tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32154765849834521592024-03-12T20:42:34.743-04:00The Traveling EngineerA journal of my experiences while designing sustainable technologies for developing countriesTJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-7054965079361511882008-08-24T07:01:00.007-04:002008-08-24T12:18:25.553-04:00Home at Long Last - But Not Quite FinishedSo, I finally made it home. I've had a week to relax and recoup, get checked out by the doctor and hang out with my nephews and their parents. I've really missed my family quite a bit over the past few months, and it's been great to see them again. Leaving Jess is always hard, but this is thankfully the last time we'll have to do it. That made it easier, but it still sucks :) If there's one thing I learned this summer, it's that I love spending time with her - it's my favorite thing to do. Work, school and hobbies can wait, I'd really just like to go for a walk with Jess. But I digress.<br /><br />So, now that I'm home I have my work to finish. I need to do some testing and finish the documentation packet so I can begin to distribute it to NGO's and some local resources around Meri. First off, I'd like to show some of the videos I didn't get a chance to upload in Cameroon. First, here's an example of a typical road in Cameroon (this one rates pretty well among the roads in the area). This is Jess, Yaya and I riding on a moto towards Maroua:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dypjRR9T3XQdSlM_tqPUGa49PI3mwNz8T9U4xVoNuEZv8-QEjgsUitLp4zhpUwOHVpw9c6fd-2s8H_ef5zQtw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /></div><br />Next, here is one of the mechanics riding the HPUV. Notice when the other mechanic sits on the back (adding 150 lbs of weight to the vehicle) it barely slows the rider down:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwi40uwzF9q6H3UObNQTlDy_qyh8g4UlN9db1_7zOpKMx1Zsuz8_IHV2Q29UGkSutCILMxTSkAXGMBzEZvZqw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /></div><br />Next, the HPUV at the market, surrounded by people who had questions:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwe9cLIn3gP8t1Dflxba7jJ9el58ivPfghxmE3Hn3LQD4iBHKpto95KVrgr0ikBEaBU16Ovaas8sYjc-uxr-w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /></div><br />It was exciting to see so many people take such interest in the vehicle. The most predominant questions were whether copies could be built, and how much they cost, and the mechanics answered them with quite a bit of enthusiasm.<br /><br />The thesis is also in its finishing stages. My plan is to finish everything before school starts, and have the documentation packet ready before Jess heads back to Meri the second week of September, so she can take copies with her for the mechanics and anyone else interested. I'm finding home o be pretty hectic, and it's difficult to find time for all the things I want to do and people I want to see. Hopefully over the next few posts I'll be able to show some of the documentation packet, so the plans will be available here too! Out for now.<br /><br />TJTJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-40479909434926642902008-08-11T07:02:00.005-04:002008-08-11T07:29:18.445-04:00Testing the Human-Powered Utility Vehicle (HPUV)<span style="font-family:arial;">So, I lied - this post is coming to you from Garoua, on my way to Yaounde. The last few days have been pretty busy, and I was able to get some more pictures of the HPUV uploaded as well as a video! You can paruse them here:<br /><br />http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~tc285202/campics/<br /><br />Friday we met one last time with the guys to give them certificates of appreciation, and to tour the village with the and the vehicle. It was great to hear feedback from so many people, and to get a good idea of how well the vehicle was being accepted by the community. All told, I think our mechanics are going to find themselves with plenty of work in the near future!<br /><br />The HPUV turned some heads. Actually, it turned a LOT of heads. Everyone who saw it had questions about it, but one question that was pleasant to hear repeatedly asked was "Can you build more?" When we went to the sous-prefecture (the local government building), the mechanic driving the vehicle shifted into a middle gear and raced straight up to the front door, over some notoriously nasty ruts - without problem. The local dignitaries seemed retty amazed, and talked about the unique font end of the vehicle. Almost everyone, at first, asks if it is difficult to drive, and the mechanics are quick to say it just takes some getting used to.<br /><br /><br /><br />Apparently in the few days I was gone from the village, they spent quite some time testing it. Pere Roger, the priest at the mission who wasn't sure the vehicle would be that useful, asked the guys to load up as much stuff into it as they could move with one person - he was reportedly delighted and surprised that it was over 100 kilos, a feat even two people couldn't do on foot.<br /><br />As questions about the vehicle abounded, I directed most of them to the mechanics, who handled them with good preparation. Based on their knowledge and the small concepts that I taught them about frame strength and balancing, they've already figured out the changes they want in the next model they build. It was hearing this that let me know my work is nearly finished here. The guys don't really need me anymore, and that is the best feeling in the world. They understand that it's their vehicle and their knowledge, and they will be able to handle production in the future.<br /><br />We also took the vehicle to the market. Ousman flew down the hill like he was on a simple bike, showing off how fast he could go on the thing. HE waited for us outside the market, and as we walked in with the vehicle, so many people gathered around that we couldn't even move. I have a good video of it, but I'm having trouble uploading it. Said and done, some revisions will be needed for future models, but the HPUV is a hit. I've never been so happy with one of my designs, and I can't wait to get a final document uploaded and sent all over the world.<br /><br />I'll revise this post with some pictures later, but we need to get lunch for now.</span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-89552482145626762622008-08-06T09:37:00.005-04:002008-08-07T08:10:32.717-04:00Finishing Up in Cameroon<span style="font-family: arial;">So, the vehicle is pretty much finished! It's been a heck of a couple of weeks since the last time I posted, and things are pretty rushed here at the end, but I think the results of the project are turning out well. Literally twelve hours after my last post, I found myself with another rather serious bacterial infection and amoebic dysentery, which put me on my back for several days. I just finished the meds today (with pleasure- Flagyl is some pretty strong stuff), but the first three dyas I was barely able to sit upright.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Once I was feeling strong enough to ride out to Douvangar, the guys and I were able to finish the vehicle to a usable state:</span><br /><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/IMG_0247_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/IMG_0247_1.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">It was a weird experience getting on the thing for the first time. As soon as it started to look more like a vehicle than a cart and bike parts, quite a crowd of kids and men gathered to watch it in operation. I didn't even have the thing out the door before 6 young men hopped on it, straining some of the welds. These guys likely weighed in the neighborhood of a half ton - four times the maximum load I designed the vehicle for. After an explanation that people weigh a lot more than grain, I think they came to understand the vehicle's real uses.