Piki piki driving and a blind rhino

Last Saturday we had a somewhat troublesome Skype-meeting. We talked with Bart from RIWIK and Otto Kroesen – our minor coordinator. The overall conclusion of the conversation was that despite the many meetings we had during our preparations in Holland, we had a totally different view and approach to the project as a whole. This meant that there was tension and frustration on both sides of the line. Both sides are to blame, though it was quite shocking when you’re having the idea that you’re working hard, doing the best and putting a real effort into it and it isn’t recognized as such. We came to terms and discussed the future of the project; how we could embrace and combine their vision with what we have done so far. Just when I was about to go for a walk to disperse some of my frustration, the group of students that are doing a project in Nairobi with whom we’d stayed our first week in Kenya, walked through the gate. This lifted my spirits and forced a smile on my face. Their company was a welcome distraction from what we had just abided.

We ate dinner together and they got the grand tour of our guesthouse, including the breathtaking view on Mt. Kenya. We decided to go to the local pool bar to shoot some balls, have a drink and a good conversation. We met the owner, an engaging man dressed in a long brown leather jacket and armed with a superfluous amount of Gikuyu – the local language – sputter and an old walking stick. It was a good start of the evening and got our engines started. We even went to Sportman’s Arms with some real die-hard party animals and it turned out to be a very fun evening.

The following morning we didn’t have much time to enjoy our hangover, as we had a tight schedule. As the Trout Tree Restaurant had been such a nice place with its incredible jungle treehouse ambiance, we couldn’t withhold our guests this experience. I can say without a doubt that they also were blown away by this little piece of paradise on earth. A Christmas market was second on the to-do-list, though we arrived quite late and it was not really worth it anymore. Thus we spent our time and money at some normal souvenir shop. We returned for the evening and watched a movie.

What we had planned for this Monday was the real “pièce de résistance” of our weekend. Next to matatus as public transport you also have the piki piki’s, which are motorcycle-taxis carrying up to sometimes even three passengers. Now what we had decided to do was the following… wait for it… wait for it...  rent these motorcycles for a day! So we could drive them ourselves and cruise around and see the region. Just to get this straight, these were real motorcycles, and definitely not scooters. They truly pack some power and this was both a real adrenaline rush and a bit unnerving on the other hand.  We went with two people per motorcycle and drove toward the mountain. Since most of us only had little experience with driving a scooter and some even no driving experience whatsoever, it took some practice: engines revving like lunatics, failed attempt to start, to pull away to shift or to brake. You name it, it was all there. But after a while most of us were willing and able to drive and so our day of adventure started. Every bike had its own unique malfunction; such as a reversed shifting mechanism, a non-working front brake or a throttle handlebar which worked in the opposite direction. But we managed and drove ourselves right to the foot of the mountain, just to the gate of the Mt. Kenya National Park. We saw some great scenery and drove through beautiful landscapes. We even saw some baboons dwelling the park’s borders. We had lunch back at the guesthouse and this gave us the possibility to switch some of the people that had gone along and the ones who had stayed ‘home’. In the afternoon we had some bad luck; one bike slipped while crawling down a slippery slope. Fortunately no one was hurt badly, though Koen’s knee got stuck under the weight of the motorcycle, so he sustained an injury. But luckily for him, not a severe one. We also had a flat tire, but that only took one hour and approximately one euro. In the afternoon we were with a smaller number of people and some of us even drove the bike solo. This gave us the possibility to open the throttle to the max and really feel the power these machines got: real toys for the boys. So for the guys this was a day of so many smiles and smirks.

The other weekend was also packed with fun; we went to a posh tourist accommodation called River Lodge to have swim and went on safari. Having a swim was really relaxing and we really enjoyed the sun and the cool water. Some of us even got too much sun and was painted crimson at the end of the day. All in all it was such a nice day of relaxing.

We went on safari to Ol Pejeta, a game park close to Nanyuki. The original plan was to rent a matatu van to drive ourselves around the park, but when Erik went to the rental company to search for a suitable car, a Land Cruiser caught his eye. It was love at first sight. Thus he talked with the manager how much it would cost to rent that particular car for one whole day. The conclusion was that this brute would set us back around 40 Euros more than a regular matatu. We he returned at the guesthouse he discussed this option with us and due to a financial windfall he was willing to pay the extra cash, if and only if he could drive the entire day. When he showed us a picture of the vehicle, we were also blown away, though not as much as he had been, since we’re not such big car enthusiasts. But we could not differ, because it truly is an awesome car. We came to that conclusion when we saw it for the first time.

There was some pressure in seeing animals in the park, because the other students from Delft also went to Masai Mara National Park, but did not see any lions there. So they were desperately hoping to get a good look at these big cats during this safari. Although we did not see any lions, which was quite ironical because when we returned at the guesthouse we learned that every pack is equipped with a tracking device, we did caught a glimpse of a leopard just during the first fifteen minutes in the park, though only half of us were lucky enough to see it walking through some tall bushes. With this first discovery we were really satisfied and were hoping that the day would bring more of these welcome surprises.

