One of the most exciting opportunities I had this summer was to stand up in front of everyone and lead some sessions. It feels weird to think of the participants as students, which is why we euphemistically referred to it as "delivering content". The curriculum team does an amazing job of balancing the amount of time spent in the classroom with hands-on learning experiences and I worked on both (I hope to do that more in future IDDSes).
On the third day of the summit, we had a series of Build-It activities where participants built different simple technologies to learn how to use various tools. There were six different areas (metal-working, sheet metal fabrication, wood carving, electronics circuitry, plastics-working and metal casting) and I was on the metal-working team. We were building charcoal presses (link to pdf), so I signed up since I figured I could be pretty useful in explaining the context and why the tool was useful. But as the session went on, I realized that we were a bit short-handed, so my friend Joseph from Tanzania and I taught people how to use the hacksaw, the shear and files to make clean cuts. Then we teamed up with some of the technicians at the Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit where we were working in order to teach welding and especially welding safety. By the end of the session we had three welding stations and I was supervising one of them. It was interesting to be teaching and supervising stick-welding since I have never done it in my life and and I haven't even welded anything in three years. Still, we didn't break anything and no one got hurt and all in all, the charcoal presses came out really well. I was impressed with everyone in the session, but especially with a Zambian woman named Mainess who picked up all the techniques so quickly and was super-eager to try everything. (There's even a picture of me helping her on the IDDS blog (about two-thirds of the way down the page).)
For one of the sessions on venture design, they asked me to present some slides with Ben Linder and Bob Nanes (both much, much bigger names than mine). They prepared most of the slides, but I offered input on some of the topics and they took some of my suggestions. I also put together a slide on my work with GCS and presented a few of the slides during the session. I wish that I had practiced a bit more since I was having a bit of trouble hitting all the points that I wanted to make, but all in all I was really excited about how the session went.
Later that morning we had a panel on water treatment ventures* and my friends Mustafa from Pakistan and John from Zambia and I were up in front to moderate. There were some logistical headaches (the hall where we originally planned to have the event cut off their power and then demanded that we pay them exorbitant rates to switch on the generator--we just changed the venue in the end), but once we got started, it went off really well. Running the event took very little effort and every time I was about to say "Let's have a question for our first panelist" or "Are there any questions from some of the women in the audience?" the audience came through without me having to say a word. I was really happy with the event and very grateful to the panelists who shared lots of interesting experiences.
And that afternoon we had an activity where participants took apart different technologies to consider the manufacturing techniques involved. I was working with Mustafa again and Suprio from India with help from a few of the other organizers to make sure that we knew what we were talking apart. Our project was those cheap flashlights, and our main goal was to make sure that we didn't just sound like we were quoting Wikipedia. In the end, the flashlight had lots of different parts and a short time to talk about injection molding, electro-plating plastics, spring steel, stamping and drawing, circuit board design and some of the other subtle intricacies. It was a really fun session and it was great to have a hands-on activity to wrap up the day, but at the end of the session, I was downright exhausted and ready to collapse. I actually did end up skipping out on the next session to get a nap, which was unfortunate since I really wanted to catch that session, but I figured it was less rude to fall asleep elsewhere than to fall asleep in the classroom.
* Water technologies tends to be a popular sector and none of the projects this year involved water, so we decided it would be good to bring in some speakers to talk about water issues. Since the panel on solar issues was called the Solar Panel, we debated calling this event either the Water Table or the Water Board.
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
IDDS 2011 - Other Work
On my team I was a partinizer (participating organizer), which meant that I was in charge of making sure my team had all the resources we needed. From tracking down a high-precision scale so that we could measure how efficient our machine was to keeping tabs on what other teams were working on in case there was scope for collaboration*. I also made sure that all of our documentation was taken care of so that we can continue work after IDDS. And partinizers are supposed to make sure that the team is working together well, but that was the easiest task for me.
I was also on the evaluations committee which meant that I wrote up the weekly evaluations and then helped to compile the data after the fact. The evaluations committee is my favorite part of IDDS since it's a great way to identify areas where we can improve and act on it right away. I also love the people on the committee and it was a great way to get a lot closer to them (a lot of our work seemed to happen in the 1 AM to 3 AM timeframe). Of course, it's not all about filling in surveys--a big part of what we do is just talking to everyone and finding out what they're enjoying and what they'd like to see change. At times it was a bit overwhelming and it made me realize that as much as I love working on a team, I can probably accomplish more if I work as an organizer and put more time in as a problem solver, so I expect that next year I will do just that.