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I got to ride the thing around for a bit, and got a good feel for how it would perform. I think the oddest (why should this be odd?) feeling was that it drove almost exactly as I expected from my simulations. After a year of simulating the vehicle's performance with various tools, I knew in my head almost exactly how it would respond running over ruts, and how hard it would be to ascend a slope with it. To actually feel the thing under my legs, responding to the steering, etc., was pretty exhilarating. Jess said I rode around with a dumb smile on my face. I'm fine with that :)</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/IMG_0250_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/IMG_0250_1.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/IMG_0253_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/IMG_0253_1.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I didn't get a whole lot of playtime, because I needed to finish my ASME paper to submit it today, so we rode into Maroua after doing some work with Jess's trees yesterday morning. Being sick had put me behind with writing the paper,, so I needed to take time to finish it now. I wish I had more time to test the vehicle, but I've already learned what I came to learn.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Leaving for home is always bittersweet. Sunday evening will likely be the last time I get the chance to see this part of the world. Another 6 days, and I'm on a plane bound for Detroit, drinkable water and the rest of my family. This is the longest I've been away from home, and it's going to be good to see my family. I hear my one nephew is starting to stand up, and I can't wait to see him, my other nephew and everyone else. I'm really looking forward to taking three weeks and relaxing before hopping back in the saddle again. It's been a hell of an experience, to be sure.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">There's still a lot of work to be done and blog posts to be made, especially once I get to Yaounde, and when I finally get home - I'll be working on the documentation packet likely for the next month, and some other ideas I've come up with for the project, and I'll be able to upload some videos once I'm home to an actual broadband connection. Next post coming to you from Yaounde, Cameroon!</span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-57418092113637147982008-07-30T04:41:00.004-04:002008-07-30T05:17:34.345-04:00Almost Done!The past few weeks have been busy. The power went out again for some time, halting the project (it's hard to run a welder on no electricity), but we're back on track now. Jess and I took a bike trip to Tokembere to see our friend Jamie, and we made it home in record time - 12 kilometers in 50 minutes over rough terrain with an average grade of 4%. Run those numbers with a 30 lb. bag, typical specs for a mountain bike and our bodyweights, and the fact we were both wiped at the end of the ride (had to sit down for a half hour), and it looks like we're right up there with the 'healthy men' curve on the human power capability charts. Not bad! I took some pictures on the way down, here's one of my favorites (we followed a rainstorm most of the way there):<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/DSC_0955-2_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/DSC_0955-2_1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The last time I posted we were finally buying the materials for the cart part of the vehicle, and I had worms. Now, Jess has all the same nasty infections I just got over (but she's on the mend), and we're buying the last few bolts and steel needed to turn the cart into something truly unique. Here's a picture of the cart portion of the vehicle from a few days ago:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/IMG_0221_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Etc285202/campics/IMG_0221_1.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The guys we've been working with have been amazing, and seem like they're excited to learn about the vehicle. We treated them to peanuts and soda after work one day, and we got to have some more normal conversation with them than usual. Turns out, people have been asking to buy this vehicle or a copy of it since the first days of production a few weeks ago. Apparently the prospects of the vehicle's design are so promising, the people are excited about it without even seeing a picture. I'm happy the guys might have business after I leave, hopefully the final product will have the same effect :)<br /><br />I've found that I'm to the point now that I can explain things I need to to the guys. Last week, for the first time, I felt like I was helping them solve problems, even in French. Welding together complex 3-dimensional shapes can get really difficult based on the order in which you construct things. Especially when you're trying to be as accurate as possible, it can get to be an interesting puzzle to put together. I felt really good when I was able to help solve some of these ordering puzzles, and talk about the geometry. They started to resort to the jigging on their own, because, in their ownn words, they're finding it easier to use. At least I taught them something :)<br /><br />I hope to have the vehicle done either Friday or Monday and ready for testing, although I believe at this point I've learned most of what I came here to learn. If we finish it Friday, Jess and I plan to take it to the market (Friday is Meri's market day) and give people rides up the hill with their market bags for free in it (and, of course, let them drive it if they so desire). Seeing the picture that's been in my head and on paper for the last few months turning into a real frame on real wheels in a real Cameroonian garage is really exciting!<br /><br />Jess and I are getting to the hard part of the trip, where we have to start planning my trip home. It's always really hard to think about leaving - it's just too easy to get used to having her around. Coming home is bittersweet, because while I get to come home to my family (my new nephew rolled over!), running, drinkable water and flushing toilets, I am leaving Jess behind. The one thing we have to look forward to, though is that this is the last time we'll ever have to do this. Is it sad that the prospect of being apart for the next three months seems easy (compared, of coruse, to the five and a half at the beginning of the year)? When I get home, I get to go shopping for reception halls for the wedding! I can't believe that it's only about a year away.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-978788302175533272008-07-10T08:47:00.003-04:002008-12-09T22:55:19.871-05:00I GOT WORMS! No, seriously.<span style="font-family:arial;">On Toilets (an Ode to Dysentery)</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />When one travels to Africa, there is, without a doubt</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />a phenomenon that, simply put, one cannot do without.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />It's the world's quickest weight loss plan, a miracle unsung!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />A wond'rous thing of pit latrines, bacteria and dung!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />You see, when one consumes some food or drink that's not so pure,</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />(it's three weeks 'till things take off, so it's hard to be quite sure)</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />bacillae or amoebas come to live in one's intestine,</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />and then begins the beauty of this marvelous infection.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It hits you like a freight train in the middle of the night,</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />with fever, chills and muscle aches - it's sometimes quite a sight!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">At first, you think 'Malaria! My brain is gonna swell!'</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />But then you realize your tummy doesn't feel so well.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The next few days (or sometimes weeks) are spent between the john</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />and whatever piece of furniture you've chosen to lay on;</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />a brave man gets outside and does his normal day's routine,</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />but smarter men venture not far from their own pit latrine.