During the course of the day we saw huge numbers of different kinds of antelopes, zebras, giraffes, wild boars, baboons and primates. What we also saw that we had not seen before were rhinos, we saw a small herd just in the distance with Mt. Kenya in the background. The rental company insisted of sending a guide/driver with us, free of charge. At first we didn’t really fancy the idea of having someone in our car, because we really enjoyed the freedom we had when we drove through Masai Mara. We had to withdraw this opinion, as this guy was able to tell us loads of things about the animals. How they were different in this region compared to for example Masai Mara, which lies on the south side of the equator, which results in a difference in climate. We learned about the differences between the ‘normal’ zebra and the grevy’s zebra, the latter dwelling the northern part of Kenya, the different subspecies of giraffes and black and white rhinos. So our guide was welcome company, but he had some faulty spotting. One time he mistook a wild boar for a lion, to the dismay of the ones who hadn’t seen any lions yet. Generally speaking he was very helpful, he knew the park like the back of his hand and he navigated us through the park, with Erik behind the wheel with a constant smile on his face.

He led us to Baraka, a rhino blinded in a territorial fight with another male and dependant on food from human hands. Because of this dependence he was tamed and we could touch him. Wow, even though this wasn’t a real wild rhino, it was incredible to touch his horn and feel his dry skin. Our guide also took us to a sanctuary for chimpanzees that are retrieved from merchants who illegally smuggle them out of the jungles of Congo. They have such a strong resemblance to humans that it is almost frightening. Therefore it was a really enjoyable weekend, although we didn’t see any lions.

Now I’m working towards an end, since I still have to pack my backpack, because we’re leaving for Nairobi tomorrow morning to get on the night train to Mombassa! Moreover I think I’ve told you enough for the moment, so I’ll get back to you when we return from our trip.

I’d like to wish you all a merry Christmas, and a blissful and most importantly happy new year!

Love and greetings from all of us.

Ketchup and Christmas plans

It has been a long time, so where should I start? I guess I’ll just start with last night, just when I was about to go to sleep, I looked up and saw the moon shining with a mindboggling brightness. It just looked surreal, as it shone almost as if it were the sun. Really a magnificent sight.

I’m also safe to say that we’ve passed the equator now some 20 times. We cross it every time we’re in one of the matatu busses going to Nanyuki the big town north of where we’re staying. So it not really a special occasion anymore. What I do find astonishing is the resourcefulness and the creativity of the Kenyan people. Resourcefulness in the way how they create a new seat in a matatu; they just place a wooden plank on two seats to bridge the aisle, and poof! another person can be seated. Or the fact that every matatu has a different interior. When you step in one matatu you get the feeling that you’ve stepped into a Bollywood movie, the other has black leather seats and a flat-screen TV and another has leopard print on their seats and Ghetto Radio pounding from the speakers. Another thing I really like is the colourful facades of the shops here. From vibrant red or vivid green to a mix of blue and yellow, every shop’s front has been painted with a bright colour. Apart from the houses made of wood, most are made of large grey bricks. So this really brightens up the streets.

Every time I want to say something about the Kenyan cultural and thus about the Kenyan people themselves, matatus remain the best example. When you sit between some 15 Kenyans, you experience all kinds of aspects of the Kenyan culture. Kids staring at you because you are a Mzungu – which literally means someone who roams around aimlessly, but is used to call white people – but especially babies are king when it comes to staring. Just when they’re dozing off and they open their big brown eyes and the first thing that catches their eye is a Mzungu. You see their eyes widen and their little jaws drop. Another good example of practicality and resourcefulness is that they can transfer small amounts of money using their cell phone. This service is called M-Pesa and works for everybody who has a Kenyan SIM-card. It is just such an easy way of doing business.

Staying at the guesthouse is a very lazy life, you don’t have to cook or do the dishes and in the morning and after dinner there is always hot water to make a cup of coffee or tea. In the morning you have toast and sometimes even a boiled egg or pancakes. For lunch we have a warm meal consisting of rice, pasta or chips with some vegetables. As dinner we get rice or mashed potato with minced meat or chicken and some vegetables. Once a week we’re blessed with chapatti, which are a kind of savoury pancakes which you eat with your hands with spinach and beans. Apart from other days, on Chapati-Day everybody is happy and longing for dinner, because most of the other meals are quite blant. A lot of salt and pepper will get you some flavour, but not really far. So that’s why we made a long-term investment: we’ve bought a 5 liter jerrycan of ketchup! As snacks we have chocolate chip cookies and spicy noodle soups, because the meals are easily digested which means you’re always hungry an hour after dinner.

The other day when we were having spaghetti for lunch, our little friend Charles was sitting with us, looking real cool as he was wearing Anne-Thomas’ sunglasses. He had a chicken in his arms and when we asked what he was going to do, he laughingly said: “We’re going to cut it” whilst making a sawing motion with his hand above the chicken’s neck. Then when we were enjoying our plate of spaghetti outside in the sun, some 5 meters behind us, some guy was busy plucking and degutting the chicken. So we didn’t have to guess what were going to have for dinner that evening.

