I arrived in Uganda for the second time now. I made my way out to Kalisizo where I live and then out to Lwemodde where the youth group is based. I was very happy to see them all. Not much has changed except their shop is now officially on the grid. By official I mean they have not connected themselves through thin invisible wires but they actually have a meter too. I asked them why they still use their solar utility node and they said that their power will invariably go out from Friday to Sunday. The 100 AH battery and the 100 W of solar panel that they have will last them all three days to provide lights to their shop and a few other houses/shops as well as keep their phone charging buisness going.
They still have excellent organization and great community vibe. People can come to their place and watch TV for free or just chill indoors. Since two of the members, Baale and Betty, both have positions on the council of their local area they are forever doing administrative work. Yesterday they were compiling a list of NGOs in the area, their activities and contacts.
On my first afternoon I just caught up with the group and explained what I hope to do with them over the next few days. They supplied me with a report which they wrote which outlines the 'successes' and 'challenges' they faced with both solar energy and internet while Lydia and I were away. It's interesting how they used the word challenges instead of failures. Below are photos of the two page report. Click to enlarge.
 |
| Page 1 of report. |
 |
| Page 2 or report. |
The next post will be about the data that I collected in Malembo. I spoke to Alex who operates the grid, some clients and explained the boost and buck converters to the group.
No comments:
Post a Comment