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Oh, Pepto, Tums, Mebendazole!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">(Can't take that with alcohol!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Praziquantel and other tasty drugs!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Worms that make you have to poo!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Giardia and Schisto too!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Why did God create these awful bugs?</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Twenty-five pounds later, when you're eating once again,<br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">and after twenty minutes, it's not at the other end,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">You can smile at the pounds you've lost off your grande patootie,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In Africa, remember, this is practically one's duty.</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">...pun absolutely intended.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />If it's not self-evident, I've spent the last couple days inside with a case of ankylostomiasis. For those of us who don't know (I sure didn't), that's a parasitic worm that reproduces in the intestines and lays eggs around your body - I've just come top find out it's hookworm. Delicious. The downside is that I have to run to the bathroom every half hour and have lost a pretty substantial amount of water, but hey, I'm dropping weight. I like the way Sam Lightner, Jr. describes it in All Elevations Unknown, as having the upside of a 'Jenny-Craig-on-steroids diet'. Jess, for the second time, took my poo sample to the hospital and brought home some drugs that put me on my back for a couple of days. It's not fun, but it gave me a chance to catch up on some accounting and writing for my ASME article.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The past weeks have been very busy, and very exciting! We purchased all the materials for the vehicle, and are well into production. The production vehicle cost is going to be roughly half my initial estimate! This is very exciting, indeed! Jess and I spent the weekend of the 4th traveling all over the place, mostly by bicycle (roughly 50 miles), and mostly offroad. Next time I'm at the internet, I'll upload a video so you can see what it looks like over here. The mountains are really quite beautiful, but it was likely between 100 and 110 degrees outside during that ride - it made for an exhausting, sweaty trip.</span> <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Lr0J4d5n46oUyq8nZ-C5NlE4ytACi2Yp7GimVwWpsazPPbM-j8gMmLq8myb2AinaHCxJIyTRAtXlBJPg2Etz57f2ZjVy7iNwKVXvsNd0_-v6l0gMU-iS9FcD9vOoswFi83_77U8-PXrn/s1600-h/ride.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Lr0J4d5n46oUyq8nZ-C5NlE4ytACi2Yp7GimVwWpsazPPbM-j8gMmLq8myb2AinaHCxJIyTRAtXlBJPg2Etz57f2ZjVy7iNwKVXvsNd0_-v6l0gMU-iS9FcD9vOoswFi83_77U8-PXrn/s320/ride.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221368332484617426" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The July 5 ride</span><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">To top off our long-awaited return home, our hot, sweaty, hungry, grumpy moods weren't helped when I (the genius), chipping out the bottles of cold water that were frozen solid to the freezer walls, managed to poke several rather large holes in the evaporator of the refrigerator, rendering it totally useless. All this, to find that night I had some sort of stomach bug that turned out to be worms. Awesome.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />These things aside, Jess said when she had gone to a meeting in another village a few miles away, the farmers told her about my project (they had heard about it through the grapevine from Douvangar), and said they were really excited to see the results - they didn't realize that her 'mari' is the guy running that project. So, not only are my guys excited, but the farmers are excited too. Looks like a lot of the benchmarking and interviewing payed off, because they're saying if it works, a lot of their basic needs will be met.</span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-11362861777001388892008-07-02T04:48:00.005-04:002008-07-02T05:28:45.699-04:00Busybusybusy<span style="font-family:arial;">It's been a busy week so far. Jess and I traveled to Garoua on Sunday, which has its high points and low points - good food, electricity and internet, but a long, cramped voyage both ways. Touristique (the travel agency) pretty much screwed us over because not enough buses were available for all the tickets back to Maroua they had sold for the day - their solution was to cram 42 of us into a 30 passenger bus. Awesome. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On a lighter note, we did see our friends over at Chez Lyna (the restaurant owners we met on the train), and without a word they sent all 6 of us free dessert and gave us a ride back to our hotel in Garoua. They won't be there when Jess and I are passing through in August, but we plan to leave them our email addresses and some pictures of the project. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We also got to watch a thunderstorm roll in as we pulled into Maroua, which made for a beautiful light show. Jess and I had an excellent dinner at the Artisanat restaurant just outside of town (filet de boeuf with crème sauce and potatoes), and got to sleep in an air conditioned room! Yessssss!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This morning, we met with Heifer International, which is excited to work with my project and provide plans and training contact for anyone interested in learning about the vehicle in the future. They also suggested some other local people who would likely be interested in getting involved, so Jess and I will check that out soon too. I can't believe how quickly things are taking off! I'm buying the bicycle for parts today at the market, and if the weather isn't inclement tomorrow, we'll be starting to cut and weld! It's been very hot yesterday and today, so it may rain tomorrow, but we'll see.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We have a full weekend planned, as Friday is July 4 (hey, if I don't get to see firefworks, I'm at least having a burger, even if I have to make the ketchup from scratch), and there is a going-away party for a friend here in Maroua Saturday. We hope to have the vehicle finished in the next few weeks, and spend the end of July and beginning of August testing it and getting feedback from the people in different communities in the area. Exciting stuff.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On a side note, the Larium dreams have been weird and hilarious (thankfully not terrifying at any point yet). Malaria meds can be a bit psychoactive, and cause really vivid, very real dreams - to the extent that you can't tell they're dreams until you wake up. I've dreamt about just about anything, from showering in a restaurant bathroom (odd) to fixing the ever-problematic JJ crimper at Bucyrus Lamp Plant with a new design. Yes, I still dream about work. I suppose it's a sign that I do miss my job that I considered that a good dream, and not a bad one. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">At any rate, life is good, and things are progressing nicely. More later.</span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-865607053381030932008-06-30T04:16:00.004-04:002008-12-09T22:55:20.151-05:00Rain, Rain Go Away<div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">It amazes me how much we are able to ignore the weather around us in the US. We watch the weather, more often than not, to decide what we should wear for the day, or to see if we need to take our umbrella to the office. Here, it's much different. Whether or not it rained in Douroum this week determines whether we take the long route or the short route home. High winds take the power down on a regular basis. Most importantly, when it rains, everyone stays inside. If I see clouds and hear the winds picking up before a meeting, I know my guys probably won't make it. </span><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Most of the young men I'm working with live in Douvangar, a village about 4 miles down the road. Jess and I met them through a priest she was doing a project with just at the beginning of this week - we were due to meet them at the end of last week, but lo and behold - it rained. As the rainy season sets in, this will be a more regular occurrence (in late July it will rain almost every other day); we'll see how much of a problem it becomes. At any rate, the guys seem very excited about the project, and several sound like they've got some pretty good technical skills. I was happy to learn that someone here in Meri now owns a stick welder! This will make life much easier (stick welding is much stronger than soldering).