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!

Also posted on BabaMzungu blog.

Water, water everywhere ...

... well, maybe not in Kenya. But it strikes me that a lot is wasted.

I have been reading a paper produced by the Peace Corps, where people have been describing how they use water every day, and one phrase struck me:

"... only the rich can afford to collect and store rainwater for personal use."

This was written by an American living and working in Maasailand, Kenya. And it got me thinking.

Where I stay in Kisii, water is brought up from a source and delivered in 25 litre drums, which are emptied into our 100 litre storage drum. It needs to be boiled for drinking.

But, when it rains in Kisii, the heavens open. The rain hits the corrugated iron roof and the noise is deafening. My host, Vincent dashes outside and strategically places bowls and buckets under the water gushing off the roof, but most is lost.

When I am in Nairobi, I stay with a family in a suburb of 3 and 4 bedroomed houses with running water and electricity (when either is working). The rains fall here just as violently and pours off the roof into the compound. Nothing is done to collect this free water.

I thought of all the houses I have visited in Kenya. Most are under corrugated roofs, which are perfect water collection and channelling devices. But none have guttering to collect the water.

Reading other Peace Corps reports, it appears that there are communities that collect rainwater during the rainy season(s) to supplement their water supply, but imagine if simple, and most importantly, cheap guttering could be provided. Households that enjoy any rain at all could have more water at their disposal, especially those living in the highlands to the East and West of the Rift Valley, who enjoy all-year-round rain.

So, fitting guttering to a "tin" roof is easy enough, but what about thatch? Can a thatched roof have a gutter?

The answer is yes, although it is suggested that it be larger so as not to become blocked by any stray straw that may wash down.

Of course, fixing guttering to a round hut will need a bit of thought, but where there's a will, there's a way.

Where do I get cheap guttering in Kenya? Here in the UK, plastic guttering is (relatively) cheap, and comes in all shapes and colours - unnecessary really in Kenya. But I have yet to see this sort of guttering in Kenya, although I am sure it is available.

A simpler solution is to make "V" guttering from two planks, nailed together. This should not cost a lot per house, but the down pipe could be a problem. Still, I have a few ideas about that and will try them out once I am on site.

Of course, the collection container must be covered so as to prevent mosquitoes breeding. The last thing we want to encourage is these little blood-suckers to breed right next to a house!

It is all a question of trial and error, adaptation to individual needs, and education!

Can you spare a few pennies?

We are trying hard to improve the lives of many orphans and some of the poorest families (usually a grandparent looking after their orphaned grandchildren) in Kisii, Kenya.

We are ready to start several projects:

• Growing our own food
• Clean, safe drinking water
• Alternative, clean cooking fuel
• Home-grown fertiliser
• Malaria control
  

These are not just ideas. These are real, worked out and costed projects.

But we need funds.

If every person who follows u on Twitter donated £6, we would be able to get started.

We only need about £500 to get started, so how about it? There is a PayPal donation button in the column on the right.

Make a difference to the life of a child in Kenya. Donate a few pounds today!

Scrapheap Challenge

Our project, Scrapheap Challenge has been put together to cover all the ideas and prototypes that have been designed to make low-technology equipment largely from scrap or discarded materials.

So far, we have:

• Water filter and purifier
• Methane collector (with fertiliser by-product as a bonus)
  
• Rainwater collection
• Cheap bio-diesel
• Hydrogen cell

All these systems will be built and tested at out River Cottage Kenya plot in Kisii - as soon as we have funds to carry out this work.

When we have proved that they work, with tweeking as needed, their concepts will be passed on to other NGOs and communities throughout Kenya and further on, depending upon how successful we are in promoting them (and us!).

You can help by spreading the word and/or making a donation using the PayPal button on the right.

Please, please help us.

Ready to Roll ...

We are ready to put some of our design concepts into practice - at last!

We have a small plot in Kisii with a hut on it and a river on the border, perfect for an experimental shamba.

Apart from actually growing food for the kids at the Twiga Home, we will be harvesting methane to be used for cooking and running a small generator. We will also be purifying water straight from the river, producing pure clean drinking water using a system designed to be built from scrap and cheap materials.

If we can get the raw materials, we will also be producing bio-diesel and a hydrogen production system for petrol cars (it doesn't replace petrol, but cuts consumption by up to 50%).

We are in the fund-searching phase of the operation. Anyone with ideas as to who we could approach, please let us know.