Materials – Page 3

Jua kali dressed in Mitumba

Cat walk ready arc welder — Catwalk ready arc welder

This bizarre fabricated arc welding machine is the unique collaboration between jua kali and mitumba. Jua kali literally means hot sun in Kiswahili, and refers to the informal small traders who work outdoors in the sun fabricating mostly work metal and wood items, fixing cars and other household items. Unable to afford new tools they fabricate their own out of locally available materials. Mitumba refers to the second hand western clothing sold on the streets of many African cities. The arc welder uses stolen scrap and second hand wires that are coated for insulation using strips of cloth torn from unsellable mitumba clothes. This is then wound into the welding machine coils.

I’d gone to Limuru to get a welder for a job on a dairy where I met James Mutahi. He is a typical jua kali wrought iron artisan who operates on the sidewalk outside his street workshop using his own home made tools. I’ve seen jua kali home made arc welding machines before but usually they are housed in a protective box. To save money James dispensed with the casing revealing the guts of his arc welder.

James was making security grill for a window. There’s a huge demand for arc welding in Limuru especially for gates and window bars which are essential in the high risk security zones of Nairobi and other urban centers. Nairobi’s security is the result of the collaboration between mitumba and jua kali!

The picture speaks volumes about the Jua-Kali sector in Kenya– cost saving is paramount whilst safety is overlooked hence no housing box – look for welding goggles, fire extinguisher and other safety gear.

(This submission is from Dominic Wanjihia)

Tractor tyres and bush buckets in Masailand

I have just spent a week in the field studying Masailand ecology and community conservation with Princeton University students. The location is not that remote (Kitengela and Olerai within 40 km of Nairobi) and the community are wonderfully resourceful when it comes to day to day tools for pastoralism.

Masai salt lick made from tyres in Kenya

Tractor tyre trough for water for goats and sheep

This old tractor or truck tyre was somehow cut, opened up and sealed at either end to make a perfectly good livestock watering trough. Even Joy Adamson noted that the Masai question using modern appliances if home made ones do the job anyway.

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Tractor tyre cattle salt lick

Another way to make a salt lick, Evelyn just cut a truck tyre in half and placed it on the ground supported by stumps.

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home made bucket works perfectly

Why buy a bucket when you can just make one with an old water container and a piece of metal?

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Home made shovel

And if you don’t have a shovel for your manure, just straighten out some corrugated iron, cut it and nail to a stick and Presto – probably more effective than anything you could buy in Nairobi. Manure is one of the few products sold to passing trucks on these remote ranches.

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Keeping land open for wildlife migrations in and out of Nairobi National Park can be costly to those living with wildlife. Those in The Wildilfe Foundations land lease scheme earn 4$ per acre per year to keep the properties open (no fences) and to supplement their income they make beautiful beaded artworks for sale on Olerai Conservancy.

Maasai ladies making beaded works of art Kenya

It might look like a tough life for some of us, but the Masai out here seem perfectly satisfied and at peace

Recycling: From diving wetsuit to laptop bag

When Dipesh Pabari of Camps International sent me pictures of these laptop bags and bottle can holders, I just knew it would be something you AfriGadget fans would appreciate.

The fact that discarded waste is converted to something very useful… Its definitely AfriGadget. I asked Sander Den Haring a few questions about these cool products.

How did you begin your company?

I was born in a small town called Hellevoetsluis in the Netherlands but only lived there till i was 5. At that point my family moved to Yanbu, Saudi Arabia where i grew up and ended up spending 16 years. Yanbu is an industrial town situated on the Red Sea and i believe that a lot of the what, who, why and where i am is as a result of this. From the very beginning of our time in Yanbu my parents began a weekly outing to the beach which my brother and i eagerly anticipated every Friday (weekend is Thursday and Friday in Saudi Arabia). Once at the beach we would go out and snorkel virgin reefs in the Red Sea and be stunned by the serenity and tranquility each and every time. My love for the aquatic realm and the conservation of said realm has derived from these expeditions. It led me to complete a Masters in Marine Biology from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in 2000 so that i could work in the field of marine conservation.

In 2004 i moved to Kenya where i have lived ever since. I began work for Buccaneer Diving as a base manager and soon added on the role of resident marine biologist. Under this capacity i was able to instigate a snorkeling program for some of the underprivileged local government schools in Mombasa (Schools to the Sea program) and an artificial reef program in the Mombasa Marine Park. Both these projects had local partners involved as well. I eventually finished full time work with Buccaneer Diving in June 2009 as the Operations Manager of Buccaneer Diving Kenya and currently fulfill only a part-time quality control position within all of Buccaneer Diving (Kenya and Zanzibar).