</span><br style="font-family:arial;"><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Unfortunately, even though I went over the details of my project and what all my equipment was for with the TSA, my bag was still held up for a day for extra security checking. Either in the search or in transit, I lost a good number of fasteners and small machined parts I had made for the modular ergometer, shown in parts below. Dr. Iz seemed to have a similar experience with airport security when he traveled to Europe for a stirling engine conference - sometimes carrying even the simplest of machine parts can get you carted off for some special attention from security officials. Anyways, I digress.</span><br /><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217591653953123266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Rvi-NSIEodihTcYPapJ8dTVcRmBdSi_KxqPwjTwbaNl29TTJ3b2hP2ecnrCsYhCFLuafZnDc1xD6GKpVleWMAbl5EdwS6rJA4TIMI5S4cAAPdEmhbxUiVyqHC_TObcNKvaI5x37z7IsF/s320/IMG_0078-small.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="left"><em>The ergometer, in pieces (minus wheels and a few other parts)</em><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The ergometer is basically like riding a stationary bike (in this case, a recumbent) with a load on the wheels, which comes from two little black generators. These generators can be hooked up to any resistive load, like a light bulb. The higher the wattage of the bulb, the harder it is to pedal. By measuring voltage and current, we can figure out how much power was being put into the pedals. Such testing has only been done with Americans and Europeans in common literature, but these (African) people can manage feats like carrying large amounts of water (I've seen up to 75 lbs.) for miles in unbelievable heat - something an average American or European wouldn't be capable of. </span><br style="font-family:arial;"><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Up until now, Jess has been helping to translate when my French all too commonly falls short. I spent my first day alone on the project two days ago, when our friend Issa (pronounced 'Esau') took me to Maroua with him to show me where I could purchase some parts I would need for the project. We rode his motorcycle to the city (about 25 miles), and he showed me where I could purchase bolts, wrenches, etc. As many times as I've been in Maroua, and as many times as I'm sure I have walked right by the vendor he took me to, I had never seen him. Back in a little corner of the Grand Marche (a big open-air market), there sits a shop with nuts and bolts of every size....in metric. I built the ergometer using English sizes. Lesson learned. </span><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">At any rate, I spent the day with Issa, trying to communicate as best I could. It's interesting that I have no problem understanding conversations - just the other day I was talking about politics to Jamie's friend Matthias - but when the talk gets technical, and a single missed word can change the entire meaning of the sentence, I have to concentrate much harder. Usually I find myself asking someone to repeat themselves quite a bit, because I want to make sure I understand precisely, and then it takes me another 20 seconds to formulate my response...it makes for some awkward pauses. In the end, I got what I needed for a good price and made it home with some sense of accomplishment, only to discover that I forgot to put on sunscreen...boy is my face red (pun absolutely intended).</span><br style="font-family:arial;"><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">We had our first real project meeting yesterday, and the three guys that Jess and I met last week have already increased to five. I was on my own again, as Jess had some work to do out in a field, but the meeting seemed to go really well. For the umpteenth time, I find myself learning more than those I'm supposed to be teaching. That's one of the things I love about this work - I have several years of practial experience and about six years of higher education under my belt, and I still have so very much to learn - even (especially?) from some high school grads who can't speak English. My guys are pictured below: Lamamsa, Jean, Jacques, Rigobert and Jeremi. </span><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br face="arial"></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217591975207070978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQ3XpJDcEbXP9YGY2Lh0Ba6XQWsKbAEGGxiqwK2wIeDPho023-TeV8yzCIrH14L3VBNRLIpKj7k_BPrSNzIo5VhoYd4li5i8WoQaeWtAf4r_0IxbcgoCHFFH7B_KuL_F1tbF2xd11xgdR/s320/IMG_0076-small.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><em>My guys from Douvangar</em><br face="arial"></p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-50996185577102002922008-06-20T08:08:00.001-04:002008-06-20T08:09:52.316-04:00First Week in Village - Protocol<span style="font-family: arial;">Finally unpacking our things in village, we came to find that the power had been out for nearly a week, expected to come back on at any day. In total, the power was out for 8 days, which made it very difficult to sleep at night (temperatures have been up in the 90's at night), and shut down the mill for the local people, not to mention making work after dark nearly impossible. It certainly highlighted the fact that we only get 12 hours of daylight here, as Jess and I spent several hours reading by candlelight until it was late enough to try and sleep each night. </span><br><br><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">Whenever I come to the village, it is customary to do what is referred to here by 'protocol'. Remember, Africans are big on introductions and welcoming visitors. Protocol involves visiting the local officials and friends, to greet them on my return to the village. Several days are spent merely greeting people, discussing how they and their families are doing, explaining the details of my project, and how it is to be carried out, etc. We visited the Sous-Prefet (the government's envoy to the village), the mayor, his family, local priests and market keepers, several other workers at the sous-prefecture, the gendarme commandant (the local commandant is actually very nice and upright) and our friends around the village. This process takes days.</span><br><br><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">We also met with three of the young men I'll be working with to construct the vehicle. They're finishing up exams this week, and we'll be ready to start going over the design and buying materials next week. They all seem excited to be a part of the project, and I'm excited to make the a part of it. When I present my results to the NGO in Maroua, these young men will have some marketable skills to offer - if anyone should want to construct such a vehicle, not only is it possible, but they've got local experts on the subject. I think this will play out nicely for all involved. </span><br><br><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">Two nights ago, there was an uproar across the village as the power came back on. It's amazing how much easier it makes life when one has access to electricity - the fridge is on! We can open the jelly! We can have COLD water! We can turn on the fan, and we can cook after dark! This is great!