Whilst Erik is self-sacrificing himself by diving into and getting down and dirty in the data we’ve collected so far, Anne-Thomas and I are testing the individual electrical components in the hot Kenyan sun. We charged the batteries at a neighbouring barber shop and are now able to hook the inverter – which converts the direct current from the batteries into the alternator current on which normal appliances run – to the batteries and we were able to make some sandwiches using the toaster. But after a while the inverter just gave up and stopped functioning, so it has some issues. It’s not really working reliably and this might well be the biggest problem in the whole system. Anne-Thomas is the one who is mostly busy with our wind turbine project, and he’s really diving in the literature and theory on the turbine. With our testing we’ve also cooperated with a local electrician, named Francis. Not only to benefit from his practical experience, but also to be sure that what we do here will be understood by the local community and let the knowledge remain with the locals. An example of his practical handiness is that he used some Coca Cola to wash off the corrosion on the batteries. We’re planning on testing the charge controller today – the device that ensures that the batteries aren’t overloaded – since there is ample wind at the moment. Thus we want to try to charge the batteries on the power delivered by the wind turbine. I’m really anxious.

Last Sunday some of the students here wanted to do some jogging. So at breakfast we decided to all go for a run, and thus 15 minutes later, all but one of us were jogging on the road which leads to Mt. Kenya. There were a lot on people on the road on their way to church and they were very enthusiastic to see this group of Mzungu running, they also cheered for us and the youngsters gave us high-fives. Church is really important here, since almost everybody goes to church in Kenya. A man told me that every time before he got in a matatu he always prayed for a safe trip and when he had arrived safely he would say grace to thank the Lord. On Sundays you can hear the gospel music playing in the nearby church, a mix of joyful tunes and the exclamations of a charismatic priest.

The other aspect of our internship here is the market research and we’re now so far that we’ve gathered most of the data on population and electricity usage. Part of our plan is also to do interviews with local households and small business to investigate their demand for and financial means to buy a wind turbine. We do not have much experience with interviewing so we called in the help of James, a recently graduated Kenyan student doing research on water pollution in a local river. For this research he has done loads of interviews and being a Kenyan, he understands the cultural aspect of these interviews: which question to ask, how to put them and how much of their time people are willing to take for an interview. This has really helped us in improving our questionnaires and we are now confident in starting with the interviews. James has even offered to lend us his car, which can be incredibly practical when doing interviews in somewhat remote villages.

In the meantime, when Erik and I were meeting James about our interview questionnaires, Anne-Thomas was accompanying Dalton – the first Kenyan producer of the small wind turbines – to Nyeri, a large town to the south of where we’re staying. Dalton went to Nyeri to enter in a business plan competition in which you could win a large sum of money to kick-start your enterprise, and had asked if one of us wanted to join him. Having never written a business plan, meant that it was not up to standard. Though, the contest commission give him the chance to correct it and hand in his business plan proposal at another moment. As you might have noticed we’re splitting up if possible, because this enabled us to save a lot of time, since it’s really not necessary for all of us to be present at every meeting or occasion.

A Skype meeting has taken place with Bart, one of the board members of RIWIK. We were able to explain what we had done so far, and gave him the chance to ask questions. We talked about the electronics and discussed some theoretical things.

One day when I was in Nyeri to gather data from the electricity company, I was halted by a wall of bureaucracy. The KPLC, the company that has a monopolistic position when it comes to electricity supply, has two offices in that city. One on one side of the city and one on the other side. I just thought to start at the biggest of the two, and they quickly referred me to the other office, which meant that I had to walk half an hour to the other side of town. Having arrived there I was kindly helped, but they were not in the position to hand over any data without an introduction letter from the main office. So I quickly headed back to the main office, as is was getting late in the afternoon. Upon entering the main office, I saw an enormous row of customers waiting to be helped at a desk. I felt a small twitch in my stomach for I was so easily allowed to go upstairs to talk with some manager and these people had to wait in line, like everyone else, to be helped. Upstairs they told me that for me to get an introduction letter, I had to hand in a printed letter, addressed to the regional manager, requesting to collect data. Though they told me that he was not in office until three days later. The other day, when I had come back to deposit the letter, a secretary told me that they would contact me when they had processed it. Thus getting some data takes a lot more time than expected and waiting is the only option for now, which is quite frustrating. So the idea of trying to speed up our research by splitting up has been crudely washed away by this bureaucracy.

Talking to the local government was a bit more promising. They could give us a list of all SACCOs in the area of Nyeri and a list of associations for small businesses, including contact details. The latter are very useful contacts when we want to do interviews with small-scale entrepreneurs, as these associations can refer us to one of their members. This could for example be a tailor who is currently sewing all the clothes he makes by hand, but who could benefit from buying a wind turbine. This would give him the possibility to use an electrical sewing machine and a light to work during the evening; significantly increasing his production and thus income.

To celebrate Sinterklaas we went to a local restaurant called Trout Tree Restaurant. This is really cool restaurant as it is situated in a treehouse in a colossal tree. You really feel like you in the middle of the jungle, since you see dense greenery everywhere. When you get lucky, and we were lucky, you see a monkey climbing up the tree and jumping on the balustrade of the restaurant. These Colobus monkeys are quite cheeky as they just walk over the chairs and tables. This one even picked up a saltshaker and started licking it! When he was done licking, he just threw it over the edge and ran off. This monkey was responsible for many laughs and photos. But I almost forgot the most important thing about the restaurant. In this restaurant, almost the entire menu consists of dishes with trout, not really coincidental, as the restaurant is in the middle of gigantic trout farm. From the treehouse, you can see all the basins in which the fish are gradually growing until they’re big enough to be sold. It was a real unique experience and loads of fun doing this with all the students, who are staying at the guesthouse. One of the students, Martijn, even had a bag of pepernoten, which completed our Sinterklaas celebration.

