Kopernik

I spent the past week in OSVSWA’s office in Daspalla Block, Nayagarh District to help OSVSWA with the final phase of the d.light S10 solar lantern distribution (59 lanterns in this phase, for a total of 200 lanterns for the project). I worked with Nihar (Project Coordinator), Gayan (Project Officer), Prakash (Social Mobilizer), and Antaryami (Social Mobilizer).

Throughout the end of October, we have continued to make progress on the Driptech installations, with four additional systems installed in Hingeiput and one in Gulerput. However, because the remaining registered farmers are otherwise occupied with their monsoon harvests, AMSS decided to put the program on hold for the month of November. The team is looking forward to hitting the ground running when installations resume December 1^st.

Along with the comprehensive report for the DIY charcoal project, Kopernik Fellow Takuro Haraguchi also wrote a report on the local ovens made out of mud bricks that he designed and tested during his fellowship in Kenya.

In a nutshell: In September 2011 I completed my master’s degree in medical anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. I moved to London after working in Delhi for 2 ½ years with the Clinton Foundation Health Access Initiative. I developed an early interest in HIV/AIDS and international development thanks to my mom, who was actively involved with various HIV/AIDS groups in the mid-1990s in Philadelphia (where I grew up).

The airplane that took us from Denpasar landed at Fran Seda Airport Maumere, Flores. For me it was an exceptional feeling to be back in Maumere. I came here in 1997 for a vacation with my relatives. I was only 15 back then. This airport used to be smaller and no trolleys were available as I can remember. This time, I wasn’t here for a vacation but on a different purpose.

After successfully completing Sarah’s drip irrigation training course, team AMSS and I headed to Narjiput to do 14 Driptech system installations. With a total of 57 households in the village, that means almost 25% of Narjiput homes now have a Driptech owner in them. Most of the fields on which we worked were in close proximity to each other and boarded the village directly.

Kopernik Fellow Takuro Haraguchi returned to Kenya to check on the situation of the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) charcoal project and submitted the following detailed report to share with Kopernik supporters. DIY technologies, like the technology to produce biomass charcoal briquettes originally designed by 

Last week, AuroMira Service Society (AMSS) hosted Sarah, our Driptech technical advisor, for four days to train us on system installation. We started our training in Girlaguda, the village at the end of the road from Kechla. Sarah and AMSS had spent a lot of time in this village in April during the demonstration phase so the farmers were excited to have them back.

Over the last eleven years East Timor has thrown off the shackles of foreign occupation,survived destruction of infrastructure by rampaging militia, gained independence and is now self-governing. Due to oil revenues, tourism, agriculture and small scale industry – local produce and handicrafts - a sustainable future is possible.