</span><br><br><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">All together, things are off to a nice start, after a rocky trip home. I've put in my cv for consideration by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of Denver for a Ph.D. position in biomechanics research - Jess is interested in an intercultural/international communications master's program there, and we may be headed there as early as Spring '09, if I get the position with them. We'll see how things turn out. </span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-28155852221041161002008-06-20T07:29:00.003-04:002008-06-20T08:06:11.924-04:00Return to Meri and The Trip From Hell<span style="font-family:arial;">We finally arrived home after traveling for 7 days. We had, at that point traveled by plane, train, bus, bush taxi, car, motorcycle, and foot over a distance that would, in the United States, take less than eight hours to drive (less the 7000 miles covered in the lane, of course). So, after much ado, we have finally made it back home to Meri. Air France managed to misplace one of my bags (the one with all the metal, bolts and wires in it - if a bag was going to get left behind, likely for extra inspection, I figured it would be this one). Thanks to that, we had to spend an extra day in Yaounde and 4 hours at an empty airport waiting for the customs worker with the key to get to my bag. We finally boarded the train to Nagoundere that evening, and headed north.</span> <br><br> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br><br>Thankfully, the train went without issue, ,and we met a really nice married couple who shared our sleeper cabin. The woman was a former agricultural worker and her husband a lawyer, both from Garoua. The wife, Lyna, now runs a restaurant a bit off the beaten path on the outskirts of Garoua, which has an extensive menu with some excellent food on it. They invited us to eat there the following evening at 8, and we gladly accepted. We got on a bus that made the trip from Nagoundere to Garoua in pretty good time (about 5 hours), although there was a kid just behind Jess and I that threw up pretty much the whole trip.</span> <br><br> <span style="font-family:arial;">Oddly enough, the couple we met picked us up in their car at our hotel (only very rich people here have cars), and drove us to the restaurant, where Jess and I had probably the biggest meal since we arrived. With roast chicken and beef, fries, pineapple, mango, and various other treats, we had a wonderful dinner with the couple, and when we went to pay, they wouldn't let us. This was not a cheap meal! Jess and I agreed we should eat there the next time we're in Garoua and pay for a large meal.</span> <br><br> <span style="font-family:arial;">From there, we left for Maroua again by bus with Touristique, the Greyhound of Cameroon. This trip was a lot longer than it should have been (should have taken three hours, but took five and a half), and Jess and I were pretty much totally exhausted when we finally got to Maroua. Yet again, one of my bags was lost on the way, and we spent another several hours setting up someone to pick up the wheels of my makeshift ergometer when it would arrive the next day. We spent the night at the Case (the Peace Corps crash pad, if you will), and took the bush taxi home the next day. </span> <br><br> <span style="font-family:arial;">Of course, it wouldn't be the trip from hell unless we got accosted by crooked Gendarmes on the way, so at both possible places to be pulled over, the bush taxi was stopped and we were asked for our papers. At the second stop, the gendarme not only asked to see my passport and visa (which is all the need), he asked to see my airline ticket and any other documents he could think to require, lest I be forced to pay the 2800 CFA fine (about 5 dollars), which he invented on the spot. We sat and argued with him until he realized we were about to phone our embassy, at which point he finally let us go. This is probably my least favorite part of traveling in areas like this - police have a lot of power, and are typically corrupt to the extent of such extortion. We finally made it to Meri that afternoon, exhausted from the trip.</span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-455462309190450862008-06-08T07:28:00.003-04:002008-06-08T08:25:02.680-04:00ArrivalSo, we've arrived in Yaoundé safe and sound, albeit after a long trip. We'll have to stay here at least until tuesday morning, because one of my bags (containing several months of machining work in bike parts) managed to not make it here - we think it got stuck in Paris. The flights went without a hitch, but the airport staff at CDG were, as expected, totally French (i.e.:totally unhelpful with our short connection). After a lot of funny looks from security at the bike wheels I was carrying and many hours spent asleep in the air (awake for Jess), here we are.<br /><br />Jess has always said the people in the south are a lot more aggressive - she's right. We basically had three guys standing around us in the airport demanding 50 dollars because they 'helped us' (they hadn't done anything). It took a lot of nasty looks and shoving through them to get outside the airport and into a taxi. After all that, the hotel and pizza for dinner was awfully nice.<br /><br />The weather down here is cool and really humid. The city reminds me a bit of Accra (in Ghana), although it seems a little less developed. We're enjoying the electricity and internet!<br /><br />Later.TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-16374094565114357902008-05-29T15:32:00.003-04:002008-06-08T07:25:33.853-04:00Returning to AfricaSo, I've been out of the habit of updating the blog for 9 months now, and since I'll only have internet access intermittently for the next few months, I figured now is as good a time as any to start talking about my project, right?<br /><br />Actually, the past 9 months have been the busiest yet, but they've turned out some very interesting results. Since my last post, I've developed an adjustable, affordable sports wheelchair for kids, a $4 data acquisition hardware package compatible with FreeMat (good for high school science classes, the software is free! [as in freedom]), a dynamic model of the muscles of the human leg in 3D (I had no idea there were 47 muscles in a leg), a modular recumbent bicycle that can be broken down into its own backpack (with attachable ergometer for human power capability measurements) and lastly, the vehicle I'll be building this summer. It's been a busy year.<br /><br />Jess is home on vacation for now, so it's been good to see her. As apprehensive as one can get about suddenly spending all sorts of time around their loved ones who have been gone for a long time, whenever Jess and I can see each other, it's like sitting in a familiar sofa. It's been good to have her home and <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">start planning a wedding!</span> Crazy, I know.<br /><br />So, over the past 9 months I've learned a lot. Actually, I'd guess that I've learned more than I ever have before in such a short time. I've learned about the developing world, appropriate technology, some rather advanced engineering principles, but most importantly, I've learned that I really love doing my own research. It's one thing to learn principles in a class, or to read books on a classical subject, but the real fun lies on the cusp of human knowledge - it's the stuff we get to research! It's like what I'm doing right now with my human leg model - there are some elements in the programming that I'm not sure will work at first, mostly because the subject hasn't really been scrutinized. I love this quote: "Undergrads think they know everything, grad students know they know nothing, and PhDs known nobody else knows anything." I'm learning every day just how much we really don't know. It's amazing.<br /><br />Well, I'm off to Africa. Look forward to posting from a different hemispere!TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-43732539175355869352007-08-19T09:56:00.000-04:002007-08-19T10:41:48.164-04:00Lessons<span style="font-family: arial;">As I've found with every trip I've taken like this, the end comes too quickly, although home is always a welcome thought. Every exposure to a different culture brings with it lessons to learn and apply to our own lives - here are a few of my observations from this trip:<br /><br />1.) <span style="font-weight: bold;">Slow the heck down.