We also made plans for Christmas. We’re going to spend our Christmas on the beaches near Mombassa, where the temperature fluctuated around the 35 degrees Celsius. Not a really bad way to spend the holidays I would say.

Erik has visited the SNV in Nanyuki, to talk about our research and some other really interesting things. The SNV gave us the name of a site which has loads of data on Kenya, regarding population and such; a very useful site to gather data from. He also discussed the government’s plans for future Kenya, captured in the Vision 2030 campaign. This is a vision with a set of goals, linked to the mondial Millennium Goals, for Kenya to reach in the coming two decades. They’ve also talked about our interviews and how the SNV could be of any assistance. The SNV has offered us to provide us with a guide/interpreter to accompany us. The importance of getting permission of the local chief was pressed by the SNV, as you will get a lot more done if he – it’s still a very masculine culture, so the position of chief is most of the time fulfilled by a man – gives his blessing. Also the issue of Community Development Trust Fund was discussed. This is a government fund to financially aid sustainable energy alternatives and could really help the company RIWIK for whom we’re doing the research. So it was a really productive visit.

We’re now roughly three week in Kenya and we’re getting used to the life here, I’m already starting to notice the scent of the African soil in my clothes. We’ve also come to terms with the Hakuna Matata lifestyle here of people coming too late or don’t show up at all and the large amounts of time you just have to sit and wait in for the matatu to finally get going. So I guess we’re gradually becoming real Kenyans and I’m sure that when we return in the Netherlands a small part of Kenya will remain inside us.

Tuonane!

Kenyan rain and soap series

Saturday, November 26^th

Rain came down in biblical proportions the last 24 hours. Naro Moru, the little village where we are staying, has been turned into a big quagmire. The HSHC site, lying on the outskirts of the village, consists of a small factory producing vegetable oils, some offices, a little kitchen, the guesthouse with personal rooms, a common room and a wind turbine of course. In the rooms you find a bed, a desk and a bathroom with a toilet and a shower. So it’s just perfect. For just 300 Euros a month we get three meals a day – prepared by our chef Ann, a lovely lady whose smile never seems to fade – and the key of one of those apartments. As a bonus we get the company of two stray dogs, two somewhat wild cats and little friend called Charles. He’s the son of Ann and is always around during the day, since he has holiday from school until the beginning of January. During the evening we either watch soap series with the handyman Peter, we play some cards or watch a movie.

Transport to the village of Naro Moru and also the larger town Nanyuki is provided in the form of matatus, the little minivans I had talked about in an earlier blog. They are managed by the driver and a conductor, who try to get as many passengers in as possible. They are really the holy grail of fuel efficient public transportation. 20 grown-ups cramped in the small bus is rule rather than exception. Another way of getting to town is by “piki piki”. This is a motorcycle carrying a driver and two to three passengers, also a prime example of efficient transportation. A bit more expensive than taking the matatu, though loads of fun. But on the issue of transportation, the Kenyans can also obviously learn something. There are lots of large trucks, mostly ISUZU, of type you do not see in Holland, and which clearly do not have a particle filter. When these trucks accelerate they produce a thick black smoke plume, so definitely room for improvement there. But I think we can learn a lot when it comes to efficient use of transportation, and thus fuel. For example compare us, sitting in a traffic jam every morning formed by cars with only one person inside to the Kenyan way. We could be very proud, driving a Toyota Prius or something, but even that is no competition for the fuel efficiency of these matatus.

Between all the drama of the soap series and the card games we also work on our project of course. We did a short survey of the wind turbine at the guesthouse, looking at the structure and trying to figure out the electronics. The tangle of wires made it a challenge to understand how the electronics were connected, though we figured out most of it. We switched the electric brake switch of the wind turbine on and off, allowing it to turn or not. We were amazed by the speed on which it turned, even during little wind. We also met Dalton, the person who has started to make these wind turbines in order to sell them to people in the area. He is the first of the group of entrepreneurs RIWIK wants to attract to produce the wind turbines. He owns a small metal shop in the centre of Naro Moru and lives along the road to the HSHC site, so every day when he goes to work; he passes the wind turbine standing next to the guesthouse. He had first tried to build a wind turbine by himself using a car alternator, but this was not designed for the low rotation speed of the turbine. When he saw the students building the wind turbine at the HSHC, he was instantly interested in this other design and technology. We spent some time with him, drinking tea at a small cafe, bathing in the warm Kenyan sun, talking about his plans for the future. He talked about how he had built a wind turbine for a friend of his, but how he had problems with the inverter getting too hot, which could mean it is overloaded. He also talked about how he is currently busy building another wind turbine, with another type of frame. Instead of using a single steel pole as the supporting structure, which is used at the HSHC site, he builds a triangular frame consisting of three thinner steel poles interconnected by horizontal rods; a kind of Eiffeltower structure. This allows climbing in the structure to do some maintenance or for example to repaint the blades, without the hassle of bringing the whole structure down in the case of the single pole design. It was real nice to finally meet the man we had talked about so much during our meeting with RIWIK. He’s really enthusiastic and inspiring. We made an appointment to go and see the wind turbines that he made and said goodbye. This was last Wednesday and today we went out with him, defying the rain and mud, to see his handmade works of art.