Then there's all the random odd-jobs that come up during the summit. I was on photocopy duty once, which involved a 45 minute search for a shop that was open. I was helping with some of the IT tasks, which mostly meant configuring people's computers to the hostel's internet settings--I felt sympathy for the IT team that spent a lot more time with random computer issues. I was also a back-up for the health committee which meant checking in on some of the malaria cases (there were a few fierce cases and Amit spent a lot of time making sure everyone received the care they needed) and cleaning a few wounds.
All in all, I felt like I was doing less than usual and it felt like we were a bit short-handed on the organizing team. But still, I was pretty impressed with everything that we pulled together this summer.
* In this case, there was one team that was working on a moringa sheller and another team that was using neem oil to help reduce the spread of malaria. We were able to help one another a lot with our projects.
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
I was also on the evaluations committee which meant that I wrote up the weekly evaluations and then helped to compile the data after the fact. The evaluations committee is my favorite part of IDDS since it's a great way to identify areas where we can improve and act on it right away. I also love the people on the committee and it was a great way to get a lot closer to them (a lot of our work seemed to happen in the 1 AM to 3 AM timeframe). Of course, it's not all about filling in surveys--a big part of what we do is just talking to everyone and finding out what they're enjoying and what they'd like to see change. At times it was a bit overwhelming and it made me realize that as much as I love working on a team, I can probably accomplish more if I work as an organizer and put more time in as a problem solver, so I expect that next year I will do just that.
Then there's all the random odd-jobs that come up during the summit. I was on photocopy duty once, which involved a 45 minute search for a shop that was open. I was helping with some of the IT tasks, which mostly meant configuring people's computers to the hostel's internet settings--I felt sympathy for the IT team that spent a lot more time with random computer issues. I was also a back-up for the health committee which meant checking in on some of the malaria cases (there were a few fierce cases and Amit spent a lot of time making sure everyone received the care they needed) and cleaning a few wounds.
All in all, I felt like I was doing less than usual and it felt like we were a bit short-handed on the organizing team. But still, I was pretty impressed with everything that we pulled together this summer.
* In this case, there was one team that was working on a moringa sheller and another team that was using neem oil to help reduce the spread of malaria. We were able to help one another a lot with our projects.
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
Sunday, August 28, 2011
IDDS 2011 - My Project (Part 2)
After figuring out what kind of oil we were looking at, the next challenge was figuring out how we would actually extract the oil.
It seems that the most common method for extracting the oil currently involves grinding the seeds into powder and then putting it in boiling water. The oil can be skimmed off the top. Unfortunately, we were not able to observe this process firsthand or find accurate data on the yield through this process. Still, we wanted to explore other methods to see if they would improve on this process.
I was really excited about the prospect of solvent extraction--that is, using chemicals that can separate the oil from the seedcake. I was interested since it seemed like there was a lot of scope for designing a low-cost system that could use solvents to produce oil. The advantage is that once the oil has been separated from the solvent (usually hexane, but there are other compounds that can be used), the solvent can be reused over and over, while the oil that comes out is very high quality. Unfortunately, the solvents tend to be fairly expensive (it's not a recurring expense, but it still was going to set the price of our system higher than we wanted) and also somewhat dangerous (part of the process requires heating the system, and if that isn't done carefully, the solvents are highly flammable and can cause a lot of damage) and it is also one of the slowest methods for extracting oil. I was pretty disappointed when I had to concede that the system just wasn't viable.
We also built a hydraulic jack press, which used a car jack and a plunger to apply pressure to a chamber filled with moringa seeds. The system had a lot of advantages in that it was safe, easy to use and understand, produced very clean oil and could be built easily in most major towns. We played with a few different designs based on what we had seen with screw presses (very useful for palm and coconut since the oil flows out so well) and ram presses (uses a massive piston to deliver the huge amounts of force necessary to extract the oil from the seeds), but ultimately the press was leaving too much oil behind in the seeds, so we knew we would need a more efficient press.
We finally built a small screw expeller, which I was very skeptical about from the start. I had worked with a screw expeller called the Piteba in 2008 and found the machine frustrating to use and too inconsistent in its performance. Other people had reported more satisfactory experiences than mine, but I decided to spend more time building the jack press above. However, I had to say that it was highly impressive that they were able to produce a screw auger with variable pitch without computerized machinery. The auger was also slightly bigger than the Piteba design and much less expensive. We were able to tweak some elements in the design to improve the performance and by final presentations we were pretty proud of our final prototype.
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
It seems that the most common method for extracting the oil currently involves grinding the seeds into powder and then putting it in boiling water. The oil can be skimmed off the top. Unfortunately, we were not able to observe this process firsthand or find accurate data on the yield through this process. Still, we wanted to explore other methods to see if they would improve on this process.
