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Expect the unexpected!

6/25/2013

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            I arrived in Chad around 11pm Sunday before. Slept in N’Djamena and then awoke in the wee hours of the morning (4am) to catch the first bus leaving the capital. It took nine hours traveling in 106F/41C heat, sweat gluing us to our seats, for us to arrive in Moundou. Later, after we recovered a bit from our travels we met with Aquilas and Ghislain, two Chadians who work for ENVODEV. We made plans and laid out our goals for the next two weeks: test the Eco-Charcoal’s efficiency, streamline production of the Eco-Charcoal, and make a high efficiency cook-stove to better utilize the Eco-Charcoal. Sounds like an easily achievable list, right? Unsurprisingly, our plans didn’t quite work out the way we had anticipated. But, then again, this is Africa. Things not going according to plan almost becomes the plan if you catch my meaning. 

            First of all, let me tell you about the charcoal project. While we thought we would be streamlining the production process and testing the Eco-Charcoal, Chance granted us a new opportunity by damaging 14 bags of bio-char with flooding. How lucky is that? Having discovered the sopping bags we immediately dried the bio-char in the sun. We are now getting to test the viability of the bio-char after it has been exposed to water. While, on our own, we wouldn’t have thought to douse the bio-char in water, Chance thought it might be an innovative idea.  Imagine, either we find out that the bio-char is unusable (which would be an unfortunate waste), or we find the bio-char is resilient after being soaked. While we didn’t plan on conducting this experiment, hopefully the latter result will prove true thereby transforming a setback into an opportunity. Yet, life wasn’t done playing with us yet. We were also given a turn to test our reflexes and ingenuity when violent storms hit Belaba during our fourth day of production, which was the first day we were there to actually visit. When we saw the clouds come, our lightning fast responses were matched only by the lightning itself as we rescued all the drying bio-char from the rains and stored our workstations. The storm was violent enough that it ripped the doors right off their hinges at our production site. Such storms have continued to test our ingenuity and perseverance as they have repeatedly crashed over our production site. 

            We have also had the opening to ferret out the best workers in Belaba. After utilizing a team who were not able to meet the production quota, we have streamlined our crew. Now we have an Eco-Charcoal production crew who, if they aren’t the fastest this side of the Atlantic, Pacific, Southern, Arctic, and Indian Oceans, are at least the best in Chad. Yet, even the most dedicated crews can’t function in a production line if they aren’t communicating with one another. One such issue with the line of communication presented itself when we came upon our bio-char crew lounging around waiting on manioc paste. The paste takes about forty –five minutes to make, and no one had told the paste maker that they needed paste until they needed paste. This left them with about forty-five minutes of wasted production time waiting while the paste was made. While these disturbances can be frustrating, the experience we are getting from all the errors we’ve observed, like the manioc paste not being ready on time, ultimately helps us as we continue to refine our methods.

            Overall, though it has been quite fun to smooth out the production process as well as play dodge with the weather systems, we have decided to begin the process of taking the next step in equipping and empowering the local community. We are currently finding a local business to partner with who can provide a production site as well as a staff to oversee the process. This business will take over the entire production process, as well as full charcoal program responsibilities, and eventually become financially independent. While production this year will be ending soon as the rainy season approaches (the rainy season lasts from May-October) operations will begin again at the end of October, beginning of November. 

            Another exciting development that occurred in Chad this week was the completion of our first high efficiency FIRES (further improved rammed earth stove). These cook-stoves cut down on household pollution (which therefore reduces local risks of pneumonia, chronic pulmonary disease, lung cancer) while also dramatically increasing the efficiency of normal Chadian cook-stoves, which lose 80% of their total energy load. While we are excited to have finished this F.I.R.E.S. we have also found a local woman who builds stoves of her own, which allow for a 50% charcoal efficiency increase. This discovery provides us with another opportunity to partner with local community members by possibly creating a partnership with this young lady who has struggled to sell the cook-stoves on her own. Potentially, our facilities could offer two forms of cook-stoves, the rammed earth version, as well as this young woman’s.

