December was a fairly quiet month on project while we compiled a 96 page “18 Month Report”, staff went on holiday, and a couple of us held down the fort.
A VISION REALIZED
Bob had been planning this hammock for a few months. He often gets stuck at the site waiting for someone to come and deliver something, or visit. There were no good “hanging out” furniture options, so he bought this hammock online, and had Amy bring it with her when she came. Surprisingly, hammocks are virtually unknown here in Ghana – no longer!
FERMENTATION RESTS FOR NO ONE
Martin and Johannes continued to monitor reactor 1 and then coordinate the loading of reactors 2 through 6 while Justin was on a well deserved 5 week break. Martin thinks that hammocks are a pretty good invention after all. We had a visit by folks from Nehlsen, the large German waste management company who is delivering our fecal sludge in their well-maintained vacuum truck. There’s a lot of interest in what we’re up to with fecal sludge.
THAT NATURE THING
The great parts about being “stuck” at “the sh*thole” is that there’s always opportunities to admire African wildlife – lizards, birds, and sometimes…..really cool multicolored insects! And then there’s fecal sludge drying in bisected polydrums! w00t!
DYING TO GET IN
Trips to the abattoir are ALWAYS worth the price of admission (free!) This day Bob joined with his buddy Andreas (from GIZ) and a group of professionals from Germany who were in town for a renewable energy conference that Andreas had put together. We continue to expand our network in the expat community here and it is very rewarding in local contact development.
BIG IDEAS NEED BIG MAINTENANCE
The waste water treatment plant at the abattoir was designed and built by the Canadians. The influent is primarily wash water (from washing down the killing floor) and blood. It is an incredibly energy intensive process (as is most waste water processing) and is no longer cost effective at the Kumasi site. They are evaluating an anaerobic digester to biogas solution that should prove more cost effective. This was the biggest waste water pump that Bob has seen (so far!)
HAPPY TRUCK, SAD TRUCK
You just never know what you’re going to see while out on the road in Kumasi, so we always bring a camera. On the right is a load of timber that had fallen off its truck on a hill just south of Ahodwo roundabout. On the left, is a happy truck (BE GENTLE?) that Bob saw while he was buying table for the plant at the Sokoban Wood Village in Dompoase. More on this day below.
TABLES “R” US
Bob, Amy, and Eric went to the Sokoban Wood Village to buy some tables and chairs for the plant site’s office/lab. We had them built by these Togolese craftsmen for 60 Ghana Cedis (US$30) for a table and two chairs. They are not fine furniture, but after Bob brought them home where we applied a couple of coats of varnish on top, they’ll serve nicely.
WOODWORKS
Bob was taken by the Jesus with dove-like hands that was chiseled into the bed headboard shown on the circular saw in the photo above. Eric was taken by the great “Cape Coast” cut up pineapple that he bought for one cedi (US$0.50) and shared with Amy and Bob.
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[Latest] * [Troutsfarm] * [Casa Kumasi] * [Osda House] * [The Big Pineapple] * [Memory Lane, Tema] * [FS2BD January 2013] * [Walking Through the Rice Fields] * [Shopping at Nadville]
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