Dispatches from the Field & Project Summaries
Desert Research Foundation Namibia – Namibia
March 6, 2009
Desert Research Foundation Namibia (DRFN) has a mission statement that expresses their unique approach to doing good in Namibia, “Enhancing decision making for sustainable development “. DRFN is all about empowering decision makers with data-based recommendations, providing research, training and consultation regarding Namibia’s land, water and energy resources, making sure that projects set out to benefit others prove to be good places to put one’s charitable giving (solid returns on investment) as well as truly sustainable programs that won’t require ongoing cash flows to keep them afloat. Progressive plans with bald-faced pragmatism – a complementary combination, indeed.
Robert Schultz, the Senior Project Manager at DRFN’s Energy Desk took us under his wing for a day to share energy projects with us. His portion of DRFN’s work is a mix of education and creating prototype programs to see if they are viable investments. Our first stop was the parking lot at DRFN, visiting the Energy Demonstration Trailer. Lofty name, simple, grass roots use, the trailer is a rolling emissary for alternative energy, hauled into off-the-grid communities for multiple day visits. With its solar panels and wind turbine the trailer can run a computer, large screen monitor, sound system, multitude of lights along with a small freezer. In this region, the majority of household fuel is expended for cooking, the trailer is also outfitted with examples of fuel efficient stoves in graduated levels of sophistication – techniques and tools that make cooking faster, more economical and more efficient than common open-flame fire. In the simplest measure, DRFN exposes people in rural communities to more cost-effective ways to cook while giving contextual visual education on practical energy usage solutions.
Our next stop was into an unelectrified informal settlement – a community outside city limits operating without standard water/electric/sewage services. Residents have little in the way of resources, but what they’ve been able to do with so little is mind bending … dirt roadways were laid out straight with evident junctures; the paths were clean and convivial… we walked by a church that was simply congregants, a pastor and a cross on a treetop. Lack of services, however, does not keep the citizenry from modern conveniences. Cell phones are commonplace and seemingly in constant use. Many cell phone users charge their devices at their places of work within the electrified grid of the city, but there are still plenty who don’t work in town, and most everyone runs low on juice over long holiday weekends.
DRFN had an idea: What if a cellular cell phone charging station could be turned into a profitable business? DRFN did market research prior to investing into their first station to make sure that the cash-based market of the informal settlement could provide enough income to pay off the initial business investment before putting additional outright income into the business owners’ pocket. It turned out that it made enough sense to set up two stations – singular solar arrays on roofs wired to an assortment of adaptors for the myriad phones that arrive in the shops that offer an in-demand service that provides income augmentation in off-the-grid communities.
The last prototype we visited captured all of our imaginations, a merry-go-round designed to “harness children’s boundless energy” by attaching a gearbox to the common playground equipment to transfer the generated power to run a refrigerator, lights and a number of other small 220V appliances at a local children’s center.
But back to what makes DRFN’s work different is that they pay close attention to the difference between the “should be able to” versus “actually achieved” components of their prototype tests. As of our visit, the data wasn’t back as to whether the merry-go-round was a successful, consistent source of power that was worth the investment to re-create. Robert liked the idea of the energy kindergarten, but if it didn’t perform, it was back to the drawing board. DRFN don’t stand behind any of their designs (or anyone else’s) until they are backed by clear, calculable supporting data.
As we rattled down dirt roads away from the merry-go-round project, Robert shared yet another prototype they’d worked on – an energy efficient shack. Sounds a little oxymoronic, but their goal was to take the materials that any impoverished individual would have and see if they could make a structure that dealt with heat, cold and sun exposure more efficiently… and they did, by a few degrees here and there. In places where poverty is rife and services few and costly, simple, economical efficiencies are what can make the difference between abject poverty and life with possibilities.
Passion can be a great fuel for positive change and DRFN wants to partner good deeds with level heads. DRFN assures that efforts and monetary investments are spent to improve lives in Namibia are effective and economically sound, making for happier benefactors and beneficiaries. DRFN: three cheers for “enhancing decision making.”