That's a Rash Idea

My imagination has been running away with me - again!

OK, so the idea is this - I don't remember suffering a fever at the time ...

On our plot in Kisii, Kenya, there is a two-room hut, not a cottage, not a bungalow, a hut, made of sticks, stones and mud. At least the roof is corrugated steel. There are proper windows and doors, with security grilles.

There is a corridor running front to back between the two rooms with doors to the outside at both ends.

As the hut is built on the side of a hill, the back faces a small cliff and there is an open passageway running between the hut and this cliff. There is also a small appendage which could be used as a "kitchen".

So, my idea is ... to live there for a while ~ no electricity, no running water.

But, while I am there, I want to carry out some minor improvements.

First off, I will install water, with a tank on the cliff behind the hut, to give a head. This will supply an outside shower and maybe running water to the kitchen.

Second, a home-made portaloo. I want to use the waste to collect the methane, which will eventually power a generator and a water pump (there is a river at the bottom of the plot).

Then there is the land itself. On top of the cliff, the land is a lot flatter than in front of the hut. It is very fertile and I reckon, from memory, there is enough to grow crops to feed all the kids on the orphanage register, with some left over to sell.

A by-product of the methane production is fertiliser. This together with composting will keep the soil rich, which will be necessary as I want two or three crops a year - it rains all year round in Kisii.

Linking into these improvements, I will be experimenting with using the sun to warm water for washing, and water filtration and purification. I also seem to remember building a food cooler when I was at school - but that was in 19 - yes well, it was a long time ago.

To finish off the place, I will make a BBQ out of ½ an oil barrel, so that the kids can sample the delights of a burger or hot dog (you know the type, burnt on the outside, raw in the middle).

What I had forgotten when dreaming up all this is that I am approaching 60, I am not the fittest person in the world, and I am mildly disabled. Further, Kisii is at 5,700 feet and oxygen is a bit thin.

Still, it will be an experience and it will allow me to tinker with the project designs and get them to work to their best effect.

Wish me luck!

I Don't Get Sick ...

... very often. I cannot remember that last time I visited the medical centre other than to get anti-malaria pills etc.

But this week, I had to give in. Two or three weeks ago, I sneezed and promptly became deaf in one ear. I was not too concerned ~ it has happened before and cleared itself after a couple of days.

But this time, it hasn't. And on Wednesday morning I woke up to find my face was swollen and resembling a misshapen pumpkin - nothing new there then I hear someone retort - cheek.

So I trotted down to see a doctor, who confirmed that I had an abscess in my jaw. Brilliant.

I am now on a course of antibiotics to clear the abscess and hopefully the infection I have probably got in my ear. Cost? £7.30.

And then, of course, I will have to line up a visit to the dreaded dentist.

Oh well, it could be worse. At least I am in the UK at the moment. Although I have complete faith in the Kenyan health service, it is a question of the comfort of surroundings I am familiar with.

Power Cuts

It was about 7.30 last night. Both computers were humming contentedly, the TV was on and I was reading through emails, whilst keeping an eye on Twitter.

There was a flash and everything went dark - power-cut. After 15 seconds, everything came back on and I was just reaching the power button on computer 1, when the power cut again. This went on for about 3 or 4 minutes before it want altogether.

OK, nothing for it but to find the torch (always at hand), then dig out the paraffin lamp and candles.

Having restored some level of light, the old Calor stove was retrieved and I started a brew - after all, what else is there to do, other than drink tea?

We were without electricity for about 2½ hours - not too bad.

When it was restored, I reset the clocks and re-booted the computers. They fired up without complaint, thankfully. So I made another brew.

Brew made, I sat at the computers to continue checking the latest mail - when the power went out again.

So I reached for the torch, re-lit the candles and paraffin lamp, etc ...

This outage was for only about 45 minutes, but when I re-booted PC1, it complained by taking an absolute age to get through its self-check procedure. In the end, it sprang back into life.

I re-set the clocks, put away the candles and paraffin lamp. The power stayed on and we haven't had another outage since.

And no, this was not in Kenya, this was 50 miles from London, UK.

How is it that in the 21st Century, 50 miles from London we still get regular power outages?

Fruit 'n Veg

When I have been in Kisii, fruit and vegetables were always in abundance, for sale in small stalls or stacked on blankets all along the Rongo-Kisii road, in the open market, in fact anywhere someone could set up a stall.

