Hardship Bonus

Little Cabin in the…Savanna

So I realized I haven’t shared where I’m living now.  I’m in a little cabin (a definite upgrade from the shack) behind a bed and breakfast with Emily.  It’s a wonderful location: safe (as long as you are aware of hippos) and really pretty perfect.  Here are some photos. 

It’s really hard to explain life here -- the craziness of everyday life in an African town, the disgusting experiences of sanitation, the beauty and adventure of Kenya.  Emily and I met a guy many months ago who is an Israeli geologist doing geothermal work in Kenya.  His company gave him a “hardship bonus” on top of his salary just for living in Kenya (because it must be so awful…?).  So at times-- like this morning-- when I’m drinking a smoothie and lying by the pool, I have to remind Emily that I’m still waiting for my hardship bonus.  Life is rough.  Anyway, here’s some of what I’ve been up to lately. 

Cooking up Poop

Coming back to Naivasha is wonderful for so many reasons: perfect weather, zero traffic (minus goats), and giraffe spotting—but among the top reasons is working with Nancy and Francis again.  While Emily and I were in the US, Nancy did her own “experiment” which turned out really well.  The poop that we had put on the concentrator before I left, which had not reached high enough temperatures (we think, our loggers were broken at this point) she put this poop back on the concentrator for about 20 days. Then she took it off and let it dry, rolling it on occasion, for another few weeks.  The result is a completely safe, dry solid devoid of any poop smell or appearance. 

                

Emily and I even burned some, just to see what would happen. Yep, that’s my job.  And it went surprisingly well.  The waste doesn’t quite ignite, but it gives off good heat when lit with charcoal, and does not smell like poop.  Our plan is to combine this dry waste with organic materials like leaves corn husks, cobs, and press it to make briquettes that will be a cheaper environmentally friendly alternative to wood charcoal.  We have found some other people in the area who have experience making briquettes, namely our friend Alistair, but none of them have used human waste so this is a new dimension.  Alistair has helped us repeatedly cook poop in his own backyard. That’s friendship. 

We also have started our sampling for lab testing with the CDC. When the traditionally proposed technique of gathering a sample didn’t work out, we had to resort to a less scientific tactic of literally reaching our gloved hands in the waste with a ziplock bag and grabbing a fist full of poop.  That is the type of high tech system we work under. 

We also are going to be receiving some in-home toilet prototypes here from Germany to test in Naivasha, and hopefully some from Haiti too. Things are starting to take off.  For more about our projects and work stuff, you can read the Sanivation blog: http://sanivation.com/category/blog/.

Living for the weekend

Ok that’s not true, but as much  fun as I have at work, that is only the beginning.  One weekend recently we had a bunch of friends coming up to Naivasha for volleyball, margaritas, camp fires, and dancing. The best part was that even though most people only new a handful of the other 25ish people there, everyone got along incredibly well and are amazing people in their own right. We had some med students, taking time between 1st and 2nd year to do medical stuff in Kenya, refugee resettlement workers, fellow poop people, and all just amazing good-hearted people all around. 

Two weekends ago Emily and I took off to the coast to play touch rugby on Diani beach with some of the girls from the Kenya Women’s Rugby team.  It was amazing! Rugby, a beautiful white –sand/ turquoise—water beach, dancing, more great people from all over, not mention some good looking fellas. I love that rugby is rugby anywhere. I think I slept about 15 hrs in 4 days, my body and feet hurt like crazy, and it was one of the best weekends I’ve had here. 

Then we had an amazing weekend up in Eldoret and Kakamega Forest.  Kenya is so diverse and I love seeing all of it, but it is really the company that makes the trip.  When 4 hours in parking lot waiting for a car and then riding on pothole-filled African roads are enjoyable events you know you are surrounded by good people. 

Then this weekend we stayed home, which turned out splendidly, and we got to hang out with the most random people. It started with American girls we met (well Emily sort of accidentally picked up at a bar) and had over for drinks. We ended up talking about some politics, traveling, sexuality, intentional community, and faith, while drinking and singing to RENT and Moulin Rouge.  Then Saturday, off to have lunch with two Kenyan cowboys who have zebra and polo fields on their land, followed by dinner with missionaries from Kentucky who made us fried chicken. There’s never a dull moment here and we never lack for fun company.  We also have amazing American neighbors, Mike and Aliza, who let us come use their oven as long as we share the enchiladas, pizza, or whatever the specialty of the night is with them. 

That's about it for now.