Implementation Part 3!

Our implementation trip in Kenya began with a very long flight. On Saturday, August 24^th, after many hours of traveling, we touched down in Nairobi. As a first-time travel team member, I had no idea what to expect. We spent most of our first day in Kenya driving to the small town of Loitokitok. It was my first day seeing wild giraffes, and our first time eating mbuzi – the Swahili word for goat.

Our typical mbuzi meal for lunch and dinner.

During the drive, we found out that the country wide census was occurring. This meant no restaurants or stores were open and school was delayed for a week. We wanted to meet the students at Imurtot Primary School, where our tanks would be installed. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t get to see the students while we were working. While eating dinner at our hotel, Poa Guest House, the census workers came to count us. Although we weren’t Kenyan, we had to write down our information – a unique experience for our first day.

Our vehicle for the week.     

The next morning, we woke up promptly at 3am to a crowing rooster. This would end up being a daily occurrence. Tired, but eager to get started, I watched the sunrise then met the team for breakfast.

The view from our hotel, Poa Guest House.

We started our longggg, bumpy ride to Imurtot Primary School to start construction. Along the way we had incredible views of Kilimanjaro and were greeting by dozens of children running up to our truck to wave at us.  

A church on the way to Imurtot Primary School.

I wasn’t sure what to expect while constructing the rainwater catchment system. How hard can it be to connect 3 tanks and some gutters? Within a few hours, it was apparent that this would be one of the hardest projects I had ever done. With limited construction experience, mostly coming from assembling Ikea furniture, I had to be a fast learner. I found that there were 5 rules for EWB Construction:

1. Usalama Kwanza – “Safety First”
  2. There’s always time for tea breaks

Our last tea break of the trip.

3. Nothing goes right the first time

4. Hakuna Matata

5. We can fix it with local engineering!

Dave hard at work on our tap enclosure

Construction was difficult, but rewarding. With locally sourced construction materials, there were many challenges and opportunities for problem solving. With the school being situated on a hill, we also had three 5,000L tanks to keep a close eye on. When Kim, Dave, and I were having a discussion, Dave looked up and proclaimed “Oh no!” and ran after a tank that had started rolling down the hill. Anything can happen.

The team moving the tanks into place.

Although I was not the most experienced travel team member, I was the smallest. This meant I had the honor of climbing inside the tanks to clean them and seal the plumbing. The first 2 tanks were a bit dusty, but nothing too bad. When I got to the 3^rd tank, I looked inside and thought it looked really clean. I climbed right in. When I turned around, I found a family of at least 100 spiders living inside the tank.  I had to spring into action, killing and cleaning up all the spiders in the tank while the rest of the team watched and took videos. It would probably be a recurring nightmare for most, but luckily, I made it out alive.

Cleaning the inside of the tanks

One of the hardest projects of my life turned into one of the most fulfilling when parents from the school came by to say what a great impact our systems have had on their families. We worked efficiently and finished our phase of the project and maintenance on some of the other systems! Completing an additional 15,000L of rainwater capacity for the school at the end of the trip was so rewarding. All of our hard work will contribute to better access to clean water for over 500 students at the Primary School!

The team celebrating a successful implementation!

Now that the hard work was complete, it was time to do some exploring. We headed off to Amboseli National Park for a game drive on Friday. There were more animals than I could have ever imagined. From giraffes to elephants to flamingos and zebras, it was the most amazing experience.

Amboseli National Park

That evening we had another unique adventure climbing up Lemomo Hill at sunset. The ranger, Patrick, told us of the lack of funding for nature conservation and how difficult it is for the few rangers to cover so much ground to ensure there are no poachers.

Our hike up Lemomo at sunset.

That night we had an authentic goat roast before heading to bed at Kimana Camp. The next day was long and packed with incredible experiences. We started the day with an early morning game drive and saw some lions enjoying a meal. From there, we had the opportunity to attend a Maasai wedding. The songs, colors, and laughter filled the air as we watched the bride get picked up from her village to be driven to the ceremony at her future husband’s village.

Maasai wedding procession

We couldn’t stay for long as we were off to Mamasane’s house for lunch. Our chapter sponsors her daughter’s school fees, and there were many thank yous and songs after a delicious lunch. Finally, it was back to Kitengala where we were met with a tremendous downpour and some of the most delicious mbuzi we had on the entire trip. Hopefully the rains came to Imurtot to fill up our tanks!

Our last day involved some sight-seeing and more delicious food in Nairobi before we got on the plane for the long ride home. Huge thank you to Water is Life Kenya, EWB, and everyone who supported our successful implementation. On to our next phase of the project!

