Dec. 14 – Jan 14: Ghana Prototype Improvement, vacation in Tanzania
Please see my full year trip log Sept. 2022 – Sept. 2023
Return from Togo to Ghana
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Woke up in the home of Bismark, my host and collaborator. Bismark and I went shopping for electrical stuff and things for his house. It was interesting to see the locally make cookstoves. Then we went to Bismark’s shop, and noticed that this is where many cookstoves are made. I met with Salifu, Bismark, and Osei to discuss the post-workshop progress made in Lome. Then, Bismark and I went to central Accra to meet Otoo to plan the next 12 days.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Bismark and I weathered the excruciating commute to inner Accra to meet with Otoo and set out for the market center to seek the specialty electronics components we need.
The last I communicated with SNV, Ghana, Sept. 2019, they asked for a prototype and told me when we had a product, they’d support its dissemination. We reconnected while in the car with Otoo on the way to market. It turns out today is the last day they’re open until the second week of January… AND they were at a beach resort for a workshop… AND the workshop had just ended. We rerouted to meet with SNV’s Kwakye and Frederick. It was a great 15 minute meeting, while the rest of the workshop was waiting on the bus to return home.
Then we visited the neighboring beach hotel where Otoo’s sister works, and I got a chance to jump into
the waves…. then we returned to DT Accra and met a contact of Otoo’s who knows the shops. He took us to a “hole in the wall” that had all the electronic components we need… except RTV glue… still looking for that RTV glue.
Accra is a hellish… its people are prisoners within a city they can’t navigate, tangled in snarled traffic… with an average speed of about 5 mph, often on urban dirt roads appropriate for off road vehicles. Bismark hosted me nicely for two days, but today, I checked into a hotel, Rasta’s Guesthouse (or “Papa Spoon’s Guesthouse” depending on who you ask), near Mallam Junction, very close to Otoo’s house, rather than endure the hour and a half return to East Senya… and return tomorrow.
Friday, December 16, 2022
I wake up at Rasta’s Guesthouse, and Otto and I visit a shop to buy a bunch of aluminum pots to begin our ISECooker construction. Not in particular the purple pot. It has a very flat bottom which is great, but a raised pattern we have to get rid of…. a lot of work… we apply plaster of Paris on both sides, in anticipation of casting a new aluminium pot.
We also visit an aluminum foundry next door to Otoo’s house, run by a woman Otoo knows. They only make ladles… but how! They are way more mechanized than I’ve seen so far.
Rather than give them the pot to replicate (which they surely wouldn’t have because the spun aluminium pot is too thin to caste) we decided to make the casting mold ourselves.
There was loud music in the street in the evening. I ventured forth to the closed off street and a live band where the musicians played and sang, freely mingling with people at their tables.
Saturday, December 17, 2022
An epic day of work left Otto and I exhausted and pretty pleased. We finished the plaster of Paris mold pieces, and filled in the pattern to a smooth finish. I also ground a 5 mm trench around the perimeter of the base to make a foot that will cover the electronic heating components, which will be sealed into the pot. We returned to the foundry and lively discussion with the workers about how this wouldn’t (but would) work. How do we suspend the inside section in the outside section? How far apart should they be? Ultimately, we returned to Otoo’s house to build a funnel into the mold halves (bottom, third from right) to allow pouring.
We also are making a model where instead of embedding the components into the pot itself, they are sandwiched between two sheets of aluminium into a “heated nest” into which we can put either a dedicated cookpot that is mated to the same shape or a receptacle of any smaller size.
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Sanne (one of the owners of Rasta’s Guesthouse) and I take a taxi to Kokrobite, Big Milly’s Backyard… a surf resort – who would have thought? Sanne reunited with her adopted daughter, also Sanne, and I rented a board for $5 and paddled out into some small choppy waves, and a bunch of friendly beachgoers. Watched France go down in a stunning defeat to Argentina.
