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sunday morning

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Sunday morning, I am reading in bed as the sun rises and day breaks. Without notice, the room is suddenly silent – the background whirl of the a/c is gone. Not ten seconds later, the reliable sound of an engine revving as the diesel generator comes to life. And add another ten seconds and I am once again blessed with the cool breeze of the air conditioner.

It is strange. In a city where only half of the population is even connected to the national grid and where a small number of these – major office building, industrial park, western hotel, and any residence housing diplomats/expats/and the Tanzanian upper class at least are equipped with a diesel generator. (Interesting enough, the Confederation of Tanzania Industry suggests that the unreliable supply of electricity is the main reason the country cannot be business competitive in East Africa; business have to focus first on costs involved with back-up power, or repairing damages incurred during the almost daily outages, many which are planned load sheds though often without any notice).

Yet here we always are, the expat community, grumbling when the power goes out. We rant that to have access to water, electricity, and the internet all at once is a rare blessing and should be celebrated. These conversations always leave me feeling awkward and uncomfortable. How many people in this country don’t have access to safe and clean water (32% says CARE Tanzania) grid electricity (10% according to the UNDP) and, the internet (CIA Factbook states 580,000 in 2008 – out of 40 Million)? Not even for a few pressure minutes a day, are the essential services that are no longer a privilege but a basic human right available. Most folks I have spent time with realize how ridiculous their whining sounds, but the ‘take for granted mentality’ is easy to slip back into when you are surrounded by the comforts of home.

It’s a shame to think that businesses will always go that extra mile to ensure that tourists and visitors to the country are comfortable during their stay, so we can get a comfortable night’s sleep in air conditioned rooms, write our blogs and email our home, take a hot shower as many times a day as our guilt ridden stomachs or blissfully ignorant heart’s desire, and suck back 1.5L bottles of water to stay hydrated. It’s a tough reality to swallow (along with my Anti-Malaria drug) some days.

And yes, I realize it is Wednesday. I would have posted this earlier, but my internet connection has been down.

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Cooking in Mbeya

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

A 800km+ drive on a highway which moved along through a beautiful and richly diverse countryside which included the lush Uluguru and Udzungwa mountain ranges, Mikomi game reserve (yes, giraffes, zebras and elephants do hang out along the highway), a baobab tree forest, and finally to the beautiful southern highlands of Tanzania that is the Mbeya region.

I travelled with Abraham (the owner of Afrozone Ltd – a Liquefied Petroleum Gas “LPG” distribution company) with the goal to further our understanding the energy consumption cooking profile of the city. Armed with a short questionnaire (in English & Swahili) and Abraham’s son to help me translate my still poor Swahili, we set out to the streets to speak directly with the consumers. After speaking with individuals of various income and education levels, generally we learned the following:

- everybody we spoke to cooks with charcoal at home
- most ‘established’ restaurants were cooking with LPG
- although in each instance the cook was not cooking with LPG at home
- the average monthly cost of charcoal was 15,000 to 30,000 shillings, on par with the cost of LPG without considering burn efficiencies
- the average number of hours spent cooking one meal was about 2 hours
- many sited that indoor air pollution from their current energy source was a concern to them

All but two people told us, that they had been considering a move towards LPG, however the consistently stated barriers were as follows:

- high upfront costs of cylinders and appliances
- fear of use; LPG is still perceived as unsafe particularly when there are children in the home, or the cooking is being prepared by a ‘housegirl’
- a belief that traditional foods such as beans and rice, as well as boiling water are better prepared using charcoal
- a lack of knowledge of how to source LPG

The Tanzanian Government has attempted (more than once) unsuccessfully to devise a plan that would see the prohibition of charcoal being sold in city centres, as well as attempting to prohibit the felling of trees, both initiatives have resulted in increased prices of charcoal throughout the country. However, I suspect these initiatives have failed as no alternative fuel choices were offered alongside the regulations. Given the lack of information in general on energy choices, and specifically with only a handful of LPG dealers in a city of over 400,000 residents, you can understand why their choices are limited.

Last week, I visited the LPG storage facility in Dar es Salaam (the only operational storage facility in the country) to find that they were awaiting a shipment. I was told yesterday that it was an entire week before a delivery was received. This doesn’t do much for consumer choice, forcing those already using LPG as their primary cooking source to revert to charcoal or other fuel sources as they wait to exchange their empty cylinders for full ones.

So gradual change is possible, given the right incentives to industry to increase storage capabilities and thus ensure an adequate supply, an affordability scheme to address the upfront cost, as well as education and awareness programs to promote gas as a safe, cleaner and efficient choice. Much effort will be needed from the private sector companies to be able to reach the eager market, however I believe much effort will also need to be generated at a government level – making clean energy a basic urban service, as well as ensuring an adequate supply is available to fill this right.

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Returning to Bawjiase Countryside Orphanage

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Today, I was able to return to Bawjiase with more energy equipment for the children and staff at the Countryside Orphanage.

Although Bawjiase is only one and a half hours drive outside of downtown Accra, the small town, which is located in the Central Region of Accra, is dramatically quieter and less busy than the capital city.  In fact, it is so small that some might consider it just a village.  In addition, there are very few, if any, tourists that make their way to this town, as most keep driving straight along the highway toward the well known tourist attractions of Elmina and Cape Coast castles, rather than turn north at the Kasoa junction.

Back in February of this year, energy4everyone provided the orphanage with four commercial-large sized efficient charcoal cook stoves and two solar lanterns, along with 20 hand powered flashlights.  This time around, following feedback from the orphanage staff and a prior visit and assessment by an energy4everyone representative, energy4everyone provided a further two commercial-large sized energy efficient charcoal cook stoves and 4 solar lanterns.

Just as before, the staff and children at the orphanage were very grateful and thanked us for the energy equipment, and asked that energy4everyone continue to support the orphanage and “spread word” of the orphanage.

You can view photographs of the orphanage and the energy equipment provided by going to our website at http://www.energy4everyone.com/projects/donations/countryside-orphanage-bawjiase-ghana, or by visiting our Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/energy4everyone.

You can also learn more about the Countryside Orphanage by visiting its website at http://www.countrysideorphanage.org.

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