Safe Water Project

See also SCI's official page on the Safe Water Project.

In 2008 Solar Cookers International (SCI) began the Safe Water Project in Kenya led by SCI founder and board president Dr. Bob Metcalf, a professor of Biological Sciences at California State University, Sacramento. Bob’s development of a Portable Microbiology Laboratory (PML) will allow rural health workers and community members to test water quality in the field by assessing levels of Escherichia coli contamination. The revolutionary PML can be used anywhere by practically anyone, and it will liberate government ministries in charge of water analysis who have had difficulties gauging water quality in rural areas due to travel limitations and technical expenses. Anticipated outcomes from the project include significant reductions in the incidence of waterborne diseases in over 20 communities, and broader community awareness of simple and effective water testing and water pasteurization techniques. A training was begun in June 2008 with officials and representatives from the Kenya Water Resources Management Authority and the Kenya Ministry of Health. This is the first time that these two government ministries have collaborated on a project like this, and we are thrilled to have their participation and support. Major funding for this program has come from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, for which we are very grateful!

News and recent developments

• August 2008: Kenya safe water project ramps up - Solar Cooker Review

Goals

• Recommend expansion of project development to two new countries
• Completion of Safe Water Workshop in Kenya
• Provide support to the Solar Cookers International East Africa Office
• Identify potential collaborators within existing environmental NGO’s and government ministries in East Africa
• Increased humanitarian liaisons with emergency organizations

Objectives

Further development of identified potential projects in Tanzania and Uganda, Benin and West Africa

• Tanzania: I have been in close collaboration with a newly founded local nonprofit called TanzSolar in Auburn, Ca. TanzSolar has been developed by Marianne Walpert, who has an impressive solar background as an Executive at Photovoltaics International and RWE Schott Solar, Founder and President of Pacific Solar Company Inc., and Vice President of PV company Pacific Power Management. TanzSolar’s main objective is to provide affordable solar panels for lighting and internet power to the villages around Musoma, TZ, where an old colleague of hers owns a well established rural internet company. TanzSolar will also incorporate affordable simple solar powered lanterns to their promotion of solar technology in Tanzania, and is excited to explore the possibility of expanding into solar cooking and water pasteurization. Marianne was able to secure housing for TanzSolar on her last trip to Musoma and has graciously offered to share the facility with SCI, for storage of CooKits and materials and a shared base for project headquarters. Both Marianne and I are excited about the possibilities that this collaboration can provide, and we are serious about making a shared project a reality in the near future. I will be meeting with Marianne again in the next few weeks to discuss plans and budget. I plan to visit Musoma in Tanzania during my East Africa trip this summer planned for June / July, and will be working with Michael to secure grant funding to support the expansion of this exciting new project.

• Uganda: I see potential from a small project that originated with a young man in Ohio, who won his Science Class project with a CooKit. Max Ozimek is a passionate young man who wants to help his priest in Ohio by providing solar cookers to his home village of Obia, Uganda. Father Alexander Inke is excited about the possibilities that this project might provide the people of his village, and he is working closely with Max and Max’s mother, Mary Lou, to obtain funding and establish the connections necessary to establish an effective and sustainable project. I have been impressed by the initiative taken by these individuals and will visit the project site in Obia this summer, participating in a five day solar cooking and water pasteurization training with Kawesa Mukasa and his staff, who are long time SCI contacts and solar entrepreneurs in Uganda with the Solar Connect Association.

• Benin: SCI was recently introduced to a gentleman from Benin who is a Humphrey Fellow at UC Davis and is working for a colleague in the area. Gabriel Kpadonou works for the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Benin and is co-founder of the NGO the Environmental Engineering Group involved in health and hygiene education and developing solutions to environmental problems. Gabriel works for the Sanitation and Public Hygiene Department of the MOH, which works closely with the Water Resources Management Authority ~ the two branches of government that Bob Metcalf and SCI are working with in Kenya to get the Safe Water Project underway. Gabriel is enthusiastic and dedicated to bringing solar cooking, water pasteurization and rural water treatment to the government ministries and affiliated NGO’s in Benin. Gabriel’s enthusiasm and connections give this project high potential at low risk. I look forward to pursuing this possibility and working with Gabriel in the future.