            Lastly, let me give you an update about our valiant Henry Hilux, our faithful truck, who has been wheezing as of late. With the driving we have had to do for the production season, as well as preparing a mould for our efficient cook-stove; Henry has been creaking under the strain. As a temporary solution we began using moto-taxis to get around. While good in theory, it proved dangerous in practice. Motorcycle accidents are all too frequent in Moundou, and the hazards became all too real after our Envodev team member, Ghislain, was involved in an accident. Thankfully he came out unhurt, but we (Envodev and Henry Hilux) realized that we couldn’t continue to risk people’s lives in order for Henry to get a break. Unfortunately, after that resolution, Henry’s alternator took a turn for the dead when Chuck, Aquilas, and Ghislain were in Belaba testing charcoal. This required a large group of people to push Henry for awhile before they could call him back from the grave. Henry has told us that, while he’s happy to help, his 20 some years of faithful service are weighing heavily upon him, and now he just wants to rust in peace. You can help us put Henry out to pasture today by donating at our GlobalGiving page.

            Well, that about sums up my past two weeks. Our time in Chad has been encouraging as I continue to see this Eco-Charcoal project take on its full body as well as see the first production of our F.I.R.E.S.

Till next time!

-David De Armey, International Director, ENVODEV

Partner with us today and support the successful work we are doing in Chad! You can do this in a variety of ways:

1) Sponsor our growing projects by contributing at our Global Giving page.

2) Share our project by emailing or ‘liking’ our Global Giving page, following our Twitter feed (@ENVODEV), subscribing to our blog, or ‘liking’ our Facebook page. (Also, tell all your favorite friends about us!)

3) If you are savvy enough to have a personal website, why not help a friend out and embed our project widget onto your homepage? It’s extremely easy (especially for an informed individual like yourself) and is a fantastic way to raise awareness among family, friends, and colleagues!

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First production

6/7/2013

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Belaba / Chad. ENVODEV is proud to see Eco-Charcoal see the light! After many months of preparation, trips to train villages, follow-up work, communication, we finally see the first briquettes being made! The time is just right. The rainy season is approaching, and with rain comes a higher demand for cooking fuel. Thank you to all who have been supporting this project! The charcoal program has a bright future ahead, and our team in Chad is very thankful for the care and attention all of you have demonstrated these past months to make this possible. 

This is the first official production of Eco-Charcoal since we launched the charcoal program in December 2012. The bio char being used comes from Domane and Badéi. Moundou, fuel is on the way!
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My first mission to Chad

5/2/2013

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Meinhild Selbach has been volunteering for ENVODEV since May 2012. Based in Lyon, France, she assists David De Armey in administrative and accounting activities. She has helped develop a valuable system to enhance communication between France, the United States, and Chad. In February 2013, ENVODEV had the privilege sending Meinhild to Moundou to meet and train our staff. 

Meinhild shares her impression of Chad and the Eco-Charcoal project:
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Meinhild Selbach - During my visit to Chad in February 2013 I had the privilege of joining ENVODEV’s administrator Ghislain to the village of Tilo – about 20 km (13 miles) east of Moundou.

Leaving Moundou meant also leaving the asphalt road. The road out to Tilo was just sand. 

ENVODEV had been to Tilo a couple of weeks before to train them in rice-straw carbonization. Our visit was basically a check-up on how they were doing, and take bags of carbonized biomass that they had already produced back to Moundou.

After having heard about the rice-straw carbonization and having seen many pictures of it – very similar to the once I took – it was good to actually be on site and talk to people about the importance of what they are doing.

The “groupement” in Tilo that ENVODEV is working with, had been discouraged by the fact that most of the straw had been burned before they could use it for carbonization. 


