15 July 2014
Originally planning to take a taxi (minivan packed with
as many people as possible) from Bugiri to Soroti, Denis advised that we try to
find a hired vehicle with all of the gear that we were hauling. I agreed
despite the additional cost, the added comfort of a real seat and some
breathing room and assurance that the gear would make it to Soroti with us. Our
friends at the hotel in Bugiri helped us to track down an affordable ride with
a couple of young fellas who seemed to be game for a mid-week drive to Soroti.
Nassin, the driver on the first leg, was a beginner driver and gripped the wheel
tightly, punching the pedal and overtaking bota botas and lorries with sharp jerks of
the wheel. After a stop for lunch in downtown Mbale, we ran the car out of gas
and Nassin had to catch a lift to the nearest filling station, a little strange
given that we had topped up the tank before leaving Bugiri. Starting again we
promptly stopped at another filling station and the attendant added another 10
L of fuel. Nonetheless, as we drove along the fuel gauge still read near to
empty and the two drivers argued about Nassin’s aggressive driving, however,
they came to agree that both filling stations had cheated them and probably
only added a fraction of the fuel that they had paid for. We arrived in Soroti
late in the afternoon on fumes, and I made sure the the boys properly fueled up
as they were distraught about their misfortune and the small profit that they
had earned from their day’s work.
Returning to Soroti and working with the fine group of
people here has felt like a homecoming for me. We have been well looked after
under the care of George and Sharon, a wonderful father-daughter team who care
for the Church of Uganda Bishop’s guest house in Campswahili just outside of
Soroti-town. Our days here have been long and hot, but productive and
rewarding. Betty, the charismatic director of Teso Women’s Development
Initiative (TEWDI), our local partner organization and Soroti’s only
alternative charcoal fuel producer, is away at D-Lab’s International Development Design Summit (IDDS) in Arusha, Tanzania, but we have been
well-supported by her colleagues Helen, Sharon and Josephine.
TEWDI’s fuel production site in Campswahili was the
location of the D-Lab Development class field trip that I led this past January when we worked on a variety of technology improvements including a solarbriquette dryer, shelter/greenhouse, rainwater collection system and efficiencyand emissions measurements of TEWDI’s briquettes (photos here). It was good for Denis and I
to return and revisit these projects finding that some of them were in need of
maintenance. TEWDI’s mechanical mastermind, and downright good guy, Ema Opio, helped
us to find a supplier for 4mm thick “di-glass” (likely polycarbonate or
acrylic) panels to replace the original thin nylon sheet which covered the
solar dryer and had been destroyed by UV, wind and rain. Unfortunately the 4
mil, clear polyethylene sheet that we used to cover the bamboo structure of the
greenhouse had been shredded in a recent wind storm, however, replacement with
a more durable material is too expensive for this trip. Finding adequate and affordable
materials is an ongoing challenge in this work.
We spent a couple of days under the big mango tree practicing
the charcoal quality tests, which was a breeze with these very clever ladies.
It’s currently groundnut (similar to a peanut) harvest season, so mounds of
g’nut shells are accumulating outside of mills all over the Teso region.
TEWDI’s driver and mechanic, Patrick, is taking the opportunity to gather
free charcoal feedstock which he brings back to the site in Campswahili where
Eva and Vero are keeping their drum kilns fired, carbonizing g’nut shells
continuously while also caring for both of their toddler daughters to keep up
with Patrick’s regular deliveries.
Smoke (hydrocarbons, vapors and particles) emissions from
kilns is a concern of mine, especially when they are operated in a peri-urban
area like Campswahili. TEWDI shares this concern and we decided during this
visit to begin testing of low-emission retort kilns which route the emissions
into a fire burning them and provides heat to drive carbonization. Denis,
Ema, Patrick and I spent the better part of Saturday in town constructing a
drum retort prototype at a local metal fabrication shop. By early afternoon the
kiln was complete, with a metal frame to support it above the ground and a two
inch pipe routed from the top of the kiln to the bottom. The following day we
loaded it with g’nut shells sealed the lid with cassava porridge and started a
fire underneath it, hoping that we would soon see thick white (moisture) and then brown smoke (combustible oils) billowing from the pipe positioned in the fire. Unfortunately the fire died
down with only small puffs of smoke, or more likely water vapor, briefly
spitting out of the pipe. For several more tests we tried different approaches
including igniting a fire in the kiln before covering it. Eva and Vero
periodically watched on and giggled as we dumped several kiln loads of
partially carbonized shells from the prototype retort. We abandoned the
sealed, “zero-air” approach and hauled the kiln on the back of a bicycle to a
nearby fabricator who cut vents along the bottom of the horizontal drum. While
it wasn’t a major success, the clever folks at TEWDI are excited to continue working
with us to improve upon this design.
On Sunday Denis and I joined Patrick, Sharon and some of
their friends to watch the world cup final. While the pubs in the town were the
popular places to go, we opted for a quiet hotel on the outskirts of town. Memories of attacks by Al-Shabaab militants during the previous World Cup final are still
very fresh in people's minds here, so we kept away from the big crowds. While I might not be thrilled about the outcome of the match, the
past five days have made for another productive and enjoyable visit. Denis, I and the ladies from
TEWDI are waiting for the heavy rain to subside before we leave for the bus stage
in the town center where we’ll will squeeze into the overnight to Kampala. It’s
hard to leave Soroti and the good people here, but farewell until we meet again.
(Photos from the Soroti leg of the trip have been added to this Facebook album)
(Photos from the Soroti leg of the trip have been added to this Facebook album)
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