However, having been indoctrinated in the buy-everything-in-one-shop mentality of most Brits, if I was in the local supermarket, I would go through the fresh food department, only to find two or three shriveled carrots, a moldy mango, no sukuma, and little else.

It soon struck me that if I wanted fresh fruit and veg, I had to get it outside. But, buying from these stalls along the side of the road, so close to the road, where overloaded lorries laboured up the hill, belching out black, choking diesel fumes all over the wares, was very off-putting.

Venturing into the open market by myself was also a little daunting.

Don't get me wrong. I don't feel threatened in Kisii, or anywhere else in Kenya, but I am aware of pick-pockets, and I have been accosted more than once by people asking for handouts, sometimes quite forcefully. So I only venture into the market when accompanied by a friend (or two!)

So why do the supermarkets have such a poor selection and quality of vegetables and fruit? It's not rocket science. I guess they can't compete with the stall-holders. It is just not worth their while to stock quantities of the stuff. After all, right outside, there is a stall selling mangoes, pineapples, apples, bananas, as well as various fresh herbs and spices - no contest.

Thinking about it, most fruit comes well wrapped in its own skin. Once peeled, with a bit of luck, they are just as wholesome as the sterilised, force-ripened, over-priced junk we buy from our supermarkets in the UK.

And we have fruit on our plot. This is well away from the main road. The soil around Kisii is very fertile and of course, it rains all year round, so growing two or even three crops a year should not be impossible.

There is nothing better than fruit ripened on the tree. I am always disappointed when I get back home and tuck into a regulation straight banana that was cropped green and ripened on its way to the UK. They are tasteless.

We have avocados growing on the plot as well. The problem is that I have yet to meet anyone in Kisii that knows what to do with them! Maybe I should ship Jamie Oliver, HFW or AWT over there - or how about Steve and Dave, the Hairy Bikers? They would know what to do with a tree-full of avocados- and enjoy the ride as well.

Food - for thought

Interesting Point of View

KCIS has recently posted a blog, asking for donations to get a project off the ground, and it brought an interesting comment from a Kenyan, apparently in the town where we are based, Kisii.

"I could give you a donation, but I'm opposed to this kind of aid, because it encourages dependency and entreches the aid industry. Poor people don't exist in Africa so Westerners can get an opportunity to "help" them and feel good about themselves."

I could not agree more that poor people in Africa are not just "feel good" toys for Westerners, and it made me think long and hard about what I am doing, and why.

1. KCIS is run mainly by Kenyans, I am the only non-Kenyan in the organisation.
2. Second, I was asked to join the organisation. The other directors, both Gusii, asked me to join their efforts to help them to offer shelter to the children in their care. They were my friends before I started to work with KCIS.
   
3. My main role is to raise awareness of KCIS in the developed world, and to try to raise funds for the organisation.
4. As a mechanical engineer, I have designed systems that can be built for little money, that will improve the lives of the poorest families, those who have lost the bread-winner and are literally scraping a living. These people do not have the time to worry about building a safe water system. They are too busy surviving.

OK, that's what I do. So the next question is why?

Do I do it so that I get plaudits from people, either in Kenya or here at home? Definitely not.

Do I do it so that the kids at our home treat me like a demi-God? Again, no. I like the kids and they like me. Why? Because I am friendly towards them, and probably there is the curiosity factor. My skin is the colour of a plucked chicken, theirs is dark. My hair, what little i have left, it straight and soft to the touch, theirs is black, curly and course. So, especailly to the little ones, I am odd.

So, why do I do it, why do I work for a Kenyan organisation?

I like the people. I like the country. I like the climate. In other circumstances, I would be living in Kenya. But that's another story.

It also gives an outlet for my low-tech approach to engineering. If people can benefit from my possible solutions to their problems, why shouldn't they?

I am not offended by the comment in the KCIS post. It did make me wonder, but now, in my own mind, I plead "Not Guilty".

Beware SATA

Not too long ago, I built a "new" computer (see previous two posts) from other people's scrap. It included something new to me, SATA hard drive interfaces. 'Fine,' I thought. 'I can cope with this new technology.' And I did.

However, I have found that the SATA data and power sockets and plugs are not as robust as the old IDE types. My new computer is still flaky and doesn't always boot up - I have found the reason.

The power plug to the boot drive (C:\) is cracked and although it delivers enough for the drive to be recognised at boot-up, the drive cannot be read!