I talked to one of the men about the importance of getting young people involved, and more than that, making an effort to explain rice-straw carbonization to kids. It was mostly kids that had put the straw piles on fire to chase the mice and rats that had been hiding in them. 
Chadians use an expression... : You have hands of a goat... as in, you are unable to deal with the situation that’s before you like a goat that is not able to remove a difficulty in its way...
I think the opposite is actually true.

Very early during my stay in Chad I observed that Chadians are very willing to learn and later I discovered that they are fast learners.
Let’s take the example of these four young guys. They followed everybody on the fields and sat there for a very long time just observing what the men were doing. One of them started helping and very soon his three friends followed his example. 

Chadians use an expression that would be literally translated “You have hands like a goat” which is used to say “you are unable to deal with the situation that’s before you like a goat that is not able to remove a difficulty in its way”.
I think the opposite is actually true. Chadians are able to deal with difficulties and are most of all able to learn new things.

They have to change paradigms. They need to learn to think outside of their “box”. Traditionally, rice straw is burned since it withers very slowly. That’s what everybody knows. When kids living in Tilo started playing with the straw and setting it on fire, they did not think of it as a bad thing. The youth needs to learn about carbonization and the need for it. Living in the village, they do not necessarily understand how valuable briquettes made from rice straw are to people in the nearby city of Moundou. Only when they know the value of the straw, they will understand that they have to protect it.

ENVODEV’s activities have been expanding around Moundou this year.

The day after our visit to Tilo, I joined Ghislain and ENVODEV’s Tchadian Director Dadje Aquilas to the village of Badeï. Badeï is about 16 miles west of Moudou.

Again, soon after leaving Moundou, we left the aspalt road and continued on a sand road.

The goal of ENVODEV’s visit to Badeï was to show the process of carbonization to a “groupement” of women. This time sesame straw was used.
Again I was impressed by how fast everybody was joining in to help – sometimes even before things had been explained. Ever since that visit in February, the women of Badeï have been busy carbonizing sesame straw.


The couple of hours in Badeï have been a personal highlight of my time in Chad.

- Meinhild Selbach
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The couple of hours in Badeï have been a personal highlight of my time in Chad. Photo: Meinhild receiving a gift in Badeï
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Global Giving Fundraising Bonus Day : $892 closer to our year's goal!

3/14/2013

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Rodoumbaye Ghislain, ENVODEV Chad Administrator in Badei.
In just 18 hours our Eco-Charcoal Project received a total of $892! Thank you to all of you who have not only participated yesterday, but to all those who have been supporting the project since the beginning.

The fundraising bonus day yesterday brought our total to $6,460 since the day we launched our fundraising campaign. Without nearly 70 different donors, our charcoal project could not have progressed the way it has so far.

Please take the time to visit our fundraising page here, and read our reports. You can also stay informed through our email updates. 

Thanks again on behalf of the entire ENVODEV Team!




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Energy Report - The Eco-Charcoal Project: KOSGUELBE making biochar. 

2/5/2013

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Taking energy to people. ENVODEV vehicle transporting kilns to Tilo.
Moundou - 20 January, 2013. - The Eco-Charcoal Project, well on its way, has taken our staff to Nya and to new areas outside Moundou. We could not have reached them without local insight and connections that our staff has. The local leadership taking place is a demonstration of one of ENVODEV's core values: That local managers feel ownership of the projects. 

After a preliminary demonstration in Tilo, the ENVODEV team went back to impart a full training session. Dadje Aquilas and Ghislain were helped by two members of APRO-ECO, Ramadji Zizel and Chrisine Dadje.

On January 14, a total of 17 people, all members of KOSGUELBE, learned how to transform biomass (sesame chaff and rice-straw) into char. Well organized, KOSGUELBE is now producing bags of carbonized biomass. On the 6th of February, ENVODEV will return to Tilo to evaluate how well the team is carbonizing the biomass and will pick up the first batch of char bags for briquette production back in Moundou.