Monday, December 19, 2022
I woke up well before 6:00 AM, and the guard told me I could grab a surfboard from in front of the shop and pay for it later. It had no leash, but the waves were small… but so glassy. I became acutely aware of something else the board lacked as I slipped off it in the first wave – wax. The day was a lesson in balance and finesse to stay connected to the board. I watched the fishermen pull out their large traditional boats as I paddled out – reminded of my privilege. It was gorgeous and I caught a few small waves.
I got a Taxi for $5.00 and arrived back in Mallam Junction before 10:00 AM.
The day didn’t go well, despite having started surfing. We went to the foundry, and met an aluminum pot maker, Oofoli. He told us we couldn’t cast in plaster of Paris because he’d have to break it to get the pot out, AND the water content would cause it to blow up. For a number of reasons, we realized later that it wouldn’t blow up, but by then he’d convinced us to cast in sand and in the process destroyed our mold. But we casted two aluminium pots… that are not so good, but learned a lot about casting and about being careful with risk in prototyping.
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Attending United Nations University / Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) Round Table Event at Fiesta Royale Hotel / Accra. It was to explore/promote/improve a digital platform (aka website, called https://greenafricaportal.net/) dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in Green Energy. I met Essel Ben Hagan, who I’d only corresponded with before, and was pretty surprised after interviewing and feeding us three times, they paid us 400 Cedis.
After the roundtable, it was too late to get to a bank, so we went home. I had to get Willy out of jail in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I felt I was partially to blame. We told Willy, we’d fund his trip and he bought his ticket. Because he bought the ticket, I figured he had the funds, so I said we’d reimburse him when the next round of MECS funds was released. But he had borrowed money to take the trip and the lender went to the police and had him arrested when he didn’t pay up. Below, please a small portion of the texts that were circulated regarding this.
The most memorable moment was on a WA call to Salma, as I’m overwhelmed not knowing what to do and Willy has not sent us all the information needed… and Salma says, “you have to understand where Willy’s coming from. He’s freaked out. He’s in jail.”
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
The workshop related to the UNU-INRA again today. We discussed all things about the website and how Green Energy Entrepreneurs might recognize the opportunities here.
After the meeting, Otoo, Bismark, and I visited Akwasi Akom Kusi-Appiah’s shop where he builds charcoal stoves in collaboration with Otoo, and we discussed for a while with his collaborator. There was an overwhelming stench of gasoline. They were painting the cookstoves with pressurized air, and the oil-based paint was suspended in gasoline. Everyone wore COVID masks, which does nothing to dilute the vapors. I couldn’t go near the place, but I wondered about the young men who are actually doing the painting. What does this do to them? I brought up my concern. Gasoline works best, and they don’t paint every day.
On the way home, the tension between me and Otoo bubbled over: the disappointing state of our ISECooker prototype, my consistent disorientation in Accra, the cultural and language barrier (even if we both speak English… it’s very different), my resentment at the way Otoo tells me what to do, and in particular orders me to pay for things. What came of the discussion was a deep revelation about the different models we had for our professional relationship, and I my (our?) annoyance was replaced by a gratitude for the willingness to initiate the discussion.
My model is that each collaborator is an independent business. I am only trying to help them develop manufacturing capacity for ISECookers. I can also provide MECS funding. On this trip, I am responsible for all the costs directly related to my trip… including for instance the taxi they take to the airport to meet me.
Otoo has a long history of collaboration with different businesses, local and international. All activities have an agreed-upon budget and cost sharing ratio. When I first met Otoo, he was adamant about knowing the details of the workshop, and our relationship, and who was paying for what. My understanding was that Salma was running the workshop, and that my collaborator is Bismark of Nasam, who is also Otoo’s collaborator. I told Otoo to talk with Bismark, and to Salma. Bismark told Otoo that MECS was picking up the bill for our activities. For instance Monday, Otoo was hungry and said we should all eat lunch. So, Osei, Bismark, Otoo, Oofoli, and I went out to lunch. When we got there, Otoo told me to pay for it. I did, but I was confused. Otoo and I unpacked these differences and the tension resolved. But there was still a lack of clarity with Bismark. Also, Otoo and Bismark had not discussed their arrangement going forward in manufacturing and marketing OSECookers.