I was really excited about the prospect of solvent extraction--that is, using chemicals that can separate the oil from the seedcake. I was interested since it seemed like there was a lot of scope for designing a low-cost system that could use solvents to produce oil. The advantage is that once the oil has been separated from the solvent (usually hexane, but there are other compounds that can be used), the solvent can be reused over and over, while the oil that comes out is very high quality. Unfortunately, the solvents tend to be fairly expensive (it's not a recurring expense, but it still was going to set the price of our system higher than we wanted) and also somewhat dangerous (part of the process requires heating the system, and if that isn't done carefully, the solvents are highly flammable and can cause a lot of damage) and it is also one of the slowest methods for extracting oil. I was pretty disappointed when I had to concede that the system just wasn't viable.
We also built a hydraulic jack press, which used a car jack and a plunger to apply pressure to a chamber filled with moringa seeds. The system had a lot of advantages in that it was safe, easy to use and understand, produced very clean oil and could be built easily in most major towns. We played with a few different designs based on what we had seen with screw presses (very useful for palm and coconut since the oil flows out so well) and ram presses (uses a massive piston to deliver the huge amounts of force necessary to extract the oil from the seeds), but ultimately the press was leaving too much oil behind in the seeds, so we knew we would need a more efficient press.
We finally built a small screw expeller, which I was very skeptical about from the start. I had worked with a screw expeller called the Piteba in 2008 and found the machine frustrating to use and too inconsistent in its performance. Other people had reported more satisfactory experiences than mine, but I decided to spend more time building the jack press above. However, I had to say that it was highly impressive that they were able to produce a screw auger with variable pitch without computerized machinery. The auger was also slightly bigger than the Piteba design and much less expensive. We were able to tweak some elements in the design to improve the performance and by final presentations we were pretty proud of our final prototype.
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
Saturday, August 27, 2011
IDDS 2011 - My Project (Part 1)
Our challenge was to find a way for people in local communities in central Ghana to extract oil from local crops (edible and/or medicinal oils, not the black stuff) so that they could generate income. We looked at all sorts of local crops, and I learned a lot about different oilseeds.
Peanut (usually called groundnuts in Ghana) oil seemed like it would have lots of potential, since so many families have a peanut farm and there are so many peanuts in the community. Additionally, peanuts are typically cultivated by the women where we were working (the main men's crop in that area is yams) so it seemed like a good opportunity to develop a venture with the local women. Unfortunately, after talking to shopkeepers, we found out that even if peanut oil were selling at 50 percent more* than the cost of the imported cooking oil (predominantly palm oil from southeast Asia) that most people in the community were already using, the cost of the seeds would be right at that level, meaning that there is not currently much money to be earned by the processors. That's not to say that a peanut oil venture in that area couldn't be profitable (there is also value in the high protein seedcake that remains after pressing the oil) only that the venture was probably beyond the scope of what we could accomplish in five weeks.
Neem oil seemed really exciting since there is some research to suggest that consuming neem oil can make people less desirable to mosquitoes and hence less prone to malaria. It also tends to sell for a price on international markets. And the trees grow abundantly in central Ghana. Unfortunately, other research was talking about possible side effects including reduced fertility. It's hard to know what to believe, but we figured it was better to focus on a seed that might not have so much bad press surrounding it.
Palm oil was an obvious candidate since people already cook with so much and even produce it locally for soap production. The palm fruit has lots of oil and the kernel inside has some oil of its own. Unfortunately, palm isn't grown in central Ghana and most of the palm that they process is bought from markets closer to the coast. The hardest part is that many people are so used to the shear quantity of oil that comes from palm that it is easy to be disappointed by other seeds with their lower yields.
We looked at essential oils from oranges and lemons. The sky-high price of the oils was very attractive, but the incredibly low yields and complexity of the process was somewhat off-putting. It was hard to nix the idea, but in the end, we felt that it was for the best.
Shea butter was a strong contender, but it is already extensively processed in the community and previous projects to find better technologies, teams have struggled in the past (I was a member of one of those teams). Kapok seed oil and cottonseed oil were both interesting candidates, but the current processing methods seemed rather efficient, so we figured it was better not to mess with a good thing. There was an interesting plant that they called a kei apple tree (however, it does not resemble the kei apple tree that is grown in East Africa) which was an interesting candidate, but it seemed like there would need to be quite a bit of work in market development, so we left it alone for the time being (it could be an interesting project down the line).