Tilo is an exciting addition to the charcoal project. The villagers are motivated and grateful to be part of a project that will provide a new and much needed source of income. The district chief was present at the training, marking the importance of what this charcoal project represents to the local population. 

"For many, being in a photo is only something they have heard of..."
All photos have been sent directly from ENVODEV's office in Moundou. We know how important pictures are for everyone who is involved in this project. We keep the pictures at a relatively low resolution quality so they can be sent back to our main office in France. 

What does a photo represent?

For supporters and donors, photos are proof of progress. Pictures are some of the most powerful tools to convey a message. We hope you appreciate the ones we send you from Chad. 

For Chadians, to be in a picture is a rare and exciting opportunity. For many, being in a photo is only something they have heard of, and when the act of taking a picture is about to take place, some are afraid; fearing that perhaps the camera will cause pain in order to take the image. Once the picture is taken, and they have the opportunity to see themselves, it is a great excitement to them. They do not take a picture for granted.

On a technical level, a picture is also significant. In a city that only receives arbitrary electrical energy, it is not easy to charge the batteries of a camera. Solar energy is hardly exploited due to lack of infrastructure, and city power can only provide a total of three to four months of sporadic energy a year. Apart from the energy issue, sending a picture from Moundou to France is a technical challenge because internet access is scarce, expensive and weak. A 15-30 kbps connection is the typical speed. This means sending one picture can take several minutes, and cost modem connection several dollars. From 6 am to 8 pm, internet connection is often non-existent, meaning sending a picture has to be done at night. 

Therefore, we are thankful to share any picture that comes from Chad with you. We are also grateful to our Chadian team for the efforts they put into sending these photos and for the work they are doing.


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Field Report 03 - Adding Tilo to the Nya Project

1/24/2013

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Project Area (click to enlarge)
Since the beginning of December, the ENVODEV Chad Team has been working relentlessly at making the charcoal project happen. After a successful demonstration and preliminary training at Nya, we have been in the process of building new carbonizing kilns to transform as much rice-straw as possible. Fidel, the leader of the Nya Team, warned us that cultivators have already begun burning away rice-straw in their fields, and that we need to move quickly and do a full-training session as soon as possible. A full training session will last three to five days, and require funds we are still in the process of gathering. Global Giving has yet to begin the disbursement of funds raised during the December Challenge, during which over $5,000 USD was collected.

In the meantime, our ENVODEV Team has explored another area where rice is extensively cultivated. Dadje Aquilas and Rodoumbaye Ghislain reached a location called Tilo, just 20 km east of Moundou. This area is very productive, and a local team is already set up to receive training in Tilo. Dadje Aquilas and Djems, a Chadian volunteer, performed a first carbonization demonstration at Tilo, and have greatly motivated the new Team called "KOSGUELBE," which means Supporting a Village. Tilo will reinforce charcoal production capacity by sending carbonized rice-straw back to Moundou, where charcoal briquette production will actually take place.

By contributing to our project, you are participating in the economic development and environmental protection of Chad. Thank you for your support, and for taking interest in one of the most neglected regions of the world.

 David De Armey

International Director




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A focus on development

11/15/2012

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Where have fifty years of traditional 'development' models left Chadians today?
Where have fifty years of traditional 'development' models left Chadians today?
Development is a loaded word, one which inevitably conjures multiple meanings. We might think of child development, business development, social development, rural development, software development, or even photographic development. The term has become so nebulous that we thought we should take the time to define what ‘development’ means to us; after all it’s part of our name.

As each new partnership opportunity has presented itself over the past year, we have been compelled to return to the essence of our name - Enterprise for Vocational Development. The first two words are fairly straightforward and we read in them the same way Merriam-Webster would.

·        


-Enterprise: A project or undertaking that is especially difficult, complicated, or risky.

