kikatiti demo

Today I experienced my second GCS demo. This one was at a CNFA agrodealer exhibition in Kikatiti, Tanzania. The exhibition site was located in an open field near an elementary school pretty high in the hills. Once we set up the tent, Philemon and I prepared our booth and waited for the villagers to come. A small crowd soon formed around us as we began shelling the maize we brought with us. After shelling a few cobs, I got off the bike and passed out brochures. With my limited knowledge of Kiswahili, I said "Nasema Kiswahili kidogo tu" ("I only speak a little Swahili") to anyone who spoke to me and pointed at the brochure if I heard "shingapi?" ("how much?"). We also demonstrated the cell phone charger which went over very well with the crowd. Ultimately, our customers will be the other agrodealers present at the exhibition so we will have to figure out the best way to get them as interested in our devices as the villagers were.

embu demonstration

Upon returning from Ethiopia, I met up with Jodie and Daniel in Nairobi, Kenya to head to Embu (a city northwest of Nairobi) for a project demonstration. In Embu, we met with Mama Peter, the chairwoman of the Kenera Women's Water Project, and some members of the town youth group. We came because we heard the community had maize ready for shelling and since dry maize is pretty scarce this time in Arusha, we were eager to get feedback on our sheller. After talking with the group about the Water Project and our maize sheller, we went to Mama Peter's farm where a pile of maize drying in the sun awaited us. We assembled the machine with a few of the group members and began shelling the corn. Unfortunately, the maize wasn't quite dry enough and we had a difficult time trying to shell it. Next, we demonstrated the cell phone charger but the group informed us that most of the villagers have access to electricity so the demand for a bicycle powered charger wouldn't be as high.

Afterward, we showed the group how they could use the leftover corn husks and cobs to make charcoal in a metal drum. The process is relatively simple: you layer the cobs and husks inside the drum, light it on fire from the top and bottom, burn off the water, cover it, mix it with cassava, and press it to briquettes. The group was very impressed with the charcoal (more so than they were with the maize sheller) and interested in exploring the business opportunities our devices presented. We left a maize sheller with the group and they told us they would do more testing once the maize dried for a few
more days.

Spring Break Recap

Last month I made good on my promise to visit Carlos in the Dominican Republic. Although I wasn't able to turn my spring break into an island hopping tour around the Caribbean, I still had more fun traveling around the DR than I could have ever imagined.

"So what happend to your plans on taking a month off to travel", I hear you ask. Well, the whole caribbean air pass I read about is apparently a lot harder to find than I thought. Many of the airlines discontinued their pass (e.g., LIAT and Caribbean Airlines) and the ones that had them available didn't fly to the DR (like Windward Islands Airways). But that didn't stop me from taking a month off of work though :) (well 3 weeks, but who's counting). I spent the first week and a half catching up on work for my startup, Pensero Group, and the next 11 days in the beautiful Dominican Republic sun. (when I get around to it, i'll put up some pics and videos... don't hold your breath though)

And the one must do for any would be DR tourist is to visit Bahia de las Aguilas. We camped out overnight on this deserted beach which was home to the bluest water i've ever seen.

The Caribbean Dream

I've decided to do it.... take the vacation I never had a chance to take during my undergrad years. What started out as a desire to visit an island in the caribbean has now turned into a half-baked plan to take a month off of work hopping to as many caribbean islands as I can with free (or as close to it as I can get) accomodations. I just recently started doing research on this and found out that some airlines offer caribbean air passes for $500 - $600 for travel between many of the caribbean islands.

The current itinerary includes the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. I should be able to squeeze in 1 or 2 more islands and am thinking about adding Jamaica and Trinidad.

Being my first time to the caribbean, I figured I might as well try out blogging for a change too since as the saying goes "there's a first time for everything." I'll keep this blog updated as my plans develop and will write about the excursions as I navigate the sun baked beaches during my trip.

So if anyone has suggestions on what I should do while i'm on each island, other places I should visit, a spare couch or floor to offer during my travels, or just any tips or advice in general.... please let me know.