</span> I wish I could photograph the expressions I get when explaining how much Americans work to the locals here. They're astounded. The drive to succeed and be profitable is what has made America the economic power it is. It seems, however, that we've forgotten how to relax. Personally, I'm convinced a lot of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_disease">heart problems abounding in the United States</a> stem from our inability to relax. Two months ago, my blood pressure was way high for someone my age...now I'm finally back to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">postorial</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">hypotension</span> making me lightheaded every time I stand up. Ask yourself, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">when's</span> the last time you took a vacation? How long was it? Taken your spouse on a date lately? Written a letter to a friend (a real one, with a pen and paper) in the past month? Read a book?<br /><br />Most of the time, it's not easy. It takes a special kind of person to want the type of job requiring constant access to oneself. As if cell phones weren't bad enough, someone had to go and market the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry">Blackberry</a>, destroying any possibility of a private life. Some people love them, some hate them. I can see their worth, as long as you have the ability to turn them OFF. Here in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Meri</span>, cell phone reception isn't available in the house, or really anywhere near it, so the phones are off most of the time...it's been nice.<br /><br />2.) <span style="font-weight: bold;">Try something new. </span>While things catch on in the U.S. pretty quickly, many innovations are overlooked because they're not mainstream (e.g.: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car">electric cars</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle">recumbent bicycles</a>, etc.) Read a book on a subject you don't know about. You'll find time if you try. Ride your bike to work, or the grocery store, or walk. Bake bread from scratch. Read about what's going on in your congressional district. Do something differently.<br /><br />Here, the people tend to welcome change whether or not ideas are popular. They give new ideas a try, and for that, development is taking good steps forward. The culture of change towards what is popular has been shown to cause problems, as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">SUV's</span> don't fly off the lots like they used to, and people who own them are, in many cases, looking for alternatives. Even the search for appropriate technology, which can sometimes demand giving odd ideas a try, is simply a search not for the most advanced solution, but the best one (see previous article). Flexibility and acceptance of change is the best way a society can drive innovation, and it starts with every one of us, as consumers.<br /><br />3.) (and this is the biggie)<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Try and understand global contexts.</span> While that statement says little, bear with me here: one of the many supervisors I've had in the past few years said something that has always stuck with me: "How can you come home from that and feel like what you're doing here [manufacturing engineering] is significant?" Kurt had a good point. In light of the developing world's multifarious problems such as malaria, potable water, genocide, oil corruption and subsistence farming, producing fluorescent lamps can seem a bit...superfluous. At some point, we <span style="font-style: italic;">must </span>question the global value of our work.<br /><br />I've found that Kurt's question has two real answers: you can and you can't. One must realize that the reason we can enjoy such infrastructure is <span style="font-style: italic;">because </span>of plants that produce millions of fluorescent lamps every day. Someone has to do it - obviously they're getting sold somewhere. We can't consume what can't be made, so on some level, every little cog in the economic machine is essential to its operation as a whole.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HOWEVER</span> - we cannot assume that we are fulfilling our duty to humanity simply by going to work each day. As voters in the most powerful country in the world, we have the onus of understanding how our actions (economic policies, consumer expenditures, even lifestyles) affect the rest of the world. In a society of such <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_world_is_flat">globalization</a>, it's hard to sneeze without making something happen across some border somewhere. Therefore, we need to start reading up on the rest of the world.<br /><br />Know what's funny about the rest of the world? They know a whole lot about us, even though we don't know much about them. I can't even tell you when Ghana's last national election was, but Ghanaians know who the different candidates are in ours, and their platforms. Humbled? You should be. I am.<br /><br />So, ask yourself questions you don't know the answers to, then go find the answers. Here are some to get you started:<br /><br />What are the five largest countries in Africa? What are their exports?<br /><br />What started the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Darfur</span> Conflict? Who is involved?<br /><br />What countries make up Eastern Europe?<br /><br />Where does gasoline come from? 'Middle East' won't cut it here...look up Nigeria.<br /><br />We have the power to understand this information at our very fingertips. It is up to us to use it.<br /><br /><br /></span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-8052480842601049842007-08-04T06:55:00.000-04:002007-08-04T07:44:38.865-04:00En Afrique<span style="font-family:arial;">While the end of my trip is sadly about halfway through, I must admit I'm having the time of my life. I truly believe I've figured out what it is I want to do for the rest of my life. Not only have I been enjoying spending every possible minute with Jess, but it's been amazing to see how my project work has begun to take shape.<br /><br />About two weeks ago, Jess and I threw a Christmas in July party (complete with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Texican</span> decorations - yes, I said <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Texican</span>...sorry to Mom and Ross - and Tex-Mex food) to which a lot of the area Peace Corps volunteers came. One particular volunteer brought her Cameroonian boyfriend, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Alaji</span> ( I hope I spelled that right), who is apparently in a technical field himself. They live in a local big city, and they both got very excited when I explained to them what I was here to do. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Alaji</span>, it seems, will be an invaluable contact, as his English is about where my french is, and he knows the industrial world here rather well.<br /><br />While I was in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Tokemberé</span> about three weeks ago, I found a book at Jamie's house left by a former volunteer titled 'Appropriate Technology <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Sourcebook</span>'. It is full of very good examples of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriate_technology">appropriate technologies</a> for developing communities, and what's more, full of other sources that go in-depth about them. The book is, unfortunately, about as old as I am, but it may lead to some interesting finds. Alden (my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Alma</span> Mater's library) has a copy that I intend to pick apart even further than I have the one here already. Jamie was kind enough to bring the book when I forgot to take it with me back to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Mèri</span>, and I've been taking down quotes and information from constantly since.<br /><br />Appropriate Technology, as explained in the link above, is an integral part of this project. