We're in Tanzania!

Hi everyone! This is the first time I've managed to get time on a computer to update the blog since I've arrived in Tanzania, I'm sorry it's taken so long. Everyone has arrived safe and sound, and the first seven have spent a week on the Kipepeo beach, having a well-earned week's break after the hectic third term at uni. We had a great time and made lots of new friends. We got more accustomed to the way that Tanzanians socialise and so we feel more comfortable now.

The other three arrived on the 1st July and were taken by taxi to Kipepeo to meet us. We spent a day catching up and chilling out before heading back to Dar Es Salaam that evening. We are staying in the reasonably priced Econolodge that we all really like. After a meal at the Chef's Pride, we headed back to Econolodge to sleep. Yesterday we explored Dar some more, splitting up in to three less conspicuous groups and going our separate ways. Later today we catch the train to Tabora for the cathedral dedication and then the journey to the project sites.

There have been many laughs along the way, and we all get on really well! Mishearings abound and so we have new names for stuff – valuables are now vol-au-vents somehow! We are having many laughs and are keeping a daily diary that we all try and contribute every day to.

Tanzanian culture is amazing- the people here are so friendly and welcoming, it's a world (or at least a continent) apart from London. We're really getting in to the swing of things and can't wait to start the projects.

Long overdue update

Sorry I haven't updated this blog in a while, I'm in the middle of exams and it's all getting quite hectic!

It's not long until we go - Sarah keeps reminding me that the first ones to go out will be over there in a fortnight! It's amazing how quickly it's crept up, and I can't quite believe that I'm going.

Preparations have been going okay, and we've got quite a few things sorted out, such as visas, vaccinations etc. We had our Drink for Drink party at the Fleetwood in the City - thanks to Agata for sorting that out, it was good fun! We are also going to be distributing mosquito nets for Malaria No More, a charity that aims for, well, no more malaria!

We have decided on the teams that are going to help to build each system. Sarah, Agata and Chris make up one team, Tina, Rosie and James another and me, Amaury and Aimi make up the final team.

I will try to keep this updated in future, especially in Tanzania, but I don't know whether there will be internet connections available all the time so there may be long posts arrive sporadically or small posts trickling in. It's all part of the adventure - having never been to Africa before, it's going to be a steep learning curve!

TTFN

Tom

The climate in Tanzania

I've found a little pic showing temperature and rainfall in Tabora for each month - check it out below! It comes from World Travel Guide.


So temperatures could range from 15°C to 28°C, but there ain't gonna be much rain!

We're back to uni on Monday, expect more and better things from the Tanzania crew...

General update

Sorry I haven't updated the blog recently.

We had a life coaching session with Iain Smith Coaching on the last Wednesday of term. Before the session I had no idea what life coaching was for or about, and it was a real insight for me, and all of the team. It was held at Imperial after normal uni hours and we had a meeting afterwards. Iain's charity, Raincatcher, offered to give us some money (£2500!) and Iain offered to coach us for free before we went. So from all the team, thanks Iain!

We have booked our flights too! There are going to be two flights (approximately a week apart) each way, and each team member was given the opportunity to choose which pair of flights they would like to depart and return on. This led to the John at Flight Centre getting very stressed getting us all on planes, but he did an excellent job and we're flying out there for less than we expected a few weeks ago.

Most universities are on holiday for Easter now, meaning that the team can't really do anything together. We are all having to get our travelling gear together for the trip though - some of us are leaving only 3 days after our exams finish.

That's all for now, I'll write back on here soon.

New Team member

As I said before, one team member has dropped out, but we have found another, Amaury, a second year chemical engineer! I know him personally and he's a great guy, can't wait to get him up to speed and involved.

We have also been donated £2 500 by Raincatcher, a UK charity set up to give grants to people building rainwater harvesting projects in Tanzania. We now have enough money for this project to go ahead!

Yay to all that!

A setback

Unfortunately, due to an offer of internship, Matt has had to drop out of the team. He is also giving up his holiday in Turkey, but a second year internship is very rare this year and we all totally understand and accept his choice. We are currently deciding what to do about this, because it leaves only four male members in the team, including Richard, who will not be based at one of the sites.

Although that means that there will be at least one male member at each site, it leaves less flexibility with members, especially if one falls ill. It would also lead to a team of two at one site, a guy and a girl, which would no doubt lead to assumptions of marriage! Once we have decided what to do about this, I will write back on here...

In other news, the IC Trust has decided to donate £1050 to the project, £150 per Imperial student. Thank you IC trust!

First post - the situation so far!

Hi guys! Nice to see you've found the blog.

Right, first I should probably give a bit of information and history about this project. We are planning to fund and help to build three 46 000 litre ferro-cement tanks to collect water from roofs in rural communities of the Kahama district, Tabora region of Tanzania. When I say we, that's the UK team, 10 students from London universities who met through Engineers Without Borders. We plan to go out to Tanzania for our own sakes, to learn and have a good time, but also to assist in their construction. It would go ahead without us going out, but it gives us the motivation to raise the £10 000 needed to build them. We have raised this money (see below) but have a raise our personal costs, too.

The constructions will be project managed and made by the Diocesean Development Department of Tabora, but they don't have the money to pay for their construction, so that's where we come in - we are the main fundraisers for this project. Once we get out there, we plan to help with:

• the construction of the systems themselves
• the training of the local 'animators' who will understand the system and how to maintain it
• the training of local people in both general and rainwater tank hygiene

We plan to be out there for 6-8 weeks; we are currently deciding on dates for flights. Just a note - we are not going out there in any religious capacity, we are just working with the Development branch of the diocese as an NGO.

We have just about raised the £10k needed for the construction, so we are concentrating on raising money for personal costs now.

One way you can help us is totally free to you - use EasyFundraising and buy stuff through here! You can still use all of your favourite sites such as Amazon in exactly the same way, just follow the link from the EasyFundraising site and we get a percentage of the money you spend. This doesn't raise costs for you - the sites give the money out of their own profits!

We are also planning some sponsored events, and details of these will be put up here soon!

Of course, you can always make a donation to either our personal expenses or the construction of the systems - the money is kept separate. Just get in touch with one of us!

We are building a small RWH system for the environmental society here at Imperial so that they can collect rainwater with which to water their plants and frogs (they have a hole in their pond lining). So far we've built the cement jars that will hold the water - photos are on facebook if you want a look!

If you're interested in international development, and are at university, Engineers Without Borders have several branches across the UK's campuses - I'd definitely recommend having a look! You don't have to be an engineer to join, either, we welcome all sorts.

I'll try and keep this blog updated, so that you can see what we're doing, and what we plan to do. I might even get some interviews to put on!

TTFN,

Tom