march
Having moved from Arusha to Dar we had planned to continue with our school project this month. After some discussions about the detailed process with Tanja, Matthew and Micheal we came to the conclusion that a school project would be the only sensible idea at this point. As we are supposed to stay in Kigamboni and especially rural areas like this have an increased need of learning about renewable energies we decided to take four schools in this Temeke District.
Because we focus on solar energy we went to most of Dar es Salaam´s solar shops and distributors in order to see what products they sell. We were especially interested in small ones like lanterns to be able to use them as demonstration material in the schools. Small lanterns are handy, can be used easily when Tanesco cuts off the electricity and are affordable for nearly every household. We found lots of good ones in different price classes and still need to decide which ones are best to be presented in the schools. Of course information material is necessary so that the students are able to take some flyers or leaflets home to show them around in their family.
Because of some logistical problems we were not yet able to visit schools in March. We also still need to move into the house Micheal sets up for us but it seems to take some more time until the fundis finish everything. It is a little difficult to get settled when living out of your bag.
For the next month we plan on going to the schools with Oscar, Micheal´s younger brother. He knows Kigamboni well and will be able to introduce us to the schools´ headmasters. It should not be too difficult to persuade the headmasters and teachers because we have had the chance to get some experience with that in Arusha before.
We will meet with the teachers soon and provide them with the knowledge they need. We will plan with them together in what way the lessons should take place and we will collect some teaching material and ideas for further teaching methods.
We hope to be able to move in our new rooms soon as our current accommodation is really small. But we feel warmly welcomed at our new neighbourhood and are happy.
february
For the month of February, we had planned to finally start with our school project after having done so much preparation. We had written a detailed daily plan which should help us work on schedule. According to this plan we wanted to meet with the teachers of all schools in order to work out a teaching session and the best way to make the lessons interesting and appropriate We were also planning on finishing the solar research and we wanted to start visiting the villages around Arusha to be able to fill out the questionnaires we had prepared. Thereby we wanted to prepare the solar presentations as best as possible. We also wanted to look out for appropriate banks that also do microfinance and that have an interest in contributing to the distribution of knowledge about renewable energies and its usage in rural areas around Arusha.
Unfortunately, our plans were crossed by the incident of the robbery in which we lost all our work material and conclusions of the last five months. We had made a copy on a flash disk in case anything happens, but it was stolen as well.
Afterwards, Tabea went to Mafinga for some days and now Maria is picking up her German friends in Nairobi. In the meantime this is what we have been doing mostly:
- We wrote instructions on how to deal with the website so that Kakute’s workers Lucy and Erca are able to adjust it to recent events and changes. Also we tried to teach them the basics by letting them do it themselves while we watch.
- Maria has also written an instruction on how to use Microsoft Office Access so that Kakute can improve its database.
- We started writing a half year report which will be finished in March.
- We tried to sell the furniture in our home (to be continued)
- We talked to the Ward District Executive Officer with whom we had started the school project. We should not leave things unfinished to avoid any disappointment. We also talked about a possible cooperation while we are in Dar es Salaam. We are eager to visit Arusha one more time in order to talk with the teachers in case the project will be continued by Mr. Ulomi and Kakute.
For the days of March which we will still be in Arusha, we plan on writing the half year report and some other instructions concerning the use of computer programs. We will also visit the Vocational Training Center Leguruki one more time in order to see if any cooperation is possible. It was thought of it maybe being a new hosting place of DTP.
We will try our best to sell the furniture before shifting to Dar.
Maria will probably be staying in Arusha a little longer than Tabea to host her guest. She will use this time to finish everything in Arusha while Tabea takes the first steps in Dar.
january
For the month of January, we had planned to attend the mid-year seminar in Bagamoyo. Afterwards we visited other hosting places (Redcot, Tujijenge, MLVTC) in order to get an overview on our possibilities to cooperate by exchanging information and skills. Having done this and now returned to Arusha we are writing a lot of reports on what we learned to always be able to check whether we could use any information we collected. Thereby we want to focus on the projects we chose (school project and village presentations) and to start realizing them.
A short conclusion what we have learned where:
- Mafinga: We had the chance to see how the centre’s school system works, how many students get an education in technical topics. We were shown the windmills and solar panels the school is promoting, building and selling and we also had the possibility to take part in the installation of a windmill. It was very interesting to see how it works and also to see the population’s reaction and interest.
- Redcot: We visited Redcot but unfortunately we do not see any possibilities to cooperate with them because they are dealing in big measures and Kakute is not yet doing a lot with windmills. It also did not offer any teaching information for our school project.
