Reaching New Horizons

Kenya

Two days after Earth, Wind and Tyre I arrived home in Riga. I got much needed warm welcome from my friends and family. First, I had to sort out my future in Renewable World. My trip to Latvia was meant not to be longer than three weeks, but it was not decided yet where I will go after. Seven weeks had passed since the earthquake. The Nepal team had assessed the situation in Kathmandu and concluded that it has improved a lot. I was safe to return to Kathmandu, if not this one thing: I was not willing to. While in Brighton, I told the team that I would love to come back to Nepal. But, as time went by, I realized that I did not cope with this earthquake situation that well. In additions, current circumstances allowed me to choose the destination again.

So, I decided to take the opportunity to go to Kenya! Nick accepted my choice and in exactly three weeks I was going to reach new horizons. It was also a good decision because regional project manager had resigned recently and the second regional programme manager Geoffrey was working alone in East Africa. It was agreed that I will help Geoffrey on several projects in Kenya and will also go on a field trip. My time in Latvia flew by fast and it was time to pack my luggage again and get ready for Kenya. This time at least I did not put in the backpack markers, CDs (still do not why I had them), and other stuff that I had never used in Asia. I arrived in Nairobi on early Wednesday morning. It was winter time in Kenya what meant lower temperatures, at least lower than 30C. A pre-confirmed taxi driver was waiting for me at airport and took me straight to the office. With a cup of African tea, Geoffrey introduced me with EA projects, told a bit about himself and made me feel that I will have a good time with him at the office.

 PV Systems

RESOLVE project includes six fishing communities where RW recently had installed solar PV systems to provide electricity for households and small enterprises. Each energy hub will have 30 connections. Access to electricity allows households to replace polluting kerosene lamps and start new businesses such as movie theatres, phone charging businesses and ice making enterprise. The latter is very important for fishermen as each boat needs around 500kg of ice every time it sails out. Three sites also have water irrigation systems using a solar powered pump. This allows communities to cultivate crops during dry season generating more income.  One of the sites also includes a 700W wind generator. It had experienced some mechanical issues, so I hoped to visit the site and carry out a technical inspection. I would also conduct a survey on electricity usage in communities as they tend to use less energy than anticipated, mainly because they have to pay for it. The money is then used to maintain the system. On the other hand, data from a remote monitoring system showed that some households were using energy-hungry appliances. This led to excessive energy consumption exceeding system’s capacity. The best way to examine existing issues was to visit the communities, so it was decided that I will go for three day trip to visit three of six RESOLVE sites.

Fishing Lake Victoria

There was one more stop included on my field trip. RW had selected another fishing community for a new wind/solar hybrid project. It was known that there is a high level of waterborne diseases within the community due to lack of pure drinking water. The amount of fish they catch has reduced over years. To increase food security, the community could cultivate crops on their land. Due to lack of irrigation system they are able to harvest only one crop per year. Issues mentioned above could be solved through a renewable energy system, but a full feasibility study was necessary. This included technical survey for wind/solar power system and water irrigation system. I also took water samples from two nearest water sources. Bacterial and chemical analysis will help to assess the level of water contamination and appropriate water purification system could be selected. It was also proposed to do household surveys collecting demographic and economic data to estimate their energy demand.

Besides these tasks, I helped Geoffrey with another project, which proposed a water supply system for a dozen households in a very dry area in Kenya. The water would be used for domestic chore, livestock and, the most important, field irrigation. The site was located in complex terrain with significant distances between households. To access water it would require drilling boreholes. The water will be pumped using submersible pump in a water reservoir. From there water should feed the irrigation system by gravity. Providing technical design, estimating costs, finding partners who would participate in the project; all this was a challenging task for me. It was a great learning as well, so I really enjoy this bit of work. 