In the end, we opted to focus on moringa** oil. Lots of people in the area have started planting moringa trees since it restores health to the soil and the leaves are sold as a high value nutritional supplement. The oil is very valuable for cosmetics as it is capable of holding even the most volatile scents. And it is used in some Ayurvedic treatments and it is currently being branded in some circles as an aphrodisiac (I'm happy to support those rumors if it will help the market grow, but I have to admit that I had a bit of the oil and did not notice any change). Demand for the oil is pretty high, though it is not always easy for Ghanaians to reach those markets. Also, the seeds are incredibly light (we found an average of 0.3 grams per seed), and contain about 40 percent oil by weight, so it takes over 8000 seeds to produce one kg of oil if you have 100 percent efficiency (a fairly unrealistic assumption), though with proper care, research suggests that trees can produce 15,000 to 25,000 seeds, but the trees that we saw weren't producing anywhere near that level. But all in all, there was a lot of enthusiasm from the community (when we talked about the low yield, one person responded by suggesting that they plant lots of moringa trees as soon as possible) and clearly a market opportunity.
* Customers will pay that premium because peanut oil is easier to cook with and usually goes a bit further.
** The autocorrect feature has suggested that I look at enema oil and mooring oil. Dear me.
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
Peanut (usually called groundnuts in Ghana) oil seemed like it would have lots of potential, since so many families have a peanut farm and there are so many peanuts in the community. Additionally, peanuts are typically cultivated by the women where we were working (the main men's crop in that area is yams) so it seemed like a good opportunity to develop a venture with the local women. Unfortunately, after talking to shopkeepers, we found out that even if peanut oil were selling at 50 percent more* than the cost of the imported cooking oil (predominantly palm oil from southeast Asia) that most people in the community were already using, the cost of the seeds would be right at that level, meaning that there is not currently much money to be earned by the processors. That's not to say that a peanut oil venture in that area couldn't be profitable (there is also value in the high protein seedcake that remains after pressing the oil) only that the venture was probably beyond the scope of what we could accomplish in five weeks.
Neem oil seemed really exciting since there is some research to suggest that consuming neem oil can make people less desirable to mosquitoes and hence less prone to malaria. It also tends to sell for a price on international markets. And the trees grow abundantly in central Ghana. Unfortunately, other research was talking about possible side effects including reduced fertility. It's hard to know what to believe, but we figured it was better to focus on a seed that might not have so much bad press surrounding it.
Palm oil was an obvious candidate since people already cook with so much and even produce it locally for soap production. The palm fruit has lots of oil and the kernel inside has some oil of its own. Unfortunately, palm isn't grown in central Ghana and most of the palm that they process is bought from markets closer to the coast. The hardest part is that many people are so used to the shear quantity of oil that comes from palm that it is easy to be disappointed by other seeds with their lower yields.
We looked at essential oils from oranges and lemons. The sky-high price of the oils was very attractive, but the incredibly low yields and complexity of the process was somewhat off-putting. It was hard to nix the idea, but in the end, we felt that it was for the best.
Shea butter was a strong contender, but it is already extensively processed in the community and previous projects to find better technologies, teams have struggled in the past (I was a member of one of those teams). Kapok seed oil and cottonseed oil were both interesting candidates, but the current processing methods seemed rather efficient, so we figured it was better not to mess with a good thing. There was an interesting plant that they called a kei apple tree (however, it does not resemble the kei apple tree that is grown in East Africa) which was an interesting candidate, but it seemed like there would need to be quite a bit of work in market development, so we left it alone for the time being (it could be an interesting project down the line).
In the end, we opted to focus on moringa** oil. Lots of people in the area have started planting moringa trees since it restores health to the soil and the leaves are sold as a high value nutritional supplement. The oil is very valuable for cosmetics as it is capable of holding even the most volatile scents. And it is used in some Ayurvedic treatments and it is currently being branded in some circles as an aphrodisiac (I'm happy to support those rumors if it will help the market grow, but I have to admit that I had a bit of the oil and did not notice any change). Demand for the oil is pretty high, though it is not always easy for Ghanaians to reach those markets. Also, the seeds are incredibly light (we found an average of 0.3 grams per seed), and contain about 40 percent oil by weight, so it takes over 8000 seeds to produce one kg of oil if you have 100 percent efficiency (a fairly unrealistic assumption), though with proper care, research suggests that trees can produce 15,000 to 25,000 seeds, but the trees that we saw weren't producing anywhere near that level. But all in all, there was a lot of enthusiasm from the community (when we talked about the low yield, one person responded by suggesting that they plant lots of moringa trees as soon as possible) and clearly a market opportunity.
* Customers will pay that premium because peanut oil is easier to cook with and usually goes a bit further.