View of Nairobi

2nd Implementation Trip (Part II)

I was a member of the first implementation team, so I was pretty excited ahead of my second trip. I was excited to see the impact that the work we had done last year had made.  I was excited to see our friends from Water is Life, Kenya: Joyce, Joseph and Sadera. We had a pleasant journey to Kenya, taking a direct flight, and made our way to Loitokitok with the rest of the team.

When we arrived at the school, the first thing I had to do was to go look at the tanks we had installed last year. It had rained the day before our arrival, and the tanks were almost all full! We found some leaks, some first flush systems not being used, but it was good feeling to see water being collected.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the team that had gone ahead of us had been unable to complete Phase II, but their work gave us a head start in our week-long project. We worked for 5 days, getting more efficient as we went.

The big difference between this implementation and the first one was that due to the height of the roof, we had to use scaffolding for the gutter attachment. Most of our mornings started with the assembly of the scaffolding before we broke off and accomplished various tasks. Each day, at lunch time, we were able to witness the school children using the water from the first system to wash their plates, and  for drinking.

Most significantly, I noticed that the kids were not carrying containers of water to school, like they did before. The school kitchen had a water supply, and taking that burden off the kids was very gratifying.
By the end of day 5 of work, we had not only completed Phase II but we had repaired some leaks in Phase I, treated the water in all the tanks and were talked with the kids and staff about proper maintenance of the systems  and conservation of water.  We were also able to get some feedback from the kids on the impact these water harvesting systems were having on their daily lives, and it only reaffirmed my desire to do this work and continue to return.

The school gave us an emotional send-off once more, and we were on our way, feeling good about what we had accomplished and excited to take a couple of days to relax and do some sightseeing.

For a change, we went to Tsavo East National( Park for our safari this time, instead of Amboseli. We enjoyed our overnight stay in the park, (which we learned was twice the size of Delaware! ) and got to see some amazing wildlife. We also got to spend a day sightseeing in Nairobi, going to the Giraffe Center, and the Karen Blixen Museum.

This trip was as memorable as the first one, with a lot of work, and a lot of accomplishment. Working outdoors, in the beautiful countryside with the amazing Mt Kilimanjaro in the background never gets old, and I was rewarded for our work last year by getting to see the difference we’ve made at the school.

2nd implementation trip (Phase II part 1)

I first became involved with EWB-Delaware chapter at the post trip meeting after the 1st implementation trip (February 2018). Eight months later, with much hard work from everyone, the travel team embarked on our 2nd implementation trip in Oct 2018! 

Despite our experiences and knowledge from the previous trip, we still encountered many challenges.

On the project side, parts still didn't all fit, some parts were missing for the scaffolding, and city electricity supply was unreliable; additionally, narrow margin on the roof made it difficult to fit drills into the back of gutter.                                                    

Nature wasn't on our side either - the uneven ground was hindering scaffolding usage, and rainy weather prevented any work being done on some of the days. One day when the muddy road condition became impossible due to the sandy layer underneath, after much slippery and sliding in the van, we turned around and take an expedition through Tanzania road after bargaining with border control, then walked the last 3 miles to the school in white and thickening fog with dire visibility.

                   

We were lucky to have help from the school watchman Enoch, as well as Sadera from WILK, but was still unable to fully complete the project. Nonetheless, despite the engineering and weather challenges, we laid a solid foundation for the phase II project to be successfully completed in January 2019.

Outside of work, daily life was a very enriching cultural experience. It was exhilarating and humbling waking up to Kilimanjaro every morning, and it quickly became a group activity to wake up and gather on the rooftop for sunrise.

The guest house we stayed in had latches on the outside, and I actually managed to locked Kim in by accident for an entire night until she discovered it in the morning - fortunately it was a safe night. Bursts of electricity outage in the guest house and restaurants were common; hot water supply wasn’t reliable in Loitokitok, and electricity still blinked and sizzled on the shower head.

The roads were very bumpy and dusty, and it usually took 45min on a good day just to drive 18 kilometers to get to the school. Sadera quipped the bumpy rides "Kenyan Massage". One day we sadly witnessed a serious motorcycle accident, leaving a pool of blood on the ground. Safety first, always!

The most profound of it all was seeing the lives of the students. During the day, they gathered around us with utmost curiosity and energy, forming a blue sea of school uniforms.  In the evening as we leave, we see the same students, no longer in their uniforms, but scattered near and far in the field, herding their family animals. What a different life!

On the last working day we couldn't do any work due to the rain, so we left the school and saw some animals driving through the Safari park in Amboseli National Park. Some Maasai ladies successfully sold beads to us at the park, but we also visited Joyce's bead workshop before flying out.  

We gave much in our trip, changing lives in the village and the school. Meanwhile our lives have been touched and changed as well, as we gain new understanding of life, inequality, and our connection with the world.