Monday August 11, 2014
Team 1 (Steve, Kristy, Daniel, Jenna, Henry, Kristine, Michael and Andrew) arrived in Muhuru Bay last night. The journey to Muhuru Bay involved about 20 hours of flight time from Seattle (through Amsterdam), an eight-hour bus ride through Kenya, and a two hour van ride to Muhuru Bay. Despite all the jet lag and rough roads, the team is not much worse for the wear.
Symon and his wife Pendo have been wonderful hosts—great food and accommodations. We’ve enjoyed rice, beans, cabbage, egg soup and potatoes for dinner and mandazi (like a beniot) for breakfast. Steve, Kristy, Daniel, Jenna and Andrew are staying with Symon. Henry, Kristine and Michael are staying at guest house about 20 minutes away.
Thankfully, today was a day to get caught up on rest and to begin familiarizing ourselves with the community. Although Kristy’s Cape Academy is on holiday this week, the children assembled at the school this morning for a short program, which included marching, singing, introductions and, of course, lots of pictures. The students were so excited to see us and were very well disciplined.
We are getting a little work done today. Daniel has been working getting the remote data logger to send data. This is really challenging because Muhuru Bay is very close to Tanzania, and the SIM cards will automatically switch between carriers. Jenna is working on making advertisements for the kick-off event that will introduce the community to the BBOXXs (portable battery kits). Henry and Steve will also begin interviewing candidates for the microgrid manager position (to be selected by Symon). The first set of supplies for the microgrid will arrive later today, and the installation will begin tomorrow!