We met him at his metal shop where employees were busy sanding a Land Rover, welding a bulbar back together and hammering some sheet metal in shape. He brought us to his friend’s house, which was just some minutes walking. This turbine was very similar to the one at the HSHC when it came down to the mechanics, and thus we turned to the electronics. This was very informing, as these we are lot more clearly connected and it was a lot easier to understand the working principle. We walked back to town and got a taxi to bring us to see the next wind turbine. The cab ride, filled with muddy water splashing to the side of the car and the occasional drifting of the rear wheels, took us past Sweet Waters National Park. After a lovely lunch, prepared by the lady of the house, which happened to be Dalton’s sister in law, we went outside to look at the turbine. This one was not yet erected, so we could get a close look at all the different parts. Finally after having read so much theory about wind turbines we were able to push the blades into motion. Feeling the resistance created by the electric brake switch, and even letting a small light bulb glow on the electricity produced by the gentle turning of the blades. The separate parts of the turbine were almost ready to be assembled, but Dalton said he was just waiting for some of the electronics.

Spending the day with Dalton made us experience the drive and passion of this man for technology. He told about how he made a powered grinder to make flour from maize and how he had built a biogas installation which makes biogas from the manure of cows or other biomass. He was also very interested in a solar powered cooking device. He wants to use his skills, entrepreneurial spirit and these technologies to help the community. So not driven by self-interest, but by an incredibly noble goal.

The other day we went to district office in Nanyuki to make an appointment with the district officer, and we met someone who could make an appointment with him for us. We agreed to meet him the next day and returned to Naro Moru. When we set out to meet him, we spoke with the same person who made the appointment for us and he told us that the district officer was not going to make it. So a little disappointed, but not really shocked, as we were prepared for this in Holland, we agreed to meet him the next day. The conversation was really pleasant and he could give us most of the data on demographics of the region we required, but also a lot of data we were looking for did not exist according to him. He referred us to two other district officers, responsible for other matters and the electricity company. One of the district officers was in office, so we could just walk in and ask him some questions. We talked with him about SACCOs; these are a kind of union for every profession and the members of this SACCO can save money there and get a loan. These loans are similar to a kind of micro-credit, frequently used in developing countries. He could tell us some inside details of how SACCOs work and which role the government plays. He said he knew someone at a SACCO in town, and not much time later we were drinking tea with the CEO of one of the SACCO banks in downtown Nanyuki. She was really interested in our project and we got a guided tour and got to meet every employee in the entire enterprise. Not one person or room was left behind; we literally shook everybody’s hand and not a crevice was missed. She also talked about the possibilities of RIWIK co-operating with her SACCO bank to promote the use of wind turbines. We said that was a bit rash, as the company is still in the start-up phase. She even wanted to know if it was possible to power the entire bank with wind turbines, since electricity bills contribute to a large share in monthly costs. We said this sure was a possibility, but also a bit premature. We left the building, smiling in the sun and surprised by the unforeseen course of the day.

We had a double patty, double cheese burger for lunch and went our way to meet the SNV. This is an organization situated on a road leading away from Nanyuki, but still walking distance from the center. They deal with development aid in Northern Kenya and lots of different projects and approaches. We thought we had made an appointment for next Friday, in our perception meaning coming Friday. Unaware that here in Kenya next Friday means Friday next week. So surprised of our visit, they accepted to sit down and talk with us. We talked with Jannie, a Dutch woman, who has been in Kenya for several years, dealing with the education system. It was a very fun meeting, being able to talk freely in Dutch and we discussed a lot of things, most not really connected to our research, though very helpful for our stay in Kenya. She gave us the contacts of a number of people associated to the SNV with whom we could make an appointment, since they have experience in different fields that could really benefit our research. Satisfied with our busy day we returned ‘home’.

I have one final note, not really relevant, but quite funny. I do not know why, or how it came to be, nor why it is similar to the Chinese. You will think: “What is he talking about? Chinese, I thought you were staying in Kenya?” But what I want to say is that the people here have a way of pronouncing words that is very entertaining and the source of many jokes between us students here. The fact is that the locals pronounce the R like an L, and sometimes even vice versa. So statements like: “You are my fliends” or “Runch is leady” are not uncommon, but make us roar with laughter.

Some photos are uploaded as was promised, the rest will surely follow I hope.

Love and greetings from us,

Sjoerd

YES!!!!!

We've got great news, after the CICAT-StuD fund had decided to sponsor our project, today we received confirmation that also Students 4 Sustainability wants to aid our project financially. The sponsored money will be used for our project of revising the non-working windturbine at the Help Self Help Centre in Naro Moru.

The Students 4 Sustainability Foundation – or in short S4S – was founded on February 28, 2007 with one clear goal: investing in sustainable technology in developing countries. Practically, this has two parts: sustainable technology as a cool lifestyle in Delft and also promote investment in sustainable engineering projects in developing countries. For only 2 Euros per month, you can be a sponsor. Unlike other funds, employee costs and collateral costs are not paid for by this fund. So S4S sponsored capital goes directly to projects in developing countries. 
If you want to know more about this foundation, check out their website: Students4Sustainability.nl

The CICAT-StuD fund financially supports students who go to a developing country during their studies. The CICAT-StuD fund was created with the aim of meeting the costs which an internship or graduation project abroad entail.

