Liberian border installing solar
panels in hospitals and community health centres. The communities were very
excited at the prospect of light in the evening and many people gathered to
watch the team do their magic, including the village chief and gaggles of
excited kids. It’s difficult to believe that these villages have survived for
so long with only open fires and kerosene lamps for light especially
considering it gets dark by 7pm all year round. The team are extremely well
trained, Kamada the boss having travelled to India with the organisations
director Idriss, to learn solar engineering from Bunker Roy’s Barefoot College
some years ago. Since then Safer Future has been providing free training to
young people interested in learning the trade. These young people are then able
to gain employment by either getting jobs as solar engineers or continuing work
with Safer Future on government funded contracts to install solar in remote
areas. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds this year’s training will not be
able to take place.
It’s has been really great to get out of
the office and into the field to see the projects working, see the effects they
are having on the communities involved and see the quality of work being performed
by the engineers.
The idea of giving people who have been in
darkness until now access to light is still a tough one to grasp but there
really is still such a long way to go. Even in the capital many people don’t
have electricity, use the polluted rivers to wash in, and almost everyone still
cooks on open fire, fuelled by the quickly diminishing rain forests.
Andi our in house chemist is currently
trying to set up a bio fuel project on the farm to create ethanol based fuel
for use in stoves, motorbikes and other farm equipment. This will be a
relatively inexpensive and sustainable project as after it has been set-up all
that is needed to maintain it is bio-waste…..stay tuned.
Monday, 23 January 2012
A quick update
Week four already…time is flying! After a
tough week in the office afthis weekend was spent relaxing between the beach
and the farm. Friday night was my first night sleeping under the stars with the
soothing sound of the ocean coaxing me to sleep. It was really beautiful, so
much so that every time I woke in the night I felt like a little kid on
Christmas morning, almost squealing to see the view of the stars above, the
bonfire crackling and keeping me warm and the powerful waves crashing off the rocks
close to my feet with nothing to protect me but a 19 year old Austrian and a
mosquito net. Saturday comprised
of a long walk on the beaches where we stumbled upon an eco village called
Tribe Wanted on John Obey beach. This village was set up by a British and
Italian who were interested in setting up a self-sustaining holiday resort
where tourists can come and stay, volunteers can come and work and the local
fishing villages can gain employment and training on sustainable living.
Currently 25 local people are employed by the eco village to build holiday
bungalows, mud domes that look like they belong in a Middle Eastern desert,
permaculture that sustains the local villages and tourists and a solar house,
which provides the power. Some sceptics out there may wonder what the point in
the village is, the reason I really like it is that Africa really seems to be a
place where the west and east come to remove valuable resources leaving behind
little more than junk they no longer need, empty, dangerous mines, polluted
rivers from mineral extraction etc. and this village is something positive that
will leave a lasting effect on the local communities and attract positive
attention and like minded travellers to come, visit and take care of the local
environment before they leave again. Check it out if you get the chance: http://www.tribewanted.com/
Monday morning and back to the office,
today I am preparing for a meeting with the director and other volunteers to
brainstorm 2-3 major points which need to be addressed regarding the running of
the organization and what improvements can be achieved or at least started
during my short time here. My current list is quite long and includes topics
such a financial transparency, reporting, and accountability, pressing topics
in any organization but particularly important for NGO’s when continued funding
is dependent on the quality and timely delivery of reports and budgets. As my
experience with the organization and the culture here is limited to just a few
weeks I will rely heavily on the input from the director and other volunteers
in making a plan that will last and be integrated into the working culture here
at Safer.
Later today I will be travelling on a tour
of the Eastern and Southern provinces to oversee the installation of solar
panels in local schools, libraries and community centres. This project is
funded by a partnership between Safer Future who provide the knowhow and labour
and (NCSA) National Commission for Social Action who provides the majority of
funding and monitoring power.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Rehabilitation of Junior Secondary School Allen town
Some very generous friends from
Ireland/Germany, who know me far too well J had
been expecting me to get in touch around funding for projects out here as soon
as I arrived, have generously donated €500!
There are many worthy projects at the
moment but one in particular takes priority. The Junior Secondary School run by
Safer Future has not been able to re-open after Christmas break as the plastic
make shift roof has been destroyed during the wet season and now will not
protect the children from the glaring African sun. The funds get allocated to
the rehabilitation of the Junior Secondary School and the principal is so
exited at the news he doesn’t want to want a week until the money arrives so
some of us volunteers chip in and give him the money that day so they can get
working straight away.
The next day the roof has been replaced
with much more stable Zink sheets and we have also been able to make doors for
the school so the kids don’t need to carry the furniture in and out every day
from the locked store room, which means that the furniture will also last
longer.
The rest of the money has gone towards
buying bricks to fix up the crumbling steps and edges of the building to make
it safer.
Big thanks to the Walsh family; your
generosity has made many a face smile this Monday as the school re-opens! A
special assembly was held to say thanks to you both, wish you could have been here!
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Weekend on the islands
Just back from a weekend on Banana islands
with the other volunteers. We left at
lunch time on Friday to go meet Charlotte, her mum Andi and his brother at
Bureh beach before travelling to Kent to get the boat to Dublin island – home
hehe, and it felt like it could be home! Went for a swim in the beautiful clean
ocean (cleanest I’ve felt all week) and then packed up our stuff to go to Kent.
We started walking and half way there we got a taxi – 11 people in a small car,
well 8 inside and 3 outside, as the driver took a bend Alusein fell off the
back of the car and ripped himself up pretty badly. There was a lot of blood
and screams, quite horrific and we had just been laughing and taking photos at
the sight of 11 people in a car – pretty stupid eh but I think we all learned a
lesson! The roads here are terrible and the drivers are reckless, I see
multiple accidents each time I travel. The taxi rushed Alusein to the next town
to find a doctor and we walked behind. After a few hours he was all stitched up
and put to sleep and we headed for the island.
What a beautiful, unspoiled paradise,
Daltons’ guesthouse is half way down Dublin Island, directly on the beach. We
had a wonderful meal of fish and a few beers and hit the sack. On Saturday we
got up, had breakfast and went on a fishing trip with Greg the owner for a few
hours. We snorkelled around the reefs while Greg was busy harpooning our dinner
for that evening. The next day we headed back to Bureh to see how Alusein was
holding up and he was already back to work in his beach restaurant. There was a
big party on the beach with music and food and hundreds of locals, apparently
this happens on most beaches every Sunday, needless to say we joined in.
Will try and get some photos up shortly!
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