• West Africa: West Africa holds a place dear to my heart, which I already know is an ideal location for solar cooking projects due to sitting in its unforgiving sun for two years watching women walk by with wood on their heads (which was my inspiration to enter the solar field). In addition to the potential project in Benin listed above, I still have connections in West Africa from when I served in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso from ’97 – ’99. I have a former colleague who now works in Senegal for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) who might be interested in integrating solar cookers into their disaster relief and preparedness programs. I have been in contact with the Vice President of the NGO Love in Motion/Global who would like to incorporate solar cookers into the sustainable village they are creating in Liberia later this year. And I recently met with Freedom From Hunger in Davis who expressed an interest in involving SCI in their village-based MicroBusiness for Health program, involving educational and health-oriented self-help projects for women’s groups in Ghana. It is my opinion that West Africa is a sensible target for future programs, and I have some interesting and solid leads that I intend to seriously pursue in the near future.

Planning, execution and expansion of Safe Water Project in Kenya and beyond

I have had the pleasure of working with the ever optimistic and uber-motivated Bob Metcalf on the development and progression of the Safe Water Project that SCI initiated in Kenya in November of last year. During my inaugural visit to Kenya in October / November of last year, I had the privilege of accompanying Bob to a number of meetings with the Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) and representatives from the Ministry of Health (MOH). It was inspiring to witness the level of enthusiasm amongst those involved in potential program planning for this exciting project, and I believe we have some solid and dedicated Kenyans ready to work with us in this project.

During my next trip to Kenya this summer, I will assist Bob in executing the Water Testing Workshop in Nairobi (intended to be held in Kisumu in January of this year but postponed due to political strife in Kenya). Our mission is to train 40 individuals, 20 each from the two government ministries (MOH & WRMA) who will then go on to train others in their respective districts, creating a trickle down effect that will eventually reach the most rural levels of ministry and health work. It is expected that the result of this project will be a new process of accurately testing water in rural areas that don’t currently have access to expensive and sophisticated laboratory materials. This process will enable rural health workers to identify which water is good to drink and which requires treatment, allowing water treatment processes to progress without a doubt as to it necessity, and hopefully inspiring more environmental health education to those in the bush.

It is my intention, when visiting other countries and establishing new projects, to seek out officials in NGO’s and government heath ministries to inform them of the water testing work we’re doing in Kenya, in addition to solar cooking and water pasteurization.

As a supplement to the water testing workshop we have planned the last week in June, SCI has been contacted by a group of women putting on the African Women and Water Conference at the Greenbelt Training Center in Nairobi the first week in July. This conference will train a group of 30 women from East, West and South Africa, who will then take this knowledge back to their countries and the environmental institutions where they work. Our participation in this conference could be a foot in the door for potential water projects in the participating countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and South Africa. In addition, The African Women and Water Conference will be held at the Greenbelt Training Center, which was established by Wangaari Mathai, noble-prize winner and environmental and political activist in Kenya that we have been trying to get on our side for years. We have heard she might be coming around, and this conference could very well provide a connection to Ms Mathai that up to now we have lacked. Let’s hear it for networking!

Assist EARO on Sunny Solutions Evaluation and development of Resource Center

I am committed to promoting and supporting the work that the East Africa Regional Office is doing in Kenya, which I have attempted to do while giving EARO the room to breathe that it has become accustomed to. An official evaluation of the Sunny Solutions program developed over four years ago in the Nyakach region is underway, and will provide valuable materials and insight as to the successes and challenges that were experienced over the course of the Sunny Solutions project. From this side of the pond, I have done extensive research on evaluation methodologies and procedures and made sure that these materials were available to the EARO staff in preparation for this process.

While the Sunny Solutions project will be missed, it could provide a model for future projects, and will ultimately open the path for a big dream on the part of the East Africa staff ~ the first Solar Resource Center to be established in the East Africa region. Kisumu was chosen as the tentative location of the Resource Center due to its location near Lake Victoria which is a hub for northern Kenya and neighboring countries. Following the completion of the Sunny Solutions Evaluation, plans for development of the Resource Center will begin. It is my intention to assist in this process as much as possible from afar, and to discuss EARO’s needs while in country this summer.

Establish contact and collaborations with fellow environmental NGO’s

The Integrated Development process is one that I believe will benefit not only the communities, environments and individuals that we strive to assist, but will help to further the visibility and effectiveness of both SCI and the organizations that we are able to partner with in the field. (For those who don’t know, Integrated Development refers to the promotion of related appropriate technologies and environmental programs, in addition to and as supplement to our own). The more organizations we are able to work together with in regards to project planning and implementation, the more people in the world we will be able to reach. I am always in the process of reaching out to organizations that I believe would benefit as much from our contribution as we would from theirs. Below I have listed some of the individuals and organizations that I will attempt to make appointments with while I am in East Africa this summer in an effort to form collaborative support for projects.