First weekend in Kenya: Masai Mara National Park

Wow what an experience! This weekend, the plan was to rent two four wheel drive cars, so we could drive ourselves to and in the most famous of Kenyan wildlife reserves: Masai Mara national park. We wanted to see the Masai Mara-thon on Saturday morning and do some game drives to see the wild animals. We could borrow one car from some friends in Nairobi, but last minute then cancelled and told us they needed the car for themselves. So we had to arrange another car, a hectic search which lasted the whole of the afternoon, originally planned to drive to the park. Though, we succeeded in finding another company which had a Toyota RAV4 for the weekend. So Saturday morning, just at dawn we set off for an unforgettable adventure. This meant that we would miss being spectator of the running event, though this never was our main goal.

Luckily there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the roads in Nairobi, but it was still a bit challenging as they drive on the left hand side in Kenya opposite from most European countries. Most of the roads were quite good, except the Kenyan speed bumps, which are jokingly called sleeping policemen. They are mean, tall and very dangerous. Most of the time you don’t even see them coming, until they’re right in front of your car. Along the road to a town halfway the park we saw a breathtaking panoramic view, a truck which had fallen off a cliff with the driver sitting on a stone nearby and some small villages in the tail of the Rift Valley, which stretches from north to the south of Kenya. In one of these villages we bought some local delicacies; bamboo hearts and some sort of donuts. The idea is that you bite a piece from this cylindrical core and you suck the sugary juices out of it, and throw away the remains. The donuts were deep-fried and made from a type of bread, which tasted similarly to the Dutch ‘oliebollen’. With our bellies filled, we continued our journey through the vast planes and grassy hills. Not long after we left this city halfway the park behind us, the tarmac ended alongside with the green surroundings. They gave way for bumpy roads filled with potholes the size of monkeys. This required some serious driving, but luckily our driver - Koen - was quite brave and managed to dodge most of them. But when the sandy, hole filled, roads ended, the roads consisted of compact sand with lots of large stones. This certainly did not improve the comfort inside of the car and made it shake vigorously. But all was well, since we had our big friend Bob Marley singing in the background.

When we finally arrived at the gate of the park, the rally-driver-worthy driving of Koen meant that we arrived more than an hour earlier than the other car. So we waited in the cool shade of a large tree, full of yellow birds making their typical braided nests which hung from the many branches, until the others had catched up. At first they wanted us to pay the full price for the park, though being students we demanded a lower price. After a lot of discussion they gave us a fifty per cent discount. Around three o’clock, we drove into the wildlife reserve, anxious to see the many animals roaming the park. With our eyes and binoculars we searched the grassy planes for any movement. Then in the distance we saw something, at first it appeared to be a tree line, but when looked at closely we could see that this tree line was in fact moving. So we drove towards it and with our binoculars we could see that this was an enormous herd of wildebeest galloping in a long row. Adrenaline rushing through our veins, because of this first finding, we rushed forward to meet them somewhere along the road. The group consisted of almost two hundred of these animals and when we neared the herd, they became quite uneasy and started to run a bit panicky. So we kept our distance, took a few photographs and went ahead with our safari. Still with our hearts beating in our throats, we drove off and met a game driver with a pick-up truck filled with Asians and their huge telephoto lenses, heading in the opposite direction. We asked him where he was bound, and if he perhaps knew of any sightings of some animals. He told us that he was on his way to see a pack of lions, so we quickly made a U-turn and followed him. The site wasn’t that hard to find, as there were about five cars standing still halfway a bushy hillside. At arrival, we gazed upon these magnificent big cats, just drowsing and relaxing in the comfort of the shadows. The pack consisted of a large number of females and a few young males. In total the group was formed by about twelve lions. As the word had spread around, the number of cars soon increased and we felt it was our time to leave. Apart from these quite spectacular findings, we also came across loads of antelopes, gazelles, wild boars and saw some giraffes in the distance.

As it became darker, we thought it was a good idea to look for a place to spend the night. We read in our Lonely Planet - a book with a lot of tourist information about a specific country – that just outside a gate there was a budget hotel where normally not a lot of white people come, but it offered comfortable beds at a good price. It was quite… how shall I put this… basic. The hotel consisted of a courtyard lined with a series of rooms made of bricks, topped with a corrugated sheet roof and with only a bed inside. They didn’t have any showers and the toilets were a hole in the ground inside a small cubicle just outside on the grass behind the courtyard. The electricity for the lighting came from a loud generator. The manager told us that in the evening, around eleven, when they would shut down the generator, hyenas would come to the outsides of the courtyard to look for a free meal between the rubbish, left on the grass near the toilet. That sure made us ban any thought of going to the toilet that night. We had a meal at a tiny restaurant runned by a local female chef who said she could cook us anything we wanted. We chose to have a meal consisting of rice, potato chips, steamed cabbage and roasted lamb. This was a very traditional Kenyan meal and we ate loads and still paid a pittance compared to what we are used to pay in a ‘normal’ restaurant. That night was saturated with the howling of the hyenas the manager had been talking about. The following morning we had a big breakfast of eggs and toast. Packed with some bananas for the road we went on to the adventure of our second day in the reserve.

