KARUCO's Water and Energy Team is back at it in their respective home countries. John Wade (MSAADA Architects) is back in Mwanza busy with other projects in Tanzania as well as moving the KARUCO project ahead; Albin Mathias (Powering Potential) is back home (near Arusha) and Christopher Jones (Inventoris) and Jan Hansen (ETI) are back in balmy Minnesota longing for the warmer climes of Africa. Albin submitted a report that outlines the next steps for ETI to take to get solar-powered computers and Internet at KARUCO. Our Tanzanian Partners at KAD complain that the Internet has been down since last fall. Albin is doing his best to change that. John and Christopher completed some impressive work designing the water harvest system that will enable KARUCO to open in October, 2016. They will continue to work with ... read more

10 Travelblog January 31, 2015 We leave today. I tried to cram the gifts people had given me into my bag: two drums (one for me, one for the ETI Board), two wall hangings, a package to deliver to a Tanzanian living in Minnesota, a large handbag and a dress. I downloaded some clothes, shoes and other items and made space. Every millimeter in my suitcase was used and then some. I stashed my clothes for the winter and for the flights into another bag along with some reading material, iPad and other carry on items and was ready to go. We enjoyed one last breakfast at the hotel, then loaded up the van (ten of us total) to head to Mutukula. Brighton arrived and shared that his father in law was in town so he ... read more

8 Travelblog THURSDAY, January 29 Another great breakfast at the hotel. Omelette, Tonica (local Tanzanian) coffee, home-made bread and fruit. Good way to start the day. Brighton picked up the team early and took Christopher, John, Albin and me to KARUCO for 'one last look' before the team starts heading to their respective homes. John and Albin planned to take a taxi from KARASECO to Bukoba at 10:15 am, and Christopher and I would head out in two days. We arrived at KARUCO, took videos and stills of our favorite vantage points, listened to Christopher teach from the steps of Classroom 1 where the Touchstones are laid, visited the library/media center and reviewed plans for the water harvesting systems. John and Albin caught the 10:15 taxi and we said 'goodbye' to John and 'Hotspot' (Albin). We ... read more

6. Travelblog TUESDAY - January 27, 2015 A big day.. Today - January 27, 2015 was the "Fixing of the Touchstones" ceremony at KARUCO. The Bishop and Dr. Katabaro had been storing the touchstones since Groundbreaking at KARUCO on October 11, 2012. The three touchstones were given to our Partner KAD at the groundbreaking occasion to signify and honor the support from ETI and two ETI donors - The Estate of Jacqueline Nolte Jones and The Oswald Family Foundation - that were instrumental in getting KARUCO started and in getting the first buildings built. The three touchstones were to serve as encouragement for family and friends associated with the touchstones to come to Karagwe and touch the stone at KARUCO. That happened today when Christopher Jones visited the KARUCO site for the first time and saw ... read more

4. TRAVEL BLOG - Karibu Sana! Kayanga - Here We Are. January 28, 2015 Sorry for the delay in blogging. Large Internet problems here. Spotty doesn't come close to describing. We are well. We made it to Kayanga, Tanzania. After a night in Kampala -and a pleasant ride with Dr. Katabaro, we saw the countryside of Karagwe. Christopher had studied the terrain via Google Maps so extensively that although laying his eyes on the landscape for the first time, he was already familiar with and could with reasonable accuracy, name where certain features existed. Perched on a lookout, Brighton stopped our vehicle where we all just took in the sight of KARUCO's campus. Fantastic. We were so well received in Kayanga by ETI's friends there. We have spent our days in focus groups and discussions about ... read more