Peace Corps ~ Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Freedom From Hunger ~ Uganda Action Against Hunger ~ Kenya & Uganda ActionAid International ~ Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania Friends of the World Food Program ~ Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania UNICEF ~ Uganda & Tanzania The Hunger Project ~ Uganda World Vision ~ Uganda & Tanzania Stop Hunger Now ~ Kenya PATH ~ Kenya & Tanzania Plan USA ~ Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania SEVA Foundation ~ Tanzania Direct Relief International ~ Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania International Center for Research on Women ~ Kenya & Uganda Businge Annet ~ Uganda Rural Dev. & Trng Program Mr. Patrick N. Wasike ~ Somuc Agricultural Consultants, Mbarara, Uganda Golooba Lawrence ~ Uganda Seed Project William Swella ~ Swenap Renewable Energy Tech Sys, Mafinga, TZ Ruth Shija ~ Solar Innovations of Tanzania Sperancea K. Gabone ~ Macedonia Ministries International inTZ

Expand humanitarian outreach to National Emergency Organizations

SCI is attempting to enhance its humanitarian outreach approach by increasing contact with disaster preparedness organizations. In conjunction with the efforts of the Executive Director, I am endeavoring to contact national emergency organizations overseas such as Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, International Rescue Committee, CONCERN Worldwide and the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction during my project planning and preparations for travel.

News and recent developments

• October/November 2007: Karyn Ellis' International Program Development (Kenya Report)

This report will reflect my trip to Kenya from October 24th – November 14th, 2007.

The primary goal of this trip was to familiarize myself with current projects and procedures in Kenya, as well as the SCI/East Africa Staff. The secondary goal was to accompany Bob Metcalf to meetings regarding the proposed water-testing project to begin in 2008. These goals were accomplished well and I obtained a good deal of perspective on SCI’s procedures and priorities in general, as well as insight into possible future developments, both locally and internationally.

Nairobi: During my first week in-country, I was fortunate enough to observe as well as participate in a very well put-together demonstration at the Pastoralist Exhibition from October 29th – 31st in downtown Nairobi. Faustine, Stella and contributing SCOREPS and volunteers put on a very professional presentation of a variety of solar cookers and hay baskets, along with lovely crafts made by our solar cooks. A bit of food was available and the crowd was consistent, assisted by an ever-attentive SCI staff. The public demonstrated great interest and a general agreement on the state of the environment and deforestation, and all seemed to see the benefit of solar energy and were quite interested in purchasing a solar cooker ‘at some point’. Some food was cooked at the demonstration, but not very much; it is my opinion that a solar cooking demo is not complete without the proof in the pudding (so to speak) and food should be a large part of any demo, in Africa and in the US.

Nyakach: My second week in Kenya consisted of a voyage to the Kisumu region, northwest of Nairobi by Lake Victoria, and supplied me with a good idea of how solar cooking has been adapted in the western area of Kenya where Sunny Solutions was founded almost five years ago. John Amayo has a motivated crew in the Kadibo office (founded about a year and a half ago with funding from GVEP). The nine Kadibo SCOREPS were enthusiastic and excited about their work. The SCI office in Kadibo is located directly across from the weekly farmer’s market, so it’s quite visual in the community. Reportedly, the Kadibo office has moved more quickly than the Nyakach office, which was the start of Sunny Solutions and is reported to be phased out in the near future. John and the Kadibo SCOREPS expressed concern that, although SCI/EA is receiving an increased widespread acknowledgement through radio broadcasting, SCI/Kadibo is not able to respond to requests for training in outlying areas without transportation. The Kadibo SCOREPS were also able to participate in a water-testing workshop with Board

President [[Bob Metcalf, who I had the pleasure of traveling with on the Safe Water Project mission. As Bob likes to say, we are ‘demystifying” microbiology so that everyone in the world can understand and use a PML (Portable Microbiology Laboratory).

