DEVELOPING A RESOURCE CENTER IN RURAL UGANDA : A SMART HOME , EWB, RASD PARTNERSHIP ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS DUKE SMART HOME RURAL AGENCY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRATT SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING DUKE UNIVERSITY SCOTT STEINBERG , WILLIAM PATRICK , LEE PEARSON , TOM ROSE JULY 20, 2007 Abstract: The Rural Agency for Sustainable Development (RASD) is a Ugandan non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Nkokonjeru dedicated to providing free or low-cost information about sustainable living to the local community. This project focused on enabling RASD to achieve their goals by finishing construction on the 1000 sqft main facility, providing a solar power station rated at 162 watts, providing a low power 40 watt computer cluster composed of 2 Linux computers, furnishing the cluster with a digital library of 1500 books focused on appropriate technology, and providing a Universal Nut Sheller made by the Full Belly Project for increasing the value of locally harvested coffee. The project was a partnership between the Duke University chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), the Duke Smart Home Program, and RASD. All systems were implemented at 100% functionality and all supplies were either commodities, or were sourced locally. Local labor was utilized for the implementation effort, and relationships were formed with local solar providers and local computer providers for both short and long-term maintenance needs. It is our hope that RASD will not only become a powerful source for public information, but also become a rally point for future outreach programs such as Duke Engage. This report is dedicated in memory of John Ssemogere, the former Co-director of RASD. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. Stake Holders in Project 1.2. Assessment Trip – May 2006 1.3. Implementation Trip – August 2007 1.3.1. Travel Team 1.3.2. Purpose 2. Background 2.1. Rural Agency for Sustainable Development (RASD) 2.2. Full Belly Project and the Universal Nut Sheller 2.3. Inveneo and Linux Solutions 2.4. Power Options 2.5. Internet Service Provider Options 2.6. Operating System Selection 2.7. Printer Selection 3. Project Design 3.1. Solar Power 3.1.1. Kyocera 54W Solar Panels 3.1.2. Steca PR Solar Charge Controller 3.1.3. Ultra Power SLA Solar Battery 3.1.4. 150W DC-AC Inverter 3.1.5. IP-65 Box 3.1.6. Cables, Frames and Surge Protection 3.2. Inveneo Workstation Computers 3.2.1. Xubuntu Open Source Operating System 3.2.2. Kingston 2GB USB 2.0 Flash Drives 3.3. HP 460cb Printer 3.4. Library 3.4.1. Agriculture in Uganda Books 3.4.2. Appropriate Technologies Digital Library 3.5. MTN Internet Service 3.6. Universal Nut Sheller Dissemination 3.6.1. Universal Nut Sheller at RASD 3.6.2. Building Support from Other Organizations 4. Pre-Trip Logistics 4.1. 5 Week Lead Time 4.2. Project Contract 4.3. Nkokonjeru, Uganda 4.4. Queen Elizabeth National Park 3-Day Safari 5. On-Site Work 5.1. Resource Center 5.2. Solar Power 5.3. Computers 5.4. Library 5.5. Universal Nut Sheller Dissemination Page 2 of 46 6. Future Considerations 6.1. Duke Engage Partnership 6.2. Internet Service Provider 6.3. Maintenance of the system 6.4. Project Ideas from Trip ----------------------------------------- Appendix 1: Project Budget Appendix 2: Trip Budget Appendix 3: Material Specifications Sheets Appendix 4: Project Invoices Appendix 5: Contacts Appendix 6: Solar System Calculations Appendix 7: Receipts Page 3 of 46 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Stakeholders in Project The Rural Agency For Sustainable Development The Rural Agency for Sustainable Development (RASD) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) based in Nkokonjero, Uganda, that works to improve the lives of rural Ugandan citizens in the Mukono district. RASD gives seminars on water sanitation, better agricultural practices, rain water harvesting, and technical skills such as carpentry and mechanics. Ignatius Bwoogi is a graduate of Makerere University and the co-founder and director of RASD. Duke Smart Home The Duke Smart Home Program at Duke University is a student-based organization that combines technology development with engineering education and public outreach. Its primary purpose is to advance smart living technology while providing a first-class education for Duke undergraduates. The program, centered in a specially designed, 6000 sqft house, will include ongoing engineering teams, partnerships with industry, and engagement with the public. Duke Engineers Without Borders Duke EWB endeavors to partner with communities in the developing world to improve the quality of life through environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable engineering projects. During the academic year, teams work-on, design, and coordinate events on campus to raise awareness of international issues in sustainable development particularly targeted towards engineering students. 