** The autocorrect feature has suggested that I look at enema oil and mooring oil. Dear me.
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
Friday, August 26, 2011
IDDS 2011 - Introduction
I was in Kumasi, Ghana from July 2nd until August 9th for the 5th annual International Development Design Summit (IDDS). This was my third time on the organizing team and it was a really wonderful experience. I'm going to write up some of my experiences and put them up in installments. Check out the IDDS blog here This is going to be a rather long series of posts. Sorry that I don't have pictures to include.
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
Introduction
My Project (Part 1)
My Project (Part 2)
Other Work
Delivering Content
My Team
Language
Where We Stayed
Suame Magazine
New Longoro
Maker Faire
Food
Potluck
Ramadan
Transportation
Accra
My Visit to the Police Station
Kenya ratified a new constitution last year that among other things brought in some much needed reforms to their judicial system. When I was in the police station, I saw that they may still have a little ways to go.
A man comes in and hands the officer a piece of paper. The officer opens the cell and lets a prisoner out. The first man explains that he is the lawyer and that the case will be happening in the afternoon and he wants to make sure that his client is ready. Then the lawyer tells the client that he doesn't want any surprises in the courtroom, so he asks the client point blank if he had any drugs with him when he was arrested. The client who was been staring at his shoes the whole time glances up at me and all the officers within earshot and asks if they can have the conversation some place private. And the lawyer takes this as a ridiculous request and demands that he just answer the question. The client sheepishly mumbles something and the lawyer thanks him and says that they will meet one another in the courtroom that afternoon.
A man comes in and hands the officer a piece of paper. The officer opens the cell and lets a prisoner out. The first man explains that he is the lawyer and that the case will be happening in the afternoon and he wants to make sure that his client is ready. Then the lawyer tells the client that he doesn't want any surprises in the courtroom, so he asks the client point blank if he had any drugs with him when he was arrested. The client who was been staring at his shoes the whole time glances up at me and all the officers within earshot and asks if they can have the conversation some place private. And the lawyer takes this as a ridiculous request and demands that he just answer the question. The client sheepishly mumbles something and the lawyer thanks him and says that they will meet one another in the courtroom that afternoon.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The Wrong Move
I'm not very good at chess. I always end up making a move with some brilliant plan in mind. And right at that instant when it's too late, I see that I've just given up my queen for nothing. I had one of those moments in Nairobi.
I was walking down the road at 8 PM, which is a pretty unsafe thing to do. I figured it was just 15 minutes to the spot where I could pick up my matatu and I've walked that road dozens of times (in daylight hours). I was being especially vigilant and walking rather briskly, even trying to stay close to traffic so that no one would have the opportunity to jump out of the bushes and grab me. I really pride myself on being able to judge situations.
Being vigilant is a bit tiring. After 12 minutes of my walk, I started thinking about the fact that when I got back to Upper Hill I was going to talk with my niece on Skype video. I've never had the bandwidth for a good conversation and I haven't met her in person (she was 8 months old at that time and she is so adorable) so I was really excited about being able to call her.
Just before I was about to turn the corner for my matatu stop, I hopped over a ditch and I realized that I had given away my queen. There were two men who had come out of nowhere and they shoved me right into the ditch I had hopped over.
One man took my bag.
Then he went through my pockets.
He took my wallet.
He took my phone.
The other man stood over us.
The piece of wood he was wielding as a weapon didn't seem too intimidating.
But if I had tried to move they could have kicked the s*** out of me then and there.
It was miserable.
Absolutely miserable.
All I could think was:
Can't people see what's happening?
Why isn't anyone doing anything to stop this?
It was over in less than a minute. I had the presence of mind to ask them for matatu fare so that I could get back to Upper Hill, and they left me with 50 shillings. I thought about the one holding the piece of wood. It was probably the size of a doorstop. I was pretty sure that he was on miraa or something stronger based on how erratic he seemed. So at least the proceeds of my belongings are in part supporting Nairobi's drug industry. I thought about the fact that the terrain was pretty slippery and I could have probably taken away the one man's footing really easily, but my prospects for escape weren't too good, so it was probably good that I didn't make things worse for myself.
I took stock of things and noticed that my keys were still in my pocket, so I was really glad that I hadn't lost that (my keychain flash drive is a handy gadget and I also have an IDDS logo on there that has a lot of sentimental value). I also still had my passport in my passport carrier hidden safely in my trousers. I mean, they were good at what they were doing, but they could only be so thorough if they were going to keep moving. Besides, they got my wallet*, my smartphone, my old phone, my iPod, my Kindle, my netbook**, my backpack*** and a few other random effects that I was carrying with me. Now, I never carry that much with me, and it was just a fluke that I needed to bring so much with me that day. Had I some shred of common sense, I certainly would have taken a taxi.