Possibly an under-tapped resource in Kadibo, The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) seems to be very involved in promoting solar cooking in the Kadibo region (much more so than the Ministry of Education (MOE), providing local demos, information and food at local venues. The MOA staff uses CooKits at home and for demos where integrated (not just solar) cooking is promoted. The MOA is closely associated with energy conservation (including heat, wood and environmental), food, HIV/AIDS assistance to women / youth and tenement groups. We met with Joyce Naporter of Environmental & Land Development, and Rhoda Apunda of Home Economics; both of whom have given local demonstrations in over seven regions. In much the same way that we are beginning to work with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA) with our water-testing project, it is my opinion we should have a heavier collaboration with the MOA & MOE, possibly working to subsidize the distribution of CooKits and hay baskets in Kenya. More education, also, is needed in schools and health clinics explaining deforestation, water-borne diseases, and air quality in local languages.

Dinah, our Sunny Solutions Project Officer, was so welcoming and took the time to show me around the Nyakach region for the majority of a week, visiting individuals’ houses as well as women’s groups in each of the four regions of the Nyanza province, and we were guided well by SCOREPS in charge of each particular area. There are about twice the SCOREPS in Nyakach than in Kadibo, and twice the ground seems to have been covered. These solar cooks in Nyakach are, more often than not, in very remote parts of the region, and it was heartening to see so many local people actively using their CooKits on a regular basis. Regarding women’s groups, they seem to be a good target for solar cooking since they are inclined to pool their money and make investments based on developing projects that might sustain them as a group. Groups appeared to be consistently able to pay for the CooKits through selling solar cooked food, in addition to other craft-oriented projects like mat-weaving, vegetable gardens, soap making and the building and selling of hay baskets.

Villagers were consistent in reporting that solar cookers are beneficial in that they reduce the time and money required to collect and pay for wood. Women also reported having more time to do other things while the food is cooking; they enjoy being able to leave the pots as they go to work, gather water or shop, and food is ready when kids come home from school / husband from work. The average villager spends approximately 50C per day on firewood and/or charcoal. People see the benefit of solar cookers in their daily lives, they understand that trees are slowly being depleted from their environment and that, because of this, they can’t afford to purchase fuel to cook with.

SCOREPS: Challenges in the field reported by staff and SCOREPS:

• Attitude towards changing behavior are hard to overcome
• Cookit too expensive ~ payments not made

Cookit only able to be purchased, pot needs to be bought later Often one payment is made & no more are possible

• Radio announcements create requests in far out regions of Kenya, making

increased mobility more necessary

• Rain & bad weather make the terrain & roads difficult to traverse

SCOREPS travel in the rain to make house visits (request gumboots)

• Phones are few & far between, making communication in remote areas difficult

Many SCOREPS now have cell-phones

• Catch 22 ~ more sales in urban areas (higher salaries) but rural is the target
• Still the ‘what will I do when it’s cloudy’ question – need to incorporate integrated cooking at a grander scale
• Cloudy days in Kenya are increasing
• Villagers are sometime reluctant to leave cooker outside, b/c of animals or theft
• Tea in the morning cannot be warmed with a solar cooker

I met a number of women who professed to heating water on [a traditional] stove the night before and having water hot enough to eat porridge in the morning when kept in a hay basket over night

• Ugali with sorghum does not cook properly, the sorghum floats to the top

Solutions suggested:

• Need more marketing (M)
• ITDG – Practical Action, more participation
• Community support – one woman watches cookers while others work / collect water, etc.
• Suggest one month trial (perhaps 2 Scoreps could try first):

Provide cookit & keep the money saved on firewood to pay for cookit (ke)

• All energy related organizations collaborate

Common meeting w/ facts presented

• Engage as many organizations as possible
• Set government standard of documentation; provide incentive for government workers to work with solar
• MOA emails reports to upper ministry regularly (cc SCI)
• Education: People need to be educated on the state of the environment; rates of deforestation and air and water quality issues. Open wells, dirt and feces… Pamphlets in the local language distributed to schools and clinics.
• Sifted Ugali without sorghum cooks very well without the need for pounding or stirring (as with the traditional method)
• Women’s groups are very good at pooling their resources to make purchases, sell goods, outreach to community; many are familiar with micro-finance and budgeting money ~ focus more on groups, schools, health clinics, assisted living groups.

SCOREPS in all 3 areas requested: ~ Light grey t-shirts (darker colors get sun stained & appear dirty) ~ Umbrellas ~ Gumboots ~ Regular shoes ~ Bikes ~ A salary (!)