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Appropriate Technology <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Sourcebook</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> talks in depth about the ins and outs of appropriate technology, and why it is so deeply needed. Essentially, to bring a developing nation from their current technology level (be the technology at hand a mechanical, electrical, industrial or other type of design) to a modern level, small steps must be taken. This can be seen in the use of <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&amp;cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Flaptop.org%2F&ei=DWK0Rp2FIqTInAPAwpneBQ&usg=AFQjCNFsxezxj0RpItuWtKe6EZXgB0Rkhg&sig2=aDrXnDBN_siFf_F3fp69vQ"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">OLPC's</span></a> as <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">light bulbs</span>, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">hundreds</span> of thousands of dollars' worth of foreign road-building equipment left on the side of the road where a single part failure rendered the machine unusable (picture coming soon).<br /><br />It's easy to look at a problem and come up with a solution that would be acceptable in the societies we're used to. With this vehicle, we hope to bridge the two, by not only presenting an option that is affordable and sustainable in the developing world, but perhaps one that gives a person in such an area advantages not enjoyed by people in more developed <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">parts</span> of the world. The openness to different ideas makes these areas ripe for new schools of thought and applications of the design process.<br /><br />For example, in the United States, it is nearly impossible to find an affordable <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent">recumbent bicycle</a>. Why? Actually, it has much to do with the French, an (IMHO) inferior cycle design, and hubris. This has created a hundred years of manufacture and use of a bicycle that is so far less efficient at converting human power to usable work that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">recumbents</span> are not allowed to race next to them. Parts of the world where this history has no place, however, are hot-beds for development of newer, better designs that can be optimized using today's manufacturing and design capabilities.<br /><br />One of the things I love about Africa is the willingness of the people to adapt when they need to, using whatever they can to get ahead. The cultural barriers can be difficult at times (working 50-70 hours a week sounds ludicrous to an average West-African, etc.), but I'm enjoying everything that I'm learning (which has been a lot more than I bargained for a year ago). </span><span style="font-family:arial;">It has been very nice to be able to pick the pace at which I'm doing things, and to take the occasional stormy afternoon off to read a Ken <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Follett</span> novel, or to watch a movie with Jess. I know now that I'm where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to do, and it feels great. I've never been so excited about a project in my life. Now, just to make it all come together....that's the easy part, right? :-)<br /></span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-64459568010530741092007-07-26T06:34:00.001-04:002007-07-26T07:19:29.936-04:00Rainy SeasonCameroon is quite different in the wet season. I think Jess described it best by saying, 'the desert came to life'. I wish I could upload a picture right now for comparison - I will do so as soon as I get home - because the contrast is startling. Everything that was brown on the previous trip is now bright green. There are new animals and insects everywhere (especially mosquitoes), and it rains about every other day. This is nice for several reasons: the nights it rains I actually feel <span style="font-style: italic;">cold</span>. It's much easier to keep a full cannerie out front, and Jess and I collect rainwater in buckets for bathing and laundry.<br /><br />Rainy season has its downsides, however. Humidity can be extreme at times, making a slightly hot afternoon unbearable. Also, as we are in a very rural area, power goes out from time to time as storms 20 miles away knock it out. Mosquitoes, absent in the dry season, necessitate much more precaution now, as I am not about to sign up for a dose of malaria.<br /><br />Speaking of sickness, about a week ago I began to feel a bit funny inside during lunch. Before I could say jenesaisquoi, I was shivering on the couch, feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. Luckily for me, fever, nausea and severe joint ache/headache only describe about 75 percent of the serious illnesses I may have had. We took a blood smear for malaria testing, but 25 trips to the bathroom later we surmised I probably had dysentery. The hospital confirmed this the following morning, and 48 Ciprofloxacin-filled hours later, I felt fine.<br /><br />Beyond the dysentery, it's been a great trip so far. I've had the opportunity to look at some local farms, watch more village activity and understand applications and needs for my project work. Jess and I have been able to talk about our projects at length, and it's been fun to see her work and mine collide. We both become rather animated at the discussion of farming/life in Africa.<br /><br />There is <span style="font-weight: bold;">enormous</span> opportunity here.<br /><br />Much like Ghana, a typical farmer will only own a hectare or two (half an acre to an acre, roughly) of land, usually split into four or five different pieces in different places. Here in the mountains, continuous, flat land is a rare commodity. Bicycles and hand cycles are used very widely here, by both genders and all age groups. After talking to Jess, it seems there is some good ,etalworking capability nearby. in Tokèmbere. While we were there, I saw several skilled braze welders and some extensive bike/moto repair. I'm excited to see what Maroua has to offer.<br /><br />As the project is beginning to evolve into something real, I'm beginning to feel the same excitement I've felt in the past, but with the even greater happiness of being able to work alongside my future wife.TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-16357110054222230992007-07-13T08:22:00.000-04:002007-07-13T08:51:39.333-04:00'Give Me Some Money'While it's true that every project needs money at some point, the common misconception is that money is what people in developing countries need. I was startled yesterday when not once, but twice in the same morning, I was directly ordered 'Give me money.' The disturbing part wasn't being asked for money - after a while in West Africa, one almost gets numb to it - it was the sense of entitlement with which the orders came. I can understand the common (albeit totally incorrect) assumption that because I'm white and American, I have money growing out my ears. It worries me, however, that of the little English the people spoke, 'Give me money' came just after 'Hello' and 'Goodbye.'<br /><br />As I was walking to photograph the worksite from our previous stay in Maase, two children carrying trash to the trash pile about 50 yards away spotted my glaring white skin. 'Hello!' one hollered. 'I echoed 'Hello!' with a smile and a wave. 'Goodbye!' the other yelled. I again replied in like fashion. As I continued down the path, they simultaneously yelled 'Give us some money!' What ideas are being passed form one generation to the next that the children would say those three phrases, in that order, to a complete stranger?<br /><br />As aid has been provided in the form of money for many years in such areas now, the giving of it seems to have become an expectation. Even now, as EWB works with the village elders to build their building, they expect us to pay for it, even after we agreed otherwise. One of the village leaders here has repeatedly tried to get me to call Jeff and tell him we (EWB) still owe $3000 to the project.<br /><br />Of course, the money has to come from somewhere, right? And, of course, we put our own money into these projects. The common school of thought here seems to say we are endless money piles, and our travel here is rather easy. At one point, when I got an incredulous look for saying I didn't have much money, I finally pulled my airline ticket stub to show Kwabenah what it cost. It wasn't until I explained that it took the cost of the house (30 million cedis) just to fly me, alone, over here and that it had all but cleared my bank account, that he seemed to understand the sacrifices we make for our work.