Physically I was fine. My back was a bit sore from where I had landed and I was really uncomfortable in my damp jeans since the ground was moist. In terms of value, I lost a lot. But that wasn't really what bothered me. I was concerned about all of the little things. I couldn't call my friends in Kenya to say good-bye to them before flying to Ghana. They got my driver's license which is certainly useless to them and which I regularly use and do not look forward to replacing. They took away my ability to check email, and I had lots of work to get done (and also a few blog posts that I had wanted to put online). They took away my pictures. I had a lot of books on my Kindle and I wasn't traveling with any physical books. And I wasn't going to have that video call with my niece.
I was really glad that I was staying at Upper Hill. Rich and Jessie take really good care of people in those situations and they helped me get everything sorted out. I went to the police station and filled out a report. They were pretty confused when I tried to explain to them that I had an electronic book. I don't expect they'll catch the thieves. I mean, they didn't even ask me for any kind of physical description, just the most basic notes on what, where and when. At the end, they told me that I should really be more safe in Nairobi and that I was lucky that I didn't get worse. I had to agree with them there.
* I had about $350 in cash in USD and Kenyan Shillings since I had the money that I needed for while I was in Ghana as well.
**Although with the damage to the screen, that one was probably worth about as much as the computer case I had.
***Joke is on them with that one too. The zipper was broken and I never could get rid of the smell of sunscreen inside of there.
I was walking down the road at 8 PM, which is a pretty unsafe thing to do. I figured it was just 15 minutes to the spot where I could pick up my matatu and I've walked that road dozens of times (in daylight hours). I was being especially vigilant and walking rather briskly, even trying to stay close to traffic so that no one would have the opportunity to jump out of the bushes and grab me. I really pride myself on being able to judge situations.
Being vigilant is a bit tiring. After 12 minutes of my walk, I started thinking about the fact that when I got back to Upper Hill I was going to talk with my niece on Skype video. I've never had the bandwidth for a good conversation and I haven't met her in person (she was 8 months old at that time and she is so adorable) so I was really excited about being able to call her.
Just before I was about to turn the corner for my matatu stop, I hopped over a ditch and I realized that I had given away my queen. There were two men who had come out of nowhere and they shoved me right into the ditch I had hopped over.
One man took my bag.
Then he went through my pockets.
He took my wallet.
He took my phone.
The other man stood over us.
The piece of wood he was wielding as a weapon didn't seem too intimidating.
But if I had tried to move they could have kicked the s*** out of me then and there.
It was miserable.
Absolutely miserable.
All I could think was:
Can't people see what's happening?
Why isn't anyone doing anything to stop this?
It was over in less than a minute. I had the presence of mind to ask them for matatu fare so that I could get back to Upper Hill, and they left me with 50 shillings. I thought about the one holding the piece of wood. It was probably the size of a doorstop. I was pretty sure that he was on miraa or something stronger based on how erratic he seemed. So at least the proceeds of my belongings are in part supporting Nairobi's drug industry. I thought about the fact that the terrain was pretty slippery and I could have probably taken away the one man's footing really easily, but my prospects for escape weren't too good, so it was probably good that I didn't make things worse for myself.
I took stock of things and noticed that my keys were still in my pocket, so I was really glad that I hadn't lost that (my keychain flash drive is a handy gadget and I also have an IDDS logo on there that has a lot of sentimental value). I also still had my passport in my passport carrier hidden safely in my trousers. I mean, they were good at what they were doing, but they could only be so thorough if they were going to keep moving. Besides, they got my wallet*, my smartphone, my old phone, my iPod, my Kindle, my netbook**, my backpack*** and a few other random effects that I was carrying with me. Now, I never carry that much with me, and it was just a fluke that I needed to bring so much with me that day. Had I some shred of common sense, I certainly would have taken a taxi.
Physically I was fine. My back was a bit sore from where I had landed and I was really uncomfortable in my damp jeans since the ground was moist. In terms of value, I lost a lot. But that wasn't really what bothered me. I was concerned about all of the little things. I couldn't call my friends in Kenya to say good-bye to them before flying to Ghana. They got my driver's license which is certainly useless to them and which I regularly use and do not look forward to replacing. They took away my ability to check email, and I had lots of work to get done (and also a few blog posts that I had wanted to put online). They took away my pictures. I had a lot of books on my Kindle and I wasn't traveling with any physical books. And I wasn't going to have that video call with my niece.
I was really glad that I was staying at Upper Hill. Rich and Jessie take really good care of people in those situations and they helped me get everything sorted out. I went to the police station and filled out a report. They were pretty confused when I tried to explain to them that I had an electronic book. I don't expect they'll catch the thieves. I mean, they didn't even ask me for any kind of physical description, just the most basic notes on what, where and when. At the end, they told me that I should really be more safe in Nairobi and that I was lucky that I didn't get worse. I had to agree with them there.
