Aug 24, 2012 - Fourth shower, school visit, and jewelry buying (final day)

We finally remembered to bring the second pump we brought to Kenya along with us to Kwa Njenga today, just in time before we leave and as the team is installing the fourth shower. Before heading to Amusha, Davies brought us to SIDAREC to purchase the women's beadwork Kwamboka told us about yesterday. We bought 2650 KSH worth of jewelry, about 15 pieces. Hopefully they'll sell well when we fundraise for EWB this year. 

Back at Amusha, Daniel and Davies were working on installing the fourth shower, with a wooden frame, in front of the center. Another group was finishing up the cement base of the shower with a metal frame at Sisal, a tricky process as they try to angle it so the water drains out into a pipe they directed to a nearby sewage ditch. George informed us that the shower with the wooden frame at his place near Sisal already earned him 100 KSH yesterday. He's charging 5 KSH for cold water showers and 10 KSH for hot water showers.

When we got to Amusha, a group of primary school teachers led by one of yesterday's marketing session attendees was waiting to meet with us. The women told us about their schools and then brought us over to show us one. The classrooms are pretty small, with structures made of corrugated iron sheets, and the only light inside comes from a small window. The students' families pay 300-400 KSH a year for them to attend, though some students are orphans that aren't required to pay.

Each classroom fits 15-20 children in about a 10'x10' space. The rooms are stuffy and dim.

The teachers told us about a girl who donated 20 lockers, like this one, to the school.

The two rooms on the right are for ECD (Early Childhood Development). The teachers call them the "baby rooms." The room on the left is the kitchen, where they make breakfast for the students.

The reason they have a kitchen instead of another classroom is because this sewage ditch goes right under the room. During the rainy season, the whole plot is drowned in water.

We're not sure what potential EWB projects we could start to help out with the situation, but we'll be talking with the teachers over email.

Back at Amusha, to celebrate our last day, we brought some popcorn and candy for everyone!

The team!

After checking up on the work at Amusha, we went to the other site where Kwamboka holds jewelry training for women to purchase more jewelry for fundraising (SIDAREC had a limited supply of samples since the women weren't there at the time).

Two of the women who made the jewelry, along with Kwamboka (on the right).

Our Eco-Shower chairman made us some earrings.

Davies showing off Kenyan pride!

Isaiah connecting with his feminine side.

We bought 1000 KSH more of jewelry there.

The team sent us off at the end of the day, and we set some goals for them after we leave. We're aiming to sell two showers a week, with about thirty more showers installed by the end of this year. George is working on setting up the bank account, and hopefully by the time our travel team returns next summer, Eco-Shower will be a full-fledged company. The group has done some fantastic work in the short time that Clara and I have been in Nairobi, and we're confident that they'll be able to bring Eco-Shower to even greater heights in the near future!