Staying busy...

I realized that I have hinted at what is keeping me busy over here, but have never actually written about how I have been spending the majority of my time. Here is a summary of my projects/activities now that I’ve gotten into something of a routine:

Classes: I am currently taking six classes, all associated with some aspect of renewable energy: (1) Other Forms of Renewable Energy, (2) Entrepreneurship Development, (3) Project Management, (4) Energy Policy & Planning, (5) Optimizing Energy Systems, and (6) Solar Energy. Although the lectures have continued to be intermittent (overall, I would guess that professors have showed up for about 60% of the scheduled lectures), the 14 of us in the program have been busy over the last few weeks with several projects, papers, and tests. The lectures themselves have been fairly pointless, usually being directly from PowerPoint slides or out of a book, but the overall program has required a lot of self-taught learning. And the nice thing is that all of the topics are right up my alley, so I find all of this material to be interesting. It took awhile, but I finally feel like a student again!

Research: After consulting with a few advisers at Iowa State, I have narrowed down my topic for thesis research to biochar. Without going into a lot of technical jargon and putting everyone to sleep, biochar is the byproduct from extreme heating of biomass (through gasification, pyrolysis, or charcoal production). It has been shown to be a very effective soil amendment for increasing soil fertility and crop production. It also has the ability to capture carbon and store it for hundreds to thousands of years, making it a “carbon-negative” technology and potential source for climate change mitigation efforts. I’m specifically looking at the biochar produced from gasification of biomass crops from the humid tropics. In a nutshell, it’s a cool way to combine my interests in engineering and agriculture. I am still in the process of finishing my thesis proposal (something that has taken much longer than expected), but should hopefully be able to start with experiments in the next month or so.

Teaching: For the past 6 weeks, I have been volunteering as a secondary school teacher at a local school. I have been teaching chemistry and math to A-Level students (upper high school level), and have been loving it! I had a little drama when I originally tried to find a school where I could volunteer (have been meaning to write an entry about it but that’s never happened – long story short: a school founder tried to use me, the token white guy, primarily as a recruitment tool for more fee-paying students…add to that the fact that the school was over an hour away from Makerere and I decided that option would not be in my best interests). After some help from a contact at Makerere, I found the school where I have spent the last 6 weeks. It is located near a slum area of Kampala and is designed to give access to kids who normally wouldn’t be able to go to A-Level school. The students are starting their exams next week, so I gave my last lesson yesterday. They then have their long break until the end of January (their academic year matches up with the calendar year). Sadly, I might not be able to come back and teach next semester since I’ll be juggling two loads of classes and research. We shall see….

“Consulting”: I have helped out with a couple rural energy programs. I wrote about one of them awhile ago – using sunflower seed oil to power a generator that will supply energy for an off-grid trading center. The other was a jatropha project in a district just north of Kampala (I think I might have mentioned that one also). They have been very interesting projects, but both of them have basically ground to a halt due to organizational issues within the implementation groups. Frustrating…

Coordinating Pen Pals: Tracy came up with the idea to have her students pair up with students here in Uganda and do a pen pals exchange. I’ve been helping to get the logistics figured out with the Ugandan school, and the first set of letters should be arriving any day now from the U.S.! Tracy and her students are also gathering school supplies to send over to the school here in Uganda (it’s a rural school where the students literally have nothing more than a pen and paper). Plans are in the works to try to add a more sizeable fundraising project, but I need to see how things play out with some background research first…

Language Lessons: I have been taking lessons in Luganda (the main tribal language spoken in Kampala and surrounding areas) since early September. I am part of a group of 8 students – 7 girls from Norway and myself – that meets for 4-6 hours each week. The class has been very interesting since it incorporates many cultural aspects. Unfortunately, I haven’t put in the study time outside of class that I should have. I can converse in basic Luganda…but only if I have my class notes right in front of me!

Church: I found a church within walking distance of my home where I have been going almost every week. It’s part of the Church of Uganda (Anglican) and has a “traditional” style of worship service, but traditional is definitely a relative term. The services here are still much livelier than the different “contemporary” services I’ve been to in Iowa. I was actually singing in the choir for awhile but had to cut that out when classes picked up. Strangely, none of the other choir members seemed too heartbroken when I stopped coming to practices!

Travels: Whenever it works out with my schedule, I am trying to get out of Kampala and see the region. The travels have been great – it’s nice to get away from the chaos that is Kampala every once in awhile! My recent trip to Rwanda was the most unorganized things I have been involved with – but the country was still amazing! Eventually I will get a post written about it… Besides Rwanda, I have spent time in Kenya, Kamuli District, Entebbe, Kabale (far western Uganda), along with a few other day trips. Tomorrow I leave for a weekend in the Ssese Islands, the chain of 81 islands in Lake Victoria. I’m going with a Rotary group and will be helping to pour cement for a local school located on the islands. We’ll also be checking out a recently installed “bio-latrine” that uses the human waste produced by the school to produce energy for cooking and lighting. The Ssese Islands are supposed to be gorgeous, so it should be quite the weekend!

Friends/“Family”: I’ve met some awesome people over here through classes, volunteering, random connections, and sheer chance. I will usually spend a night or two each week out in Kampala with friends trying a new restaurant or sharing our weekly adventures. Beyond that, I see my “host family” most days, although it’s usually pretty short since I get home late from school and am out the door early in the morning.

Anyway, that’s the cliff notes version of my life over here. Add to that the “fun” challenges that pop up with daily life (i.e. my hard drive crashing earlier this week), and it keeps me pretty busy. I’m trying to fit as much in as I can since I’m already done with three of the nine months that I’ll be in the country!

Cheers!
Chris

P.S. Without sticking my foot too far in my mouth, I want to clarify my last post a bit. As I read over the post, I realized that it came off with an obvious bias, which I did not mean to do. I am actually very moderate when it comes to politics, and I definitely want to avoid the potentially polarizing effect that political discourse can have – especially in this blog. The political atmosphere is naturally much different here in Eastern Africa than in the Midwest, which was reflected in my writing. So, that being said, yes, I am excited for the future, but I – like many of you – have my reservations also. The message I meant to convey was one of optimism, believing that we will need a positive approach to solve the issues we are currently facing, but knowing that we need to employ relative caution as we move forward with some of the changes that will inevitably come.


Pic: Football (soccer) match of Uganda vs. Benin (Uganda won 3-1)


Pic: Admiring the western Ugandan landscape


Pic: Lake Bunyonyi = gorgeous