* I had about $350 in cash in USD and Kenyan Shillings since I had the money that I needed for while I was in Ghana as well.
**Although with the damage to the screen, that one was probably worth about as much as the computer case I had.
***Joke is on them with that one too. The zipper was broken and I never could get rid of the smell of sunscreen inside of there.
The Last of My Vacation (Part 1 - Western Kenya)
I had continued my intensive blogging about my adventures in Kenya and then Uganda, but unfortunately those posts were lost as well as the pictures. Now then, I left Nairobi and spent a few days out west with my friends Daniel and Jeff in Kisumu (they were in Peace Corps with me and have extended so that they are serving for a third year). They were wonderful hosts and hopefully I introduced them to some new exciting recipes in exchange for their hospitality. I was impressed with the amount and variety of fruits and vegetables in the market in Kisumu, but not much else about the city. Maybe I spent too much time in areas with open sewers or had too many arguments with matatu conductors, but I was pretty relieved when I hopped on the matatu out of Kisumu. I don't really know why, but I was having trouble falling asleep before 4 in the morning and was a bit groggy because of that. I probably should have made an effort to visit Lake Victoria, but I decided it was just easier to get out of town.
My next stop was Kakamega, which is famous for the massive forest outside of town. Arriving in town was a refreshing experience after my time in Kisumu. The air has such a fresh feel (probably due to the nearby forest--I grew up just a couple of miles from a wonderful forest preserve) and I was greeted by my friend Elizabeth (name changed as a precautionary measure). We had a few classes together back in high school and now she's a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya. Small world, eh? Anyway, I spent two days in her village which is a few kilometers outside of Kakamega and it was really nice. We spent a lot of time catching up on life back home and life in East Africa. She even baked cookies during one of the brief spells when there was electricity in the community. It was really amazing since I haven't had fresh cookies in a really long time.
It was sad leaving Kakamega, and I was planning on heading back to Bungoma to visit some folks there. Unfortunately, when I left Kisumu, I had forgotten my passport there, so I went back to see Jeff and Daniel again. I was also glad to see my friend Jessica who was in the Peace Corps group before me and is now in a nifty MBA program at Colorado State. We caught up for a bit before she had to run and catch a bus. Then Daniel and I made some quesadillas and the next day I was on a bus to Uganda.
The trip to Uganda was pretty uneventful (those are the best kind of journeys) and I arrived in Jinja late in the evening to meet with a donor who has been supporting my work in Tanzania. The organization brought together several of the groups they have been working with in East Africa to brainstorm some solutions to the problems that we've been dealing with and to find opportunities to collaborate moving forward. It was a crazy productive 24 hours and it was great to meet a lot of really cool people. I'm really excited about everyone who I met and definitely have some ideas for working with some groups in Kenya and Uganda.
During lunch the following day, a random person at the restaurant came up to me and asked me if I knew Amy Smith. He added that my IDDS shirt made me a bit conspicuous. Turns out he used to work with an organization that has collaborated a bit with D-Lab in the past. He was telling me some pretty horrific things about that organization, which were pretty depressing. Still, accountability is pretty low in this line of work, so stories like his are tragically common.
In the evening we went swimming in the Nile. It was pretty amazing. The current was super-strong and pulling us out, so we actually had a bit of a struggle to get back to land. Then a short time later, we saw some other tourists hop in the water nonchalantly and just start floating. We were a bit concerned, but we watched as the current took them in a nice circle around where we were and left them right back where they started. We ran back to the water and floated around the circuit twice. It was incredible.
After that, I headed down to Kampala to learn a bit more about a couple of the organizations that I had met there. I was pretty impressed with the massiveness of Kampala and the gaudiness of some parts of the city (outside the main mall and casino, there was a statue with some dinosaurs chasing a group of cavemen and cavewomen--I'm so bummed that I lost that picture). It was beautiful in some places, but there were an uncomfortable number of billboards with the Ugandan president looking at you. The most alarming one that I saw was the one that promised tolerance of most religions. I wonder which ones aren't tolerated.
I visited a group called Educate in Kampala and was pretty impressed with what they were working on there. I was talking a bunch with their technology manager about their work with cookstoves and making charcoal from agricultural waste. We were going on for 20 minutes before I asked him where he had learned so much about charcoal and he answered that he had found a bunch of pdfs online by someone named Amy Smith from MIT. Small world again. Well, we talked a bit more and after that I met some of the trainers who they've been working with in their program. All in all, it was a pretty enjoyable day.