Fiddling about with the plug into the drive allows the machine to boot up correctly, but I am now wary about even touching the tower in case I dislodge the power cable to the drive again.

I know that an IDE to SATA power adapter is available. I guess this is going to be my next move.

It's Fixed ...

OK, I'm happy again!!

The new posts to fix the heatsink to the CPU arrived by post this morning (less than 24 hours since ordering) and I have put the computer back together.

Everything works. I have access to all my data, website files, contacts, diary and emails.

Oh joy!

It's Broke ...

Being a bit of an IT geek, I recently built myself a quite nice computer from bits and pieces lying around. So I have the folowing machine:

CPU Pentium D (2 x 2.8GHz)
1GB RAM
3 x 250GB hard disks (SATA interface)
etc., etc.

So far, so good, but remember, this was built from other people's scrap. And that's where the problem starts.

Last night, the heatsink fell off the CPU (well, not exactly, but you get the idea!), causing the machine to switch off after about 30 seconds of frying the CPU.

Never mind, I thought. I will get a new heatsink and in the meantime, I will transfer all my hard disks to another machine. This is where the problems started.

I have only one other PC with SATA interfaces, and it only has two. I have 3 drives.

Oh well, I will just have to keep fiddling until I find out which drives I want most, or keep switching them around, copying data ferom one to the other - how boring.

For the want of a nail (or, in this case, a fixing post), the shoe (or CPU heatsink) was lost ...

UPDATE

The cause of the heatsink becoming detached from the processor was that the plastic posts had deteriorated (probably from constant heat) and snapped.

I have ordered four new ones for the princely sum of 99p each (+99p p&p). AS long as they arrive in the next couple of days, I may just survive.

At least I have Internet access, email after a fashion, blogs, Twitter and Skype.

WhatI don't have is all my records of clients and my diary, other than what was downloaded to my PDA.

I'll survive ... I mean, it's not as if I need all this data every day ~ is it?

I am overwhelmed

From the KCIS blog ...

Since pushing to raise the profile of our organisation KCIS, I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I have received from people - people I know, people I don't know, people on Social Network sites, all sorts. We received pledges, not enormous amounts, but all together , they would get us started.

I became very positive, something I find difficult in February, in the UK, in a grey and chilly climate. But positive I am.

We have not received a bean. I checked our PayPal account. Not a single pledge has been received ~ what am I doing wrong?

At least I won the Lotto last night, not the big prize, but £25. That will go straight into the pot. Maybe this is a start?

C'mon people and tweeple. Let's give some people in Kenya clean, pure drinking water, clean cooking fuel, "home-grown" fertiliser ...

Kenyan Community Initiative Support
Helping People to Help Themselves

Ready to Lose weight?

I know I am overdue to return to Kenya when my trousers start to get a bit tight round the waist.

It's not my fault, but my job in the UK involves sitting in front of a computer all day, and being mildly disabled, I find exercise difficult. I have bought a bike, but in the recent bad weather , I thought it a little imprudent to go cycling.

And chocolate is for to easy to acquire in the UK.

What I need is a good stay in Kenya, eating only fresh fruit and vegetables, with a bit of meat on Sundays, no sweets, chocolate, candy, no cakes, biscuits, etc.

And most important, no car. Trying to stay in your seat during a six hour matatu ride must burn off a lot of calories, and just walking a few hundred metres at 5,700 feet altitude is also hard work. Just being subjected to 26°C to 35°C every day is hard work.

As soon as I get to Kenya, the pounds will soon drop off and I will be able to wear my trousers again, comfortably.

Ready to Produce Clean Water

Based on a principle we submitted a few months ago to a major Clean Water charity, I have finally drawn up a design for a water filtration system that can be made from materials that are available in just about any small town in Kenya. It is easy to construct, easier to use and will filter to >100 microns.

Of course, water will still have to be UV treated to kill pathogens, but this filtration system weill get rid of grit, insect eggs, larvae and most other little nasties, making it taste better than boiled river or well water.

I am ready to travel to Kenya under my own steam (our base is in Kisii). We just need some funding to buy materials and tools to make the first unit. £500.00 or Ksh 57,500 should do it.

Of course, if someone would like to lend us a vehicle for the month that I am in Kenya, that would be a welcome bonus.

Alternatively, if you know how we can raise these funds quickly, please contact us.

At the same time, we are ready to make our first methane collector and introduce our mosquito reduction education plan.

