We began the day with a quick breakfast at our hotel and then immediately sent our first contingent to Chalokwa to begin the project in earnest. Matt, Matthieu, AK, Keiko and Abdul traveled to the site to participate in the installation; Yin and Alex went to the GE office at the Lake Kariba Dam to test out the personal battery kits that will be sold at the kiosk; Henry and Adnane remained at the hotel and spent the day training Lucy on the business plan; and AJ enjoyed a convoluted 6 hour ride from Lusaka crammed in a bush taxi with 15 people, several chickens and a goat. By the end of the day, Suntech had completed half of the solar system installation. They will install the remaining four panels and connect the electric system tomorrow. We have completed the interior and exterior electric design of the kiosk and will meet with the electrician tomorrow.
Finally, we have begun discussions with the community school about providing services for them; while their distance from the kiosk
makes it unrealistic to wire them directly, we plan on purchasing a laptop that can be used for the Technology Studies course – which has previously been teaching students about computers from a book. After the first day onsite, we are feeling confident that the project is moving in a positive direction and are looking forward to sending the remainder of the group to Chalokwa tomorrow.