We called Bismark. He wasn’t home yet. Bismark turned around and met us for a late meeting in the mall parking lot. Among other things, we determined that there needed to be a dedicated director for ISECooking. Although Otoo has the education to direct the building, he has many other responsibilities. Bismark and Otoo agreed to have Akwasi take that role. He has a degree in electrical engineering.
Thursday, December 22, 2022
Back to the drawing board with the ISECooker at Otoo’s house. Osei joined us and was fun to work with. We decided to work with a an pot with a 5 mm thick bottom… and flat, very nice. We glue the components onto it, but it doesn’t work so well… it didn’t draw much current.. the power was too low. We figure it out tomorrow.
Friday, December 23, 2022
We discover that the flat diodes I have from Salma stand off almost a full volt rather than the usual 0.7 volts. This made a huge difference in the voltage left to drive the current through the array of PTC thermistors. We also found that the PTC thermistors seemed to be transitioning at about 130 C rather than 220 C… and at all temperatures had too high resistance. We added three more PTCs in parallel with them the other PTCs, lowering the resistance and increasing the power at higher temperatures. We also found another solar panel (with an MPPT voltage of 40 V) among those at Otoo’s house, that seems to function optimally with the new diode/PTC heater.
We usually cut the handles off aluminum pots because they extend the hot surface into the insulation… also, you can’t use them anyway because they are so hot. We hope to replace them with flexible, thin, stainless steel cables. While cutting off the handles of this lovely Swedish pot, I had a hard time securing it… as hacksaws grab. I had my left arm wrapped around the pot, with my left hand just beyond the piece I was cutting, when the hacksaw broke through the aluminum and then immediately through many layers of flesh… horribly deep. I bled profusely all over Otoo’s bathroom… while hearing the words of ER doc Sam Slishman (See Pre-R Dr. Sam):
- Even deep cuts without stitches will heal. You just have to put the flesh together – it’s important that they are clean.
- Trauma is a chronic disease.
I scrubbed the wound vigorously with soap and Otoo poured iodine solution on it. and we squeezed it shut stopping the bleeding with direct pressure, and bound it tightly with a gauze wrap. There was no subsequent bleeding. However, after about half an hour, my thumb was blue and cold and had no sensation. We opened up the gauze and wrapped it again more gently. My thumb tingled and turned pink again. Happily, the bleeding didn’t resume in the short time the wrap was off. So, now I have a week of limited activity. Bummer, but I’m determined to manage this patiently.
Shit, it could have been a lot worse. And it has been worse at other times. I got my hand caught in a wire brush grinding wheel at 19, summer after my freshman year. Many stitches. It was similar. I was securing something with my body, while grinding/cutting. I was focused on getting the activity done, and hadn’t patiently considered consequences. My accidents are not coincidental. How do I cure my chronic condition of being accident prone? I will start with meditation. Also, during activities, I will be mindful where securing an object is a challenge… that will be my trigger.
I came home and fell asleep at 6:00 PM. At 10:00 I awoke and resumed. I spent an agonizing amount of time on the phone with my credit card company trying to figure out if all my entries were real. This is the first time I’ve been able to receive a call for over a month – Togo did work for some reason. I spent more than $10,000 supporting Salma’s ISECook workshop in Atakpame between the transportation, visas, and direct expenses. The many orders from overseas for different people threw up red flags for the credit card company.
Saturday, December 24, 2022
I woke up grateful that there’s still no pain in my thumb, presuming it implies the healing is going well. Osei and I worked most of the day at Otoo’s house with Otoo helping as well. We made a receptacle for the ISECooker out of plaster of Paris reinforced with welded wire (~ 8 mm square, stainless, I think). We brought the power cable in through the bottom of the receptacle to two contacts that interface with contacts on the ISECooker, allowing the user to seamlessly remove the ISECooker pot from the receptacle. While some epoxy cured, we visited Otoo’s ceramics shop. They’d also made an ISEC receptacle and housing. Theirs was way way nicer than ours, AND it will look so beautiful when glazed!
