On the go!

Been a while, hope you’re all well folks.

Right then, so what have I been up to since the last instalment? Well, other than largely laughing at the attempts of our brief kidnappers - we’ve come up with at least a dozen improvements to their technique(!) - we’ve really been having a bit of a lovely time.

(And with some staggering efficiency, it only took five trips to the police station to get my report!)

DUBAI (September)

As mentioned last time, Liisa and I took a week in Dubai, which was well-timed and thoroughly enjoyable. Much as we do enjoy our life in Dar, it’s nice to step back into the luxuries sometimes. Alas you’ll be relieved to hear I’ve re-stocked up on my supplies of H&M t-shirts & plimsoles  (hand washing really wears clothes down, and shoes get battered by the tough terrain) I’d somewhat miscalculated when I thought I’d packed 12 months worth of kit last April!

We caught up with friends out there (hi Liz!) and made the most everything we could. And needless to say, it included the must-do in any city - visit the Irish Bar!

Unsurprisingly, one of the most self-evident things about Dubai compared to Dar was the vast differences in wealth. You really couldn’t get two similarly sized cities in much more contrast to each other.

ZAMBIA (October) 

With a very brief stop in Dar after Dubai, and an even briefer stop in DR Congo (don’t worry family, I didn’t even get off the plane!), Liisa and I spent two weeks in Lusaka.

Solar Aid offices in Lusaka, Zambia

Behind this trip was me spending time with the Solar Aid Zambia, who fundamentally are doing what we’re doing in Tanzania, albeit scaled down a little. There I was able to help bring their finances up to date, pass on some really cool and exciting methods to their accounts team (perhaps a slight exaggeration), and help them with their planning - as they (like Tanzania) are hoping to expand, and such is only possible with ample planning.

The team there were extremely welcoming, and Lusaka as a city was a beautiful blend of colours -  clear blue sky, orange from the soil, and purple from the blooming Blue Jacarandas.

Lusaska’s got a lot going for it, and the development just  in the last 4 years since I last visited is quickly apparent. On top of this, the people are very friendly, things are largely organised (Dar meanwhile can be, ahem, ‘chaotic‘). A friendly city moving in the right direction!

The site of one of longer delays when the train de-railed

TAKING THE TRAIN HOME

One thing that wasn’t always moving in the right direction was TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia Railways) we took back from Lusaka to Dar. Part thanks to a derailment (27 hours), our scheduled 35-40 hour trip turned into a 90 hour slog (not sure where the other 23 hours of delays came from!)… We were glad we’d packed our Solar Lights, and by God we were glad we had our insect spray. The nightly game of spot-the-cockroaches wore thin very quickly. All in all, very glad we did it and the scenery was breath-taking, but wouldn’t be in a rush to do it again!

 

SOLAR AID TANZANIA

In the midst of all the above breaks, I’ve even managed to get a lot done in my own job! October was a particularly busy month, with close on 20,000 lights distributed (to put this in context, that’s not far off the total number in the whole of last year).

We’re currently planning & budgeting for our next financial year and there really is potential for massive growth. One of the major obstacles remains the financing, and as Solar Aid transitions from an N.G.O. (receiving handouts) to Social Enterprise (self-sustainable, not-for-profit), many significant challenges lay ahead.

It’s something I relish though, and it’s fun to tell people I’m modelling again. (Financial Modelling is modelling, all right?!)

A FOLLOW-UP ON LIGHT 50,000

A few months ago I mentioned our 50,000^th SunnyMoney light in Tanzania this year. Here’s a little piece about the kid who benefited:

Lucky number light 50,000

Name: Shabani Ramadhani Ndewa

Age: 12

School: Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Lives With: Grandmother because father is away and mother is dead

Why did you buy the light? "My teacher explained the benefits of using solar lights.  It’s better because it doesn’t hurt my eyes and it’s easier because I can study at night."

Was it hard to convince your grandmother to buy a light? “It wasn’t hard because my grandmother understands about solar because there were some other Wazungus who came and explained about solar and gave my grandmother a light. So we have already been using solar.”

How do you find the light? “It is very nice, it has good lights and we don’t have to buy kerosene any more. I am very, very happy to receive the gift of a free S250 from SunnyMoney.”

….And it’s stories like that one that that make me love the job I do.

Tutaonana baadaye,

Tom