<br /><br />Where I come from, most people are too proud to outright ask for money (although I completely understand that poverty is not so prolific, and I've been asked for money plenty of times in the US). I honestly believe that what has established the United States as the power that it is has been the determination of the American people to bring themselves up by their own bootstraps. Solid capitalistic economies are not established by donation. They are founded on the fundamental principle that one's financial responsibility lies <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">only </span>with oneself.<br /><br />Just as a responsible parent must, at times, force their children to depend on themselves to establish independence, so must a more developed economy, at times, force a less developed economy to stand on its own two feet, rather than on a crutch. Without this, there is little hope for financial and thus political independence. While I will no dole out money to people who want it, I'll gladly pay a little bit more for some goods and services from Africa. This is the relationship that has to be developed, one where the money is earned by the people.<br /><br />So, we'll continue to buy our airline tickets and small parts/materials for our projects. We'll continue to leave our Ohio University t-shirts with our friends, but when a call comes 'Pay my tuition', 'Bring me a computer', or 'Take me to America', we must be cautious about the long-term implications of our actions. We measure our success in requests such as 'Teach me to do this' and 'How does this work?'.<br /><br />I've decided to start a small fundraiser where I will buy some African art (mostly paintings and carvings) and auction them in the US. Every dollar (even the ones I spend) that it brings in, will go towards funding our engineering projects. Then, we are no longer donating money, but simply using globalization to open a market that can help these people earn money. If you're interested, please email me.TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-25236235822882514872007-06-28T21:06:00.001-04:002008-12-09T22:55:20.391-05:00OpportunityThis story starts a year ago, nearly to the day. After a long senior year of college in Mechanical Engineering, I was taking a trip with Engineers Without Borders to Ghana. The whole thing had been on a whim one day in my circuitry class, where Dr. Jeff Giesey stopped in to give a brief overview of what EWB is, and what the OU chapter was planning. I went to the meeting that night, and before I knew it, found myself on a plane to West Africa.<p> </p><p>Our chapter of Engineers Without Borders was on a mission to develop and build affordable housing with modernized amenities (septic system, etc.) to help a rural village attract teachers. We had a bunch of engineering equipment, the clothes on our backs, all the money we'd raised for the project over the previous 12 months, and lots of malaria pills - we were ready for whatever Africa might throw at us.</p><p> </p><p>No, we weren't.<br /></p><p>If it's not the blast of hot, humid night air that slaps us in the face the moment we get off the plane, then it's either the lack of health care, infrastructure, potable water, flushing toilets, or some other abnormality to we Americans that, when we directly experience it, makes us acutely aware we're NOWHERE NEAR HOME. Most of us have spent the better part of our lives in developed societies, and thus only have the image of developing communities our televisions have fed us over the years. Those images simply aren't real enough.</p><p> </p><p>At any rate, we eventually arrived in Maase - Offinso, just north of Kumasi, a major city in south-central Ghana. I've realize I've skipped over about 5 days of events in the past sentence, between language and cultural training (greetings take more than 5 minutes, never wave with the left hand, never cross your legs in front of a chief, how to communicate without talking, new foods, etc.) and experiencing Accra's markets and historical points - I could, but will not, drag on about them. That is for another time.</p><p> </p><p>As we worked with the locals in Maase to build the house, we also assessed many other problems we could assist with - lack of public toilets, drinking water of possibly substandard quality, constant brown-outs, semi-functional water pumps, and the like. One such problem Dr. Kremer and I observed was a lack of safe utility transportation. There wasn't a safe, cost-efficient way to move building materials, farm crops, or other goods from one place to another - not even over a distance of just a few miles, or even a few hundred yards.</p><p> </p><p>While motor vehicles exist (mostly in the form of taxis and the occasional VW Bus), gasoline is roughly <a href="http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=111328">$4.00 a gallon</a>. Even by American standards, that's pretty darn expensive...then you have to consider that the <a href="http://devdata.worldbank.org/external/CPProfile.asp?PTYPE=CP&CCODE=GHA"> GNI per capita</a> in Ghana is roughly $600. That doesn't buy a lot of gas. More often than not, people will use a cart like this one to move things from place to place.</p><p><br /></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FOiJItv03-9xzEX-WJLYEEhNQxc-bujH0sUAgyM3evRI8Mc-jfwMwr51hFyoXu-DpO4UROy76ngrv9A9aF2ohYy1STBZwSh27Ts38PcKMkFNz_CwVGdmrnVoYMuaYJ_l6bvxQsA5Tjlr/s1600-h/P7142828.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FOiJItv03-9xzEX-WJLYEEhNQxc-bujH0sUAgyM3evRI8Mc-jfwMwr51hFyoXu-DpO4UROy76ngrv9A9aF2ohYy1STBZwSh27Ts38PcKMkFNz_CwVGdmrnVoYMuaYJ_l6bvxQsA5Tjlr/s320/P7142828.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081702666455459346" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A typical Ghanaian cart</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></p><p> </p><p>When I say things, I mean anything - from corn crops and sacks of cocoa to bricks and building materials to whole cars. The only things consistent about the carts are the unstable design, and the inordinate number of children grouped around one, which seems to be directly related to the weight of the object on the cart. It's not uncommon to see one get stuck, start rolling the wrong way when headed uphill, or tip over.</p><p> </p><p>The purpose of this project is to address these problems, and perhaps a few other small ones ('low-hanging fruit', if you will) along the way.</p>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215476584983452159.post-29369606443887260882007-06-28T16:28:00.000-04:002007-06-28T22:34:28.915-04:00Purpose<span style="font-family: lucida grande;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >During the coming year, I'll be working on a Master's thesis with Ohio University to design a sustainable transportation solution for developing countries. This blog is to record my experiences working with engineering projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as here at home in the good ol' US of A.</span><span style="font-family: lucida grande;font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: lucida grande;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >There will be pictures, stories, and much of the like to follow. If you'd like to know when I update the blog, toss me an </span><span style="font-family: lucida grande;font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" ><a href="mailto:t.cyders@gmail.com">email</a></span><span style="font-family: lucida grande;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >, and I can drop you a message whenever I add to it. Also, you can use an RSS Feed (don't be afraid, RSS is actually really cool, and really easy) to be automatically notified. For instructions on how to get started with RSS if you use Mozilla Firefox, go <a href="http://johnbokma.com/firefox/rss-and-live-bookmarks.html">here</a>.<br /><br />More soon.<br /><br />TJ</span>TJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00365488259118093737noreply@blogger.com0