Lastly, it will take about a 1/10th the time to make these out of clay than we took to build out of plaster of Paris… as evidenced from video I took during the making of a pot that lasted less than 4 minutes.
Sunday, December 25, Christmas, 2022
Before heading out to the family gathering at Osei’s house, Otoo and I set the prototype up with the 380 W, 40 V solar panel. Even as the temperature of the pot neared 200 C the power stayed near 250 W, indicating the difference in temperature between the PTCs and the pot is less than 40 C. We are adequately cooling the PTCs by virtue of cementing them to a piece of aluminium 5 mm thick.
I had a great time reuniting with Martin’s family and meeting more family for the first time.
I got there at about 11 AM to learn that everyone would be a church until 2:00 PM, so I did Email and WA with Tekuru. Then they all came and there was vibrant quarrelling about length of hair, as Franchesca, Martin’s cousin (presently residing in Arizona) and the younger family members told Osei that it was not his business how long their hair was. Osei was obstinate although the “kids” seemed amused and unconcerned… the conflict immediately put me at ease… this could be home.
Most everyone was on a cell phone, but kind of different from my experience in the States… it brought them together rather than isolated, as they shared pictures, and video called with distant family members.
But then, Osei brought me a plate a food and put it on a small TV table alone on the porch… “aren’t we going to eat together?” So, Osei sat down across from me and began eating from the plate with me. I saw two older women doing the same thing… then someone said, “but Pete wants us all to sit around a big table and…” I interrupted, “no, I don’t want you to do anything differently, I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”… So, I continued sharing the plate with Osei, while the others chatted and milled around, some eating, … kind of like a cocktail party.
I’ve come to like Accra. I usually take about a week to get my feet under me, and now I can walk to
Otoo’s house (work) and into Mallam Junction (downtown) and people say hi… I imagine everyone recognizes me after a week. As Osei and I walked home from Otoo’s house Friday after a good day’s work, Osei observed, “they must all know you by now.”
Monday, December 26, 2022
Least amount of traffic I’ve seen in Accra. Otoo picked me up at 8:15 AM, we picked up Osei at a junction, and I checked in at the airport. Bismark, Donald, and Jane also came to the airport. I ordered a big chicken pizza for breakfast, but they brought a sausage one, and we all ate it. We spoke a little about money, and how things should be going forward. I arrive in Addis Ababa at 10 PM and will take off for Dar es Salaam at midnight.
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport and realized it wasn’t the same as Arusha Airport. But it wasn’t too far from Arusha, and I had the good luck to meet a Swedish family making the trip to a hotel in Arusha. From the hotel, I took a taxi to meet Sangoyan… we were glad to be together again, and I went to a hotel and slept. he met me again for dinner.
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Visited the NGO Sangoyan works with, Maasai Stove and Solar Project of the International Collaborative. I met Kisioke, the director and Bob Lange, the president. We first picked up Bob at Cypress Hill (named after a Hip Hop Group) , a small campus under renovation where they will have an 8-month remedial school for girls who have failed the final comprehensive secondary school national exam required for further study in the government-funded school. Turns out that girls constitute 90% of the exam failures who want another chance.
Then we went to a small Maasai community that is a small commerce center, and abuzz on Saturdays. They gave a corn sheller and maize flour grinder. Today, a new stove is being installed by a team of skilled women.
Bob developed an efficient stove that doesn’t pollute the indoor air. The exhaust is first circulated through the double layer cooktop losing more heat before exiting out the chimney. Today, Bob is prototyping a new innovation. A stove with a square hole takes 35% less time to make because the square hole can be cut with an angle grinder rather than chiseled by hand.