On my first week I joined to a Facebook group that organised hiking to Ngong Hills around 70km from Nairobi. I thought it will be an opportunity to meet new people and see some beautiful sceneries in Kenya. It was also chance to see Kenya’s first wind farm, which was built on these hills. For the first time I saw wind turbines from three different manufacturers (Vestas, Gamesa and KenGen) at the same site. As I found this wind farm was built in three stages and every time a different turbine supplier was selected. Though, I do not know who actually owns the project. The walk was quite easy, but when the skies cleared, the sun got unbearable. Even sun-cream did not help to protect my skin and I got an itchy sunburn. But the scattered clouds also opened an amazing view around me. I could even see Nairobi high rises from the top of the hill. On the next day I was invited to go to Nairobi Chapel. Geoffey and his family attend church service every Sunday. The predominant religion in Kenya is Christianity, but it differs from Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox churches, so I wanted to see it. At the beginning church choir sang several songs and then came the pastor starting his speech. I never thought that church can be so much fun. Instead of reading the bible, he started with funny stories about his family, people seeking things they do not want etc. He addressed the public through jokes and silly comparisons that made me and everyone else laugh a lot, but always there were a hidden message behind his words. I did not have time to attend chapel in Nairobi again, but I probably would, particularly if we went for a delicious meal again after the service.

Next weekend I had to get ready for my field trip. I left the capital on Sunday morning to go to Kisumu, which is around 350km west from Nairobi. A flight to Kisumu takes only 30 minutes, but I went by bus to see more of Kenyan countryside. Though, to get back to Nairobi I booked a flight. Another seven hours on a bus would be too much for me. Kisumu is situated by Lake Victoria, it’s hotter and more humid there, as well as higher risks of malaria, so I had to take necessary precautions. During the site visit I was going to be accompanied by two people from Fascobi, who is the implementation partner of RESOLVE project. Since communities were another 250 km from Kisumu, we started very early on Monday morning. Briefly, the life by Lake Victoria cannot be compared with Nairobi’s incessant rush. In beach communities the life has different pace.  Everything is about catching fish and selling fish. On this is based their subsistence. Over last couple of years local fishermen are working harder and catching less, this leaves them in a predicament. RW uses its own developed sustainability toolkit to diversify sources of income reducing the importance of fishing. Access to electricity really is the ‘game-changer’. A crop irrigation system that is driven by solar or wind powered water pump probably is the main technology occupying more and more people in fields and generating more income than if the community would have to rely only on rainfalls.

But my site visit was not about changing people’s livelihood. It was about collecting data and carrying out surveys to find if energy hub users had received complete financial literacy, leadership and technical training and to find how good the energy system works. In each community we first had an hour or sometimes longer discussion with community members. Those who did not know English, spoke Swahili or other local languages. One of Fascobi people always tried to translate what was said. As I soon found out, in African communities they not really pay attention what others had mentioned. People just stood up and told exactly the same that the previous person and then next one had the same thoughts. Sometimes I wanted to interrupt and say that I know this already, but I had to respect their customary. When the formal part was over, I was able to visit households and enterprises that are connected to the hub and carry out surveys. Since we were under time pressure, I was not able to survey as many people as I wanted. Though I got a good impression about what works and what should be improved. When we wanted to move from one site to another, the community chairman invited us for lunch. We ate tilapia and Ugali with Sukuma Wiki. Ugali is a traditional dish made of maze and millet that really looks (and tastes) like mash potato, but Sukuma Wiki is something similar to kale. Kenya food is good, but I wish they used more salt and other spices. In general, I am always happy to try something local.

Local meal - Tilapia with Ugali and Sukuma Wiki

After visiting RESOLVE sites, we went to the new project site. Fascobi interviewed household members to find everything about their energy use, health conditions, income and other relevant data. Meanwhile, I conducted technical surveys. I also took water samples from Lake Victoria at two different locations where community take water from. Before we got the results of the test, it was clear that this water is not suitable for drinking. I had selected a water filtration system before the site visit that, in my view, should suit most sites. The main advantage is that it is gravity-fed eliminating need for external power. To check how it works I found a site where it was already installed. An NGO that owned the system was happy to meet with me and show how it works. A tour in Ahero became the last stop on my field trip.

Water purification Sky Hydrant in Ahero and the source of water for the purification system. Before the purification system was installed, local people collected water directly from the river

A water kiosk was established seven years ago and I was surprised how well the system was being maintained. The representative from the NGO explained that they have taught a community member to become a system operator. His salary is earned from what people pay for the water. There is also a water meter installed to monitor the amount of pumped and sold water. When they took me to the water source, I was shocked. The water from the tap seemed perfectly drinkable (though I did not dare to try). But the water source was feculent with high turbidity level. This convinced me that the water purification system works well.  When this amazing field trip was over, I had to get to the airport to catch my plane. It was a good moment not only to summarize the site visit in my mind, but also think about the big events that were coming up.