- Tujijenge: While visiting Tujijenge we had great discussions with the other volunteers about microfinance and we came to the conclusion that it would be a very good opportunity for this topic to be combined with the solar presentations. Therefore we are planning on searching for a good microfinance bank in Arusha which offers products like we have seen in Kyela and which is eager to cooperate with us to simplify the investment of rural people to buy solar products.
For February, we hope to practice our Kiswahili while visiting the villages and holding the interviews with the families. We have learned during our seminar and the safari how very important it is that we have some language improvements as soon as possible.
We are planning to visit the schools regularly in order to be able to work out a plan with the teachers to start lessons as soon as possible. During the last month we have learned a lot about the Tanzanian school system and we also collected many ideas of how to design the lessons of our school project. Still it needs to be discussed with the teachers but mentioning our ideas according wind, solar and the environmentally friendly cleaning of water will be helpful.
Additionally we will continue to prepare the rural area research before starting the village presentations. By the combination of village presentations and the distribution of information about microfinance we see good opportunities for the rural people to improve their life standard.
Meanwhile we will be visiting the solar shops again with Lucy from Kakute to hold some more specialized interviews.
november
For the month of November, we had planned to finalize the detailed activity schedule for the coming three months. Having done this we calculated the needed money in order to write a budget proposal for the projects we thought of. Thereby we wanted to focus on the projects we chose and to start realizing them. Because everything needs a well-thought preparation to make a project successful, we did not have the chance yet to start things all over.
Major work assignments during November were:
– Publishing Kakute´s website in the internet with adding some adjustments
– Writing a project proposal and a budget plan
– Developing a project for a company called “Hansewasser” in Hamburg, which wants to have a project in Tanzania. Tanja suggested the volunteers in Arusha and Kyela. We thought of a school project, visited the ward´s office and the school minister to introduce ourselves and the project. We went to 5 schools in Arusha (two Secondary, three Primary) to introduce ourselves to the headmasters and science teachers. We prepared a questionnaire to get to know the schools´ equipment and suitability for the project (classes on renewable energy)
- Visiting many solar shops in Arusha to have an interview about their products, customers and the challenges they face.
- Preparing a questionnaire with which we will visit three villages around Arusha to get to know the households´ energy need and usage. This is a preparation for the village presentations we are planning for next year.
For December, we hope to practice our Kiswahili while visiting the villages and holding the interviews with the families. We will be supported by some local women.
Because the schools´ holidays have just begun, we have enough time to plan with “Hansewasser” more exactly and to prepare the lessons on renewable energies by collecting teaching material. To get an overview of other renewable energies than Jatropha and Solar we are going to visit Redcot just before Christmas. We also plan to visit TASEA to inform ourselves and get some information material.
Meanwhile we will be visiting the solar shops again with Lucy from Kakute to hold some more specialized interviews.
october
For the month of October, we had planned to elaborate the activity schedule for our coming volunteering year. Having done this we wanted to calculate the needed money in order to write a budget proposal for all the possible activities. Thereby we wanted to be able to finalize our plan and to focus on the projects we chose.
The very first thing we wanted to finally finish this month was our search for a new home which suited our idea as well as the financial limit.
Major work assignments during October were:
– Finishing the website for Kakute
- Writing a report on what has been done by previous volunteers
- Updating the logo
- Improving the design
- Adding an application that allows interested stakeholders to download an immediate questionnaire
– Visiting Leguruki Vocational Training Centre for getting an overview of what is done there (possible collaboration with TASEA)
– Preparing and finalizing a questionnaire to interview the solar shops in Arusha
– Writing an article for the TASEA magazine about Jatropha and its usage
For November, we hope to practice our Kiswahili while distributing the questionnaires and holding the interviews with the solar shops. Meanwhile we are planning to get into more contact with our new neighbours and the Kakute staff in order to improve our language skills.
We want to focus on the elaboration of a school project (collaboration with Hansewasser) and to develop a questionnaire for the analysis of the rural energy supply.
september
Our first month in Arusha and Kakute has run very quickly. We took the main part of our time to get to know the environment, the people who live and work close with us, the work Kakute does, a lot about Jatropha and we tried to adapt to the Tanzanian culture by learning Kiswahili and a little Tanzanian cooking.
Because Mr. Manyanga left very quickly after our arrival because he went on safari, we were handed out a working plan for the coming year. There were suggestions which we could either agree to or elaborate as we wished. We did this during Mr. Manyanga´s absence and are going to discuss it together with him when he comes back in a few days.
Apart from settling into this new environment, which was not always easy, we started to enlarge, complete and nearly finish Kakute´s website. We used the information about Jatropha which we already searched for in Germany, translated it into English and put it with html onto the website. We are going to put pictures on it which we will take when the weather is nice. Furthermore we want to establish a section where the volunteers´ work is described so that interested people can get a better idea of what Kakute is all about.
Maria's Blog 