In the evening, there was very loud music. In the large conference room above me, they were celebrating the confirmation in a Lutheran Church. I spoke with a math teacher, who invited me in, and ushered me to a facilitator and disappeared. I was directed to a line and took a plate onto which they slammed all nature of find food. I was taken to the front of the room past maybe 200 people and hanging streams of LED lights near an extravagant alter. I ate quickly, shared smiles with the children, thanked the people around me with the only Swahili words I know, and retreated to my computer.
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Bob, Kisioke, and I visited Mto Wa Mbu to see the cattle feed production facility, making feed from ground corn cobs, corn bran (left over when you grind white corn flower), and sunflower cake (left over after pressing sunflower seeds for oil). I was surprised to see that the overwhelming majority of vehicles were land rovers taking tourists on safari.
Friday, December 30, 2022
Bob and I had breakfast and then met Sangoyan, Mary, Mesha, and Justin at Cypress Hill to plan the
remedial secondary school for girls. We discussed whether there should be a dress code and mandatory school uniform (we agreed there will), and the selection process. Justin will be an instructor, and Mesha has received awards for combating childhood matrimonial-slavery that is prevalent among some Maasai communities.
Afterwards, Sangoyan and I took a 2-hour minibus ride and 15 minutes via motorcycle on dark
dry trails through the plateau, to his home. I met his parents, and Anges his wife and three kids: Grace, Jackson, and Albert. Agnes made rice and of course beef that we shared on a single plate.
Saturday, December 31, 2022…. last day of the year.
His parents came by a few times to meet me. In the morning, Sangoyan wired the guest shack to have 12 V DC, and then we took the kids on the motorcycle into town to be with their mama and her sister, Majuma, while we went on a bike ride. I wore a traditional Maasai shuka, although I wasn’t sure how that would go over. It proved to be fabulous public entertainment, as I would hear, “Mazungu Maasai”… with my bicycle helmet, dork factor on a scale of 1-10… ~ 15? but it doesn’t matter if you’re laughing at me or with me.. if you’re laughing, all is good. AND I got to have the breezy feeling and the experience of constantly rearranging the shuka that I witness.
Sangoyan and I rented bicycles for $5 per hour and rode up the hill to overlook the rift valley where he lives with a view of Lake Manyara National Park. We watched roadside baboons, navigated a pile of elephant poop, and talked about what the lions were thinking as they watched us, “ooh, boy, here come the bicyclists!” I am as certain that he wasn’t kidding as I was he wasn’t concerned. And we sweat.
Then we barreled down, navigating the dangerous animals in safari vehicles. And, yes, I am taking a
selfie at high speed while Sangoyan makes a video of me.
We motorcycled home, showed (I dumped 2 liters of water on my body), and I slept for an hour. Sangoyan and I sat out until Agnes came home with dinner and the kids around 10 PM? The kids ate and got into bed… can you find all three of them?
It turns out that Sangoyan paid about $4 total for the two bicycles. We must have had them for 3 hours. I asked “how can they do that?” Sangoyan explaned that this is a tourist area, and the shops make money from the high prices they charge tourists. Sangoyan got the “locals” price.
Happy New Year.
Sunday, January 1, 2023
I urinated into the new year. I got up in the dark and found my way out. As I peed, I heard the sound of distant din across the plateau. When I returned to bed, I checked the time. It was 12:02.
Monday, January 2, 2023
I met Ludovic and George at 6:00 AM exactly, they pick me up to get Tekuru from Kilimanjaro International Airport.
Tekuru and went on a Safari in Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and visited Zanzibar. It was wonderful to spend this time together. We parted ways late at night January, Friday the 13th in Dar es Salaam , as Tekuru flew back home.
When Tekuru visited Sangoyan’s home, the kids flocked around, and immediately Tekuru did what comes natural to her… organize groups of children. They were divided into two teams (boys vs girls) and there ensued a rockin’ soccer game until Albert had a tantrum with everyone using his ball… ending the game. Then Tekuru taught everyone “Duck, Duck, Goose” … or “Gombe, Gombe, Simba” (goat, goat, lion) to everyone’s riotous amusement.
Continued: full year trip log Sept. 2022 – Sept. 2023