Colin McCrory, Aaron Forrest, Jenny Hamilton, and Lily Cocoran are members of Tufts’ Engineers Without Borders (EWB) doing project implementation in Mbale, Uganda.
Hey everyone! We just wanted to let you know how things are going over here in Shilongo. The gazebo was finished Saturday and has been quite helpful for staying dry when its raining at the borehole. Members of the community expressed their concerns about the security of the solar panels if they were on the gazebo so we have decided to install them on Jude’s roof which is about 50 meters from the borehole and we will use PVC piping for the wires. Samuel from FDNC recently connected us with a man named Robert from Innovation Africa. He has a lot of experience with similar projects using solar panels and he has helped us purchase all the necessary materials. Currently, Dave, Jenny, and Aaron are looking at motors and bicycle parts. Overall, everyone in the community seems happy with our plans. Yesterday was the last day of the children’s vacation so we made sure to do plenty of activities with them. Lily and Jenny painted the children’s nails at the borehole and they were all very excited. We had no idea how beautiful Colin’s feet were until they were painted pink. After lunch, we attempted to make chocolate chip pancakes, but it turned out more like fried dough. Regardless, the kid’s devoured them. After the pancakes we finally did the glitter activity and everyone was covered in blue sparkles. That night, to celebrate graduation for the seniors back at Tufts, Colin slaughtered a chicken. The contrast of the glitter and blood that covered him was… interesting. Looking forward, we are monitoring our iron-related bacteria tests from the Muswema borehole and we will be working on the motor and bike setup for the next few days. A note from our mentor: Dave says everything is going well and on schedule.
-Lily Corcoran, Chemical Engineering 2016 and Colin, Biology 2015 and Timoth, Tufts EWB