Hard working SCOREPS do a good deal of footwork for SCI/EA and one can’t help but wonder if they are utilized enough. It is hard to know the reality, since SCOREPS say they are in dire need of the things listed above but SCI/EA staff says they are well-provided with these items & that their salaries are commiserate with average local pay. I do believe that SCOREPS should always be provided with the materials needed to work in the conditions in which they are asked to work, and that a minimum of two t-shirts should be provided to all staff, perhaps more for those who wear them as a uniform to work. If SCOREPS lose motivation &/or momentum, it is up to SCI to provide adequate incentive to maintain productivity.

Alternative Technologies: During a ‘community meeting’ involving most of the supervisors, SCOREPS and stakeholders in the northern region, it was mentioned repeatedly that the name “Sunny Solutions” implies that the solutions themselves are plural, not singular as in the form of a single technology (namely the CooKit). Farmers and field workers in villages seem to be looking for additional solar technology to supplement the benefits gained from the CooKit. These comments came at a time when I had just observed the amazing number of solar panels on individual houses in the bush, indicating that advanced solar technology has already penetrated the very depths of African villages and more access and availability are inevitably on the way. SCI has recently expanded its core mission from promoting solar cooking and water pasteurization only to the addition of a safe water initiative, via Bob Metcalf’s revolutionary PML being made available to the Ministries of Health and Water in Kenya. I believe that it would be beneficial to SCI and the communities that we assist to incorporate small photovoltaic (PV) devices to our solar repertoire. Simple solar panel–powered devices like flashlights, lanterns and chargers are fairly inexpensive but extremely practical and effective for rural areas.

Partnerships: For a nonprofit project like ours, based in a community whose individuals have difficulty raising the funds to purchase a relatively inexpensive product like the Cookit, partnerships will most likely be the most effective way to get solar cookers out into rural communities without relying on unpredictable sales to those who can’t afford them. In addition, nonprofits in developing countries have the reputation for giving things away, not selling them, so there very well may be underlying expectations on the part of individuals asked to buy materials from an organization like ours.

Here are some of the nonprofits that the EARO has had involvement with: World Vision bought 1,000 cookers and distributed them to villagers, and it is their goal to distribute 5,000. NYACODA helped to establish SS in the Nyakach area. AVIF – Volunteers in Kenya; http://justfriends.moonfruit.com who have provided SCI’s contact information to interested institutions in the area. Organizations such as these are instrumental to our success, and need to be fostered. Partnerships are an invaluable resource to a company that depends on donations. ITDG – Practical Action; EPA has offered financial assistance on the condition that SCI works with ITDG. Both parties have agreed.

Here are some contacts listed in the Archive, currently doing nonprofit work in Kenya and based in Nairobi, that look like good folks to continue networking with:

• Charles Lepantas Leshore * Solar Health & Education Project
• Mark Hankins * Energy Alternatives Africa, Ltd
• Mr. Joel Kingori Maina * Igoko Enterprises
• John Ngatia * Trans World Radio * SOLAR COOKER DEPT
• Charles Onyango-oloo * Altener Solar Ltd
• Secretary * Mugunda Fighters Of Aids (mufoa)

Integrated Cooking: The Jiko: Jiko means stove in Swahili, and the Domestic Jiko is one of the locally made fuel-efficient stoves available in Kenya. The Jiko is a simple stove, easily manufactured by local women out of clay, and available in few different styles to compliment different cooking methods. Vi Agroforestry has provided a template for a jiko stove to local women who are making and selling these products for profit.

Suppliers of The Domestic Jiko: Program Officer, Wambugu (Central Highlands), PO Box 5069, Nyere, Kenya • Mr. Richard Kimani, Jerri International, PO Box 52747, Nairobi, Kenya Institutional stoves: • M.r C.J. Davey, Bellerive Foundation, Ngong Road, PO Box 42994, Nairobi, Kenya Tel.: 254.2.720 274; Fax: 254.2.726 547 • Charles Gitundu, Rural Technology Enterprises, PO Box 28201, Nairobi, Kenya, Tel.: 796352 • http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/paper/tech101/jikostove.html While the hay baskets being constructed in Kenya are attractive and effective, I did not see any evidence of their use in any of the districts or houses I visited. Integrated cooking is the collaboration between organizations and technologies that provides the greatest overall reduction in fuel wood burning. It is important not only to promote integrated cooking as the most effective way to cook using the least amount of firewood, but to establish contact and partner with local organizations involved in fuel efficient stoves, air pollution and deforestation issues. Integrated cooking cannot happen without each technology promoting the other. Surprisingly, proponents of fuel efficient stoves often overlook the benefits of solar cooking, thinking of it as a competitive rather than complimentary technology. Work is needed to bring these technologies together to a similar mindset for the benefit of people and communities.