-Vocational: Undergoing training in a skill or trade

The last word we have had to wrestle with, particularly because we are very aware of the pitfalls of replicating the failures of traditional international ‘development’ models. The oft unstated goal of donor countries providing AID to ‘developing’ nations is to turn their citizens into consumers who will eventually buy products from them. If a country ‘develops’ the idea goes, it will have the means to purchase more cars, phones, computers, and services from more ‘developed’ countries. As we ponder both the state and effects of ‘development’ in Chad, this idea leaves us disconcerted.

The state of ‘development’ in Chad is fairly straightforward. Over 80% of its people rely on subsistence farming and livestock raising for their livelihoods. ENVODEV does NOT consider this ‘backward’ something that should be ‘developed’ into a more advanced economic base.  We are NOT interested in promoting a move away from millennial agricultural practices adapted to very specific micro-climates. The result of previous ‘development’ initiatives in the country have often had the negative effect of pushing more and more people away from their land and into cities where cramped conditions and severe energy shortages have contributed to the problems ENVODEV is now attempting to address through its programs, namely poor sanitation and deforestation.

Both our charcoal and composting projects continue to be established keeping these key ideas in mind: 

  • Positive change will only come about within the cultural framework of the Chadian people.
  • We only take on projects relevant within their particular social environments.
  • Resources are spent through apprenticeship programs
  • Trainings must be relevant to the existing economic context and address local needs.
  • Trainees own their business projects and make daily operational decisions about them.

We face many challenges in our development model. Because creating briquettes out of rice straw and encouraging people to compost their human waste  does not create the types of value that many donor agencies are looking for, nor modify existing economic structures, our work often falls outside of traditional ‘development’ funding categories. While we continue to operate on a very lean budget, those of you who have invested in this work have contributed to bringing about much needed reform in the way ‘development’ is done in Chad. While much more could be written about the last word in our name, we trust that if you continue browsing through our site it will speak of our model for itself.

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Production begins!

11/17/2011

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After successful training, Belaba prepares for dry season´s production. 
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(Yanice Akono training group of women at Belaba) - October 24

In October, a group of motivated people joined and formed a group called APRO-ECO (Association for the Protection of the Ecosystem). This association was specifically created to manage the production of rice-straw based charcoal briquettes.

Now, ENVODEV is working closely with APRO-ECO to develop a sustainable plan of action. Some of the tasks at hand include finding a strategy for collecting rice-straw around the Moundou area. The amount of communication with local rice cultivators is huge, yet indispensable. Volunteers of APRO-ECO must spend time explaining to farmers the benefits of handing the rice-straw to APRO-ECO instead of burning it in the fields. ENVODEV is encouraged to see the local community pitch in time and energy to collect the huge amount of rice-straw left in the fields.

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Thank you San Francisco!

9/26/2011

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A big thank you to all who came to Chillin´Out for Chad in San Francisco! After sharing good food and wine, we enjoyed games and a presentation of the different projects ENVODEV is starting in Chad. A lot of good questions were asked at the end.

A special thanks to Lance  for letting us use your facilities, we had a fantastic time! We had little time to get all this together, and find a place to do it. We´re very grateful for your support. It´s a great encouragement as we look to starting up charcoal fabrication sites, along with the composting project, and starting a project with the sewing shop Fleur de Lis this coming fall. Sign-up to our newsletters to follow our progress!

We raised nearly $350 USD through this event. Thank you for engaging in our efforts in Chad!

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French Ambassador with Yanice

5/27/2011

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His excellence, Mr. Michel Reveyrand-De Menthon, French ambassador to Chad, visited Moundou on the 16th of May. One of his objectives was to meet with non-governmental organizations in order to discover their projects, and listen to their concerns. He met with representatives of each NGO to analyze different ways France can cooperate to encourage economic development in the region.

Among the NGOs invited to present their projects was ENVODEV. Yanice had the opportunity to talk about the different projects we are currently working on. One point that was praised by the ambassador and the other organizations was the fact that our projects respond