1.2 Assessment Trip – May 2006 Duke Engineers Without Borders students first contacted RASD when Lee Pearson and Benjamin Abram traveled to Nkokonjero, Uganda in May 2006. Lee and Ben visited RASD for three days and spoke with Ignatius and other RASD volunteers about what the organization does and how Duke EWB students could help the organization grow. Further, Ignatius showed the students the beginning construction of a resource center, where the RASD team could teach seminars in class rooms as well as have demonstration plots for agriculture. The brick walls were completed for four buildings at the center, but only one building had a roof. Unfortunately, the organization ran out of funding when local vanilla prices crashed, and the construction was stalled. Ignatius, Lee, and Ben planned out a crude budget for the completion of the center and prioritized furnishings for the center and projects to be conducted there. Page 4 of 46 Figure 1.1: Map of Nkokonjeru in Uganda 1.3 Implementation Trip – Aug 2007 1.3.1 Travel Team A group of students and faculty traveled to Nkokonjero, Uganda to work with the Rural Agency of Sustainable Development in the summer of 2007. The project team consisted of: Lee Pearson (CE/BME ’08) and Will Patrick (ME ’10) of Duke Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and Scott Steinberg (BME/ME ’09) and Tom Rose (Director of the Duke Smart Home Program) from the Duke Smart Home Program. 1.3.2 Purpose The purpose of the partnership with RASD is to provide an opportunity for Duke engineering students to become involved in sustainable development issues and to provide hands on design opportunities. The RASD resource center will provide a site for future Duke students interested in appropriate technology and sustainable development to work, research, and gain experience in the developing world. A main thrust of the project is as well to help build the capacity of RASD to conduct their work in the community and provide opportunities for mutually beneficial endeavors between our groups. There were three components to the 2007 summer project. 1. Solar power station 2. Low-power computers 3. Resource center construction 4. Universal Nut Sheller dissemination Page 5 of 46 2. BACKGROUND The purpose of the resource center construction was to provide a usable space for RASD seminars and an adequately secure building for installing the solar powered computer system. The best way to do the resource center construction, we decided, was to let RASD contract the construction work to a business in Uganda. This would allow the necessary building construction to be done before we arrived to install the solar powered computer system. While this was a risk on our part, we felt it was the most effective way to get the construction done on time. When we arrived we felt gratified to see that the money had been spent effectively, receipts were kept, and photos of the construction were taken. 2.1 Rural Agency for Sustainable Development (RASD) The Rural Agency for Sustainable Development was formed in 2000 as a Community Based Organization (CBO) in the Mukono District of Uganda. The headquarters is in Nkokonjeru, which is halfway between Kampala and Jinja in the southern part of the country near Lake Victoria. After a few years, RASD became a certified Non Governmental Organization (NGO). The photo below is of the founding members of RASD taken by EWB last year when visiting the area. Figure 2.1: Members of RASD The project mission statement of RASD from their temporary website is as follows: RASD carries out its activities in the Mukono District to facilitate people to live in healthy conditions, promote sustainable environmental management, agriculture, provide safe water, hygiene education and sanitation provision, facilitate education training for skill acquisition, advocacy for gender issues and good governance. RASD carries out these activities through educational seminars and "sensitization" activities to promote best practices. We are currently constructing a centralized resource center in Nkokonjeru to better carry out these activities. (from www.duke.edu/~lmp10/RASD%20website2/index.htm ). 2.2 Full Belly Project and the Universal Nut Sheller The Full Belly Project is a NGO based in Wilmington, NC that is known for disseminating the Universal Nut Sheller (UNS), a mechanically powered machine that can shell a variety of nuts. The mechanically powered machine can shell a variety of nuts and berries, including peanuts and coffee. All of the machine parts are produced from ubiquitous materials, which predominantly are concrete and metal. For more information on how the Universal Nut Sheller and a video of it being used in Mali to Page 6 of 46 shell peanuts see http://www.instructables.com/id/Universal-Nut-Sheller/ . A photograph of the machine can be found in Figure 2.2. Figure 2.2: The Universal Nut Sheller Previous to 2007, The Full Belly Project has disseminated their technologies in Mali, the Philippines and Uganda working with local non-profit groups or coops.