I really enjoy thinking of ways to create environmental attitudes and the recycled wetsuit product line has been great in achieving this thus far! We are still coming up with new products and refining the existing products. There are no limits barring our creativity.

What was the inspiration for re-using the diving wetsuits?

In the dive industry wetsuits have a finite lifetime after which they become ineffective (have lost their insulating capability), or they become too hole-ridden to use in a professional business. In the past, these wetsuits were discarded. This seemed an obvious waste of material (as for the sake of a few holes, large patches of usable neoprene were being thrown out), so Buccaneer Diving began looking at what could these patches of neoprene be used for. Traditionally we have used smaller bits of neoprene for various “odd jobs” (eg. snorkel holders, buffering/padding material, informal packaging, patch material for other wetsuits), but these “odd jobs” required small amounts that did not need frequent replacement. So we started thinking if there was anything else that could be made and the obvious item was laptop bags. The bottle/can holders soon followed suit as the sleeves and legs of wetsuits already had the obvious shape (they just needed a bottom added). We are currently making the products more of an “item” and also looking into how we can incorporate the production of these products to benefit other charities. these exciting developments will be happening within the next few weeks we hope so definitely watch this space (it’ll be worth it!).

When did you start selling the bags/bottle covers etc?

This is a new venture and its been active for the last seven months, so still very young. We are looking at various other items we can make from the recycled neoprene (placemats and coasters might be possibilities).

How much do the items cost?

Currently the laptop bags sell for Ksh 2500 (about 32 usd) and the bottle/can holders ksh 350 (about 5 usd)

Are they made in Kenya/Mombasa?

They are indeed produced in Mombasa. Again, the story behind the production will unfold in the next few weeks and its worth the wait.

Where can people order? Can they pay by MPESA (Mobile Money)? (Just kidding, but hey!)

These products can be purchased at the Buccaneer Diving base at the Voyager Beach resort, Mombasa. We have not yet explored the use of MPESA in the purchase of these products as they are still young, but who knows what the future will bring. We can also arrange for products to be sent via courier if people are unable to visit the Buccaneer Diving base. Sander can be reached via email sander at green-water [dot] org.

Flat parabolic mirror is not an oxymoron!

Can a parabolic mirror be flat? Dominic Wanjihias latest invention may prove that this is the most efficient way of capturing solar energy.
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Everyone knows what a parabolic reflector is, right? It’s supposed to be a curved surface that collects energy by converging it towards a focus. Parabolic reflectors were invented a very long time ago and have been used in satellite dishes, spot lights and car headlights to name a few. They are also widely used for alternative energy projects to concentrate solar energy for heating and cooking.

Dominic (designer of the flexible solar vest, the solar dryer, and camel milk cooler for Somalia) thinks that the parabolic mirror should lose it’s shape which is an obstacle, to transportation and function.

So how does the flat parabolic mirror work? Dominic has cut inch wide 2 foot long pieces of flexible acrylic mirrors and arranged them at specifically computed angles. When angled towards the sun, this creates a perfectly focused beam of light.

flat parabolic mirror

This concentrated energy can be used to heat water in a pipe for numerous purposes including generating electricity. The beauty of this gadget is that

It is very cheap,
It can be quickly dismantled or moved,
It is easily transportable as it can be carried flat or in a tube,
It is easily repaired if broken as the individual mirror pieces can be replaced (rather than having to fix or replace an entire parabolic mirror).

Please note that this is part of Dominic Wanjihia’s ongoing project with Nairobi University and MIT’s FabLab where he is doing a course.

Fab lab sign .

Coconut + Zippers = Handbags

My daughter and I had a lot of fun on Lamu island, off the coast of Kenya, earlier this year. One of the items we came across was this coconut handbag. Some had designs, some were raw, all were incredibly cool.

If I remember correctly, I bargained poorly and bought it for 150/= ($2). The problem was that the merchant new how badly my daughter wanted it so he knew I was stuck. 🙂 This is the one we ended up buying:

Yes, these are mainly for tourists. However, it’s a good showcase of local reuse of what would otherwise be garbage for microentrepreneurial gain.