Resource Center: SCI/EA would like to expand its Sunny Solutions efforts to develop a Resource Center in the Kisumu area. Its main goal, according to the EARO, is marketing solar cooking products and to serve as the hub for solar training and information resources in the communication and trading confluence of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi that is Kisumu. To meet the growing demand for information resources on solar cookers and training on their use, EARO seeks to create the first multifunctional center that educates, trains, markets and distributes solar cookers and related fuel-saving technologies. The Center will be phased in over three-two year periods, with each phase having a broader geographic reach. Phase 1 will focus on Kenya’s Nyanza and Western Provinces. Phase II will broaden activities to include eastern Uganda and western Rift Valley province. Phase III activities will also cover northwestern Tanzania and central Uganda. The Kisumu Marketing and Resource Center will be the cornerstone of SCI’s larger initiative to increase market access to solar cookers in eastern Africa.

Safe Water Project for Kenya:

On the 26th of October I accompanied Bob to a meeting with the WRMA (Water Resources Management Authority) head office in Nairobi to discuss the progression of the rural water testing Safe Water Project that Bob had proposed earlier in the year. While the Executive Officer was not available for this particular visit, we were greeted warmly by a small group of active participants involved in the execution of the project, and given an excellent power point presentation by Rose Namori, the Water Quality Manager with a microbiology background. Rose and her team spearheaded the rural water testing project for WRMA, documenting scientific results comparing effectiveness between testing water in a laboratory vs. in the field with the PML. Results showed that the PML is an effective process by which to test water, prompting WRMA to adopt the technology and incorporate it into their official procedures (which currently is not able to reach very rural areas). The Ministry of Health was also contacted and has expressed a similar enthusiasm for incorporating the PML into government standardized water testing. This kind of adaptation by government organizations primarily involved in Water Management in Kenya is unprecedented and a breakthrough in the realm of rural water processing and treatment.

On November 2nd, Bob, Faustine and I traveled to the town of Embu, northeast of Nairobi, where we met with a previous acquaintance of Bob’s: John Rimberia, who handles Quality and Pollution Control for WRMA. This meeting was attended by six other WRMA employees, along with a representative from the Ministry of Health in Chigoria and a Water Sector Reform Technical Advisor from Germany. John works closely with Rose Namori and might be willing to take on the role of Country Coordinator for the project. Bob and I plan to provide a workshop for members of WRMA & MOH, SCI/EA staff and various other interested participants in the western Kenya community, however, plans for this to happen in January were put on hold following the outcome of the presidential elections at the end of December. Plans have been pushed to this summer and remain the same; specifically training select members of government organizations to then go on to train others in their domain.

As is commonly the case in working with Mr. Metcalf, appreciation of the introduced technology is obvious, and the enthusiasm level is high on the part of all participants. This is an exciting endeavor for SCI, and entering the field of water testing technology will be a nice enhancement to our strong commitment to the people and environment of third world communities. The fact that the WRMA and MOH have agreed to work together is a significant step, since there has never been a collaboration of this kind between government agencies in Kenya. This revolutionary process is bound to make big waves and influence countless countries in need of an alternative to current and expensive methods of testing water in rural areas.

Possible Small Projects for Funding:

• Korea Women’s Group

Central Nyakach – November 9th, 2007 45 members, all have CooKits, widows cook food as they work on mats, pasteurize water Request borehole for gardens, chickens SAGA micro-enterprise Korea (sp?) Womens Group – Bore hole, Nov 9 – Hesbon’s SAGA is a microfinance org – they’re interested, want more info

• Flashlights (Bogo Light)

Buy 2 flashlights – one goes to you, & one is donated to an NGO on their list (refugees, etc). I have requested to get SCI on their list, and we could possibly post their information on our website in return. I would like to add this item to small PV items to sell, either here or in Nairobi, or both.

• Osiepe Womens Group

Request $600 for generator to pump water uphill to grow tomatoes, other crops

• Buy concrete for contaminated well in Kadibo

See also

• October/November 2008: Karyn Ellis' Kenya Report
• World Health Organization's Request for Proposal

External links

• August 2008: Kenya safe water project ramps up - Solar Cooker Review

Contact

See Solar Cookers International.