Rhino Ark

During the course of a year, there are usually four or five off-road events held in Kenya and the UK to raise funds for the Rhino Ark charity. These are the Rhino Charge, Rhino Charge UK, Quattro Charge and the Hog Charge.

We have already had the Hog Charge, the Kenyan Rhino Charge is at the end of May and the UK Charge is usually sometime in September. But I hadn't been given the dates for the Quattro, a 4x4 event at Athi, in one of the quarries. This is usually held twice a year, but this year, there is only one, and it is on 31st October - 1st November.

At last, the Rhino Ark Events calendar is virtually complete - we are just missing the exact dates for the UK Charge, but there is time for that.

Donations to KCIS

You can now make cash donations to Kenyan Community Initiative Support using PayPal.

There is a link in the right-hand column ----->

Snow

Highclere, Hampshire, morning of 2nd February 2009.

Back garden

Back garden

The pond

Bongos?

I have just left a client who has decided to let me design a website to sell his wares - Bongos.

No, not a form of drum struck with the fingers and palms, but a rather adaptable Mazda vehicle imported from Japan.

It's going to be a fun project - I hope, with lots of updates as stock moves.

Rhino Charge 2009

Having followed the Rhino Ark fund-raising antics of a bunch of 4x4 enthusiasts dashing through the Kenyan bush for several years (as the webmaster for said organisation), I keep promising myself that I will arrange to be in Kenya when the event is on, this year it is 31st May.

Somehow, though, I doubt that I will be. I haven't even been able to attend the somewhat tamer UK version in Pippingford Park!

Rhino Ark supporters hold four main off-road events each year, The Hog Charge, which has just passed, The Quattro, which is organised by one of the regular entrants to the Rhino Charge and the UK Rhino Charge.

With the exception of the Hog Charge, which is kids on bikes getting very dirty, the events are for serious off-road vehicles - you wouldn't get far in a Vitara!

Being a frustrated 4x4 enthusiast (frustrated because although I have the potential use of a 4x4 vehicle, it won't run!), I would love to attend these events. And it would give me an outlet for my other passion - photography. Of course, I could always use the excuse that my attendance was as the webmaster taking photos for the website, but as I always receive loads of photos after each event, that would be a bit lame.

Anyway, when I get back out to Kenya, I think I will have enough to do with our KCIS projects without disappearing off to some sun-baked corner of the Rift Valley or wherever to watch a lot of lunatics trying to go where vehicles were never intended to, just to get from point A to point B (then C, D, E, etc.) in the shortest distance and time.

Oh well, maybe next year.

The Rhino Ark Hog Charge

Why is it that, when I decide to update or upgrade one of my websites, a client sends through a whole ream of updates for their site? And then another lot before I have finished the first lot?

And, when I have finished all these updates for my clients, I am all washed up and have lost any idea of creativity?

Over the weekend, I have received the report and photos for the annual Rhino Ark Children's Event, The Hog Charge. This is a Kenyan cross-country event where a horde of children cycle an all-terrain track in teams and the muddiest one wins - er, no. I think it is the fastest team and also the team who has raised the most sponsorship money (for Rhino Ark) that wins.

I have to say that if you can judge how much fun a child has had by how dirty he or she has got, then these kids had one heck of a time.

This update was quickly followed by the announcement that Rhino Ark, in the form of Rhino Charge UK will be represented at the Total Off-Road & Planet 4x4 at Donington Exhibition Centre on 22nd February. This update/announcement was, of course, urgent.

Then I get the problem that people in Kenya checking the site don't have fast connection and sometimes photos don't download, or their cache is open and they don't se updated pages, so I have to check to make sure that everything is in order. I now check all work on two PCs and a Macintosh ~ belt and braces!

Then, of course, before all this is ironed out, I get updates for another client site ~ then another, they arrive just like red double-deckers, in convoy.

Oh well, it's all good fun and it buys a crust of bread.

Only in Africa

1 Year of Blogs

The Baba Mzungu blog celebrates its first birthday today, with blog No. 160.

Thanks to all who have read and/or commented.

Dementia - Part II

Well, the panic is over, for now at least. One of Nyanya Mzungu's carers is trained in spotting the signs of dementia and she says that Nyanya Mzungu is OK. Forgetful, yes, but nothing more.

This is a big relief, although I am going to have to keep an eye open for any signs. I cannot leave her for 4 or 5 weeks, while I visit Kenya and/or Cameroon if she is less than capable of doing the basics of looking after herself.