After that, I hopped on a bus back to Nairobi. I opted for Easy Coach, which turned out to be anything but easy. (I've ridden with Easy Coach twice and they are 2 for 2 in disappointing me.) It was an overnight bus, and at 7 in the morning, our bus broke down and we stood in the frigid morning air (I haven't seen winter since 2008, so anything in the 40s is now frigid to me). So yeah, don't travel with Easy Coach.
I made it back to Nairobi to see my friend Jessica again and talk a lot more and then celebrate my friend Maria's birthday. I had a few more things to do in Nairobi before flying to Ghana, but I was pretty much ready to be done with adventure at that point, so I was looking forward to a laid-back 48 hours after that before flying out. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out that way.
My next stop was Kakamega, which is famous for the massive forest outside of town. Arriving in town was a refreshing experience after my time in Kisumu. The air has such a fresh feel (probably due to the nearby forest--I grew up just a couple of miles from a wonderful forest preserve) and I was greeted by my friend Elizabeth (name changed as a precautionary measure). We had a few classes together back in high school and now she's a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya. Small world, eh? Anyway, I spent two days in her village which is a few kilometers outside of Kakamega and it was really nice. We spent a lot of time catching up on life back home and life in East Africa. She even baked cookies during one of the brief spells when there was electricity in the community. It was really amazing since I haven't had fresh cookies in a really long time.
It was sad leaving Kakamega, and I was planning on heading back to Bungoma to visit some folks there. Unfortunately, when I left Kisumu, I had forgotten my passport there, so I went back to see Jeff and Daniel again. I was also glad to see my friend Jessica who was in the Peace Corps group before me and is now in a nifty MBA program at Colorado State. We caught up for a bit before she had to run and catch a bus. Then Daniel and I made some quesadillas and the next day I was on a bus to Uganda.
The trip to Uganda was pretty uneventful (those are the best kind of journeys) and I arrived in Jinja late in the evening to meet with a donor who has been supporting my work in Tanzania. The organization brought together several of the groups they have been working with in East Africa to brainstorm some solutions to the problems that we've been dealing with and to find opportunities to collaborate moving forward. It was a crazy productive 24 hours and it was great to meet a lot of really cool people. I'm really excited about everyone who I met and definitely have some ideas for working with some groups in Kenya and Uganda.
During lunch the following day, a random person at the restaurant came up to me and asked me if I knew Amy Smith. He added that my IDDS shirt made me a bit conspicuous. Turns out he used to work with an organization that has collaborated a bit with D-Lab in the past. He was telling me some pretty horrific things about that organization, which were pretty depressing. Still, accountability is pretty low in this line of work, so stories like his are tragically common.
In the evening we went swimming in the Nile. It was pretty amazing. The current was super-strong and pulling us out, so we actually had a bit of a struggle to get back to land. Then a short time later, we saw some other tourists hop in the water nonchalantly and just start floating. We were a bit concerned, but we watched as the current took them in a nice circle around where we were and left them right back where they started. We ran back to the water and floated around the circuit twice. It was incredible.
After that, I headed down to Kampala to learn a bit more about a couple of the organizations that I had met there. I was pretty impressed with the massiveness of Kampala and the gaudiness of some parts of the city (outside the main mall and casino, there was a statue with some dinosaurs chasing a group of cavemen and cavewomen--I'm so bummed that I lost that picture). It was beautiful in some places, but there were an uncomfortable number of billboards with the Ugandan president looking at you. The most alarming one that I saw was the one that promised tolerance of most religions. I wonder which ones aren't tolerated.
I visited a group called Educate in Kampala and was pretty impressed with what they were working on there. I was talking a bunch with their technology manager about their work with cookstoves and making charcoal from agricultural waste. We were going on for 20 minutes before I asked him where he had learned so much about charcoal and he answered that he had found a bunch of pdfs online by someone named Amy Smith from MIT. Small world again. Well, we talked a bit more and after that I met some of the trainers who they've been working with in their program. All in all, it was a pretty enjoyable day.
After that, I hopped on a bus back to Nairobi. I opted for Easy Coach, which turned out to be anything but easy. (I've ridden with Easy Coach twice and they are 2 for 2 in disappointing me.) It was an overnight bus, and at 7 in the morning, our bus broke down and we stood in the frigid morning air (I haven't seen winter since 2008, so anything in the 40s is now frigid to me). So yeah, don't travel with Easy Coach.
I made it back to Nairobi to see my friend Jessica again and talk a lot more and then celebrate my friend Maria's birthday. I had a few more things to do in Nairobi before flying to Ghana, but I was pretty much ready to be done with adventure at that point, so I was looking forward to a laid-back 48 hours after that before flying out. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out that way.
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