Just outside the village we saw some baboons, not a very rare sighting, though quite entertaining. The rain had poured heavily during the night and the roads that were relatively good the previous day had turned into deep muddy tracks. When we same some elephants in the distance we thought we’d try one of these muddy tracks, though not a few minutes later, we started to slide uncontrollably and in the blink of an eye one car got stuck. The persons in the other car noticed that only the front wheels of the car that was stuck were spinning. So we, in the idle car, we started to search for a kind of button to put the 4x4-function on. We tried every single button on the dashboard and turned the car upside down in search for this elusive switch, though nothing seemed to work. We decided to call the car renting company if they knew where the button was. They said that there should be a button on the dash, but as we had already noticed nothing had any effect. As a last resort we tried to push the car ourselves, and with some help from the ones in the other car we got the vehicle out of the mud, which meant that we got down and dirty in the African mud. We quickly returned to the roads that were good, and stayed on them, not willing to bring our safari adventure in jeopardy. When on hardened roads, we saw that we had lost track of the elephants in the distance so we drove on. Not far away, we saw a few cars standing still and we drove towards them. When we got closer we saw that they were near three giraffes, two large ones and a smaller one. We swiftly made a few photos, gazed upon them running, which looked as if in slow-motion, and passed on. Not long after that we came across a small group of elephants, from tiny babies to masculine giants, trotting through some bushes, also enjoying a big breakfast. This spectacular discovery made our jaws drop. What a beautiful sight. The elephants didn’t pay much attention to us; they didn’t run off and continued their activity of picking and chewing the juicy leaves of the bushes. After having taken far too many pictures we returned to our quest.

Flying over the roads with ample speed we suddenly had to stop. A couple of lions were enjoying the remains of what could have been a zebra, though most of the flesh and skin being gone, it was difficult to determine. We snapped our cameras and made a plan to go to the Hippo Pool southwest in the park. On arrival we looked over the edge of a boulder filled cliff and saw a group of these enormous creatures floating in the calm waters of the river Mara and the others comfortably sunbathing on a sandy shore. When they yawned the gigantic teeth would blink in the sun. A park ranger, wanting to take us for a hike to also see some crocodiles, told us that with these k9s the hippos could easily pierce anything that threatened them. We took the offer and went with the ranger to search for crocodiles, patrolling the shores of the Mara for prey. A short walk later, we laid eyes on two of these creatures from ancient times and then the ranger pointed out another one in the water. Being so well camouflaged, the fierce animal floated calmly through the waters, unseen by the untrained eye. We thanked the ranger, paid him and went on. We came at a gate which gave us access to a specific part of the park, maintained by another organization than the one responsible for the remainder. They told us that we only had two hours to get the northern gate through which we planned to leave the reserve. This meant that we sped by elephants, zebras, wild boars, giraffes, ostridges and all kinds of grazers and birds. This may have well been the most beautiful piece of the park and we had to make haste to get to the gate, what a pity! We arrived in time at the northern gate and asked a guard to take a picture of the whole group with a breathtaking view of the reserve behind us.

The road back to Nairobi, I’m not going to spend too much time on it, but what I want to press is that the roads were even worse than on the way there. This reduced our speed to a miserable 20 kmph. On top of that we had a puncture in our tire, but with the help of some locals who were passing through, we put the spare wheel on and were on our way. The last hurdle we had to take was that alongside light running scarce, our fuel arrow suddenly plummeted. This meant we had to search for a fuel station in a village, which was not more than a few houses on the side of the road. Luckily there was a petrol station, if it would deserve the name is another matter, but they sold fuel. They had petrol stored in Coca-Cola bottles of one liter and we bought fifteen of them. We had an enormous dinner when we arrived in Nairobi of burritos, chips, rice, guacamole, sour cream and a large cup of coffee for desert.

After a good night’s sleep, we set out to bring the rented car back to their office in downtown Nairobi. Fighting our way through hectic morning traffic we managed to arrive in the crowded centre. Just when we were backing up to park the car, a few bypassers beamed at us, waving and pointing frantically trying to tell us something. We stopped the car and got out. When we looked at our left rear tire we spotted that it was not more than a few centimeters removed from a hole in the road of nearly one by one meter and possible also a meter in depth. None of us in the car had noticed this from inside the car, so we were immensely lucky that there were these observant commuters. After a long discussion about the car being faulty, as it didn’t have 4x4 functionality, we got some of our money back. This delay meant that our appointment of 7 AM at the Nairobi office of the organization – the Help Self Help Centre - we would be staying at during our stay in Kenya, was cancelled. This because the driver who would take us to our guesthouse in Naro Moru, some 200 kms above Nairobi, had to leave early. This would not be a big problem as we have more than enough time in Kenya to visit the office some other time, and the director would also be coming to Naro Moru somewhere this week.

In Naro Moru - what will be our home for the following two months - we greeted the other students from Delft staying in the guesthouse, doing a project with ecotourism in the Naro Moru area. It is a really diverse area and there is a lot to be seen and they will explore the possibilities to make them attractive for many tourists who come there to climb Mount Kenya; the second highest peak of the African continent. Check out their project at ecotourismkenya.blogspot.com.

Once again photos will follow; the promise will be kept. Though there are some problems here, one being the internet being very slow or not even working and some problems getting the photos from one of the cameras onto our computers.

This is the end for now hope you’ve enjoyed!

Greetings,

Sjoerd

Telephone numbers

O PS, we now have Kenyan telephone numbers, so you can contact us on those.
Sjoerd:  +254700550936
Erik:  +254706299430
Anne-Thomas:  +254706307303

Karibu Kenya

Hi everybody, this is our second blog, live from Nairobi. We’re currently staying with some friends from Delft doing the same minor (Simon, Sylvie, Harm and Koen), who are doing a project for a local orphanage. The goal of their project is primarily to build a washing machine, as the sisters working in there now do their washing by hand, for all 57 little girls staying in the orphanage. It’s a real noble goal and I’m really hoping they will succeed, but no worries there. For more information, check out their blog: weeshuiskenia.blogspot.com

Anne-Thomas had arrived a day earlier in Nairobi and stayed at a hotel, and did a little discovering of the city and met some local people. Most of them Kenyans, trying to manoeuvre you into going on safari with them. Everybody has, and will give you, their business card. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, everybody is some kind of businessman and has a business card. Also everyone claims that he is the best, from taxi-drivers to mango-growers, all want to convince you of being the most experienced or most skilled. Erik and I had a long transit in Istanbul and we went to see the city. First we started at, what other than a Starbucks, to have a good start of the day: a large cup of coffee. Then we walked, and walked and walked, not really knowing where to go. The plan was to meet friend of Erik, Mehmet, who studies Aeronautical Engineering in Istanbul. He wanted to show us most big tourist sites, but unfortunately time was not in our advantage, since we had to head back to the airport around 3pm, as our flight was planned to leave at half past six. But we did see the largest bridge over the Bosporus, the famous Blue Mosque and a very impressive underground basilica.

We had a good flight and arrived around three in the morning at Kenyatta Airport. Anne-Thomas was there to pick us up and he had arranged a hostel for us to have a few hours of sleep. The first day for us in Nairobi was about frantically trying to find an ATM that wasn’t out of service and accepts Maestro card. When found, we had a quick lunch consisting of a chicken club sandwich, so not yet very adventurous in the food department. The rest of the day consisted of driving to the apartment of the other students. The taxi ride, filled with the noise of other cars honking, was really comfortable. The driver was able to dodge most traffic jams, but even when you get stuck in traffic, it’s never boring. There’s always a lot of action when you look out your window. Vultures and other big birds in trees, beautifully decorated Masai walking amongst the crowds, all kinds of small shops and people selling their goods, from sugary sweet bamboo hearts, and all kinds of fruit to ones selling scrap metal or umbrella’s. I hear you say: “Umbrella’s? But you’re in Kenya, right?” I know what you mean, but until the end of November, the country is blessed with the Short Rains. It’s their spring season and the mostly noctal rains turn most roads into rivers of dark mud, real African mud with the characteristic  deep red color, brought about by the high iron content. Before dinner we did some shopping at a mall not very far from our apartment. We got there using the local means of transport: matatu’s. Those are small buses, most of them badly maintained, suspension you don’t even notice it’s there and they’re cramped with people. It’s the cheapest form of transport and the way most Kenyans get from A to B. It’s not like a bus in Holland, you just get in without paying the driver or something. Just somewhere halfway a man sitting in the matatu, or mostly hanging on the side, holds out his hand and you have to give him 20 Kenyan Shilling, which is about 18 eurocents. If you give him too much, don’t expect your change directly, first the man goes to collect the money from the other passengers, and your change will come to you sometime. Hakuna Matata they say around here, meaning ‘no worries’. It’s quite chaotic but a very fun experience. We went to a shopping center to get some groceries. It was incredible, they had everything. Flatscreen TVs, furniture, all kinds of fruit, you name it, they sold it. It was actually not very different from what we’re used to in Holland. I was flabbergasted, I would have never expected something like that here in Kenya. But actually when you are a little longer in Nairobi, you notice that it is a very cosmopolitan city with many Western influences.

The second day we got up quite late, since we had only slept a few hours the previous nights. We went to the Kenyan National Museum, they displayed a lot of animals, a small exhibition about the evolution of human kind and Africa being the cradle of life, the story of Kenyan history and also a temporary exhibition of Japanese art. The last being not really relevant, so we skipped that part of the museum. We also went to the snake-house were we saw a snake hunting after a mouse. Tong in the air and slowly sliding towards the shivering little white mouse, not knowing his life is nearing its end. When we got out of the snake-house we had an encounter with a monkey. We tried to lure it, but just when we wanted to pet it, it ran away, probably scared of the camera or something. That night, we had dinner at a very nice restaurant, having a rooftop lounge and a live band we ate with some masters students from Delft. The band played a lot of modern songs, such as Stevie Wonder, Adele and Michael Bublé. All songs dripping with soul and the band integrated their African rhythm in every song, giving them a subtle, catchy twist. They had an incredible female singer and a guy playing the saxophone and the trumpet. It was a really fun evening and really had a great dinner. One of the students, Lynn, also does research for RIWIK for her master. The others, Greg and Barent, are currently working at Kenya Airways also for their master. It was real nice to meet them, as they are in Kenya for a much longer time and they know their way around.

Today we again had a slow morning, just a little cleaning and some people were out to arrange some things. Some were out to hire a car for the weekend, as we’re going to the south of Nairobi to see the Masai Mara-thon and go on a safari. We’re really excited and I personally am stoked to see the nature and maybe some wild animals. So you’ll be hearing from us soon and then we’ll tell you all about this weekend and our encounters with the animals. Photos will come soon, but now we have prepaid internet from the other students so it’s a bit expensive to upload large pictures. But photos will follow, it’s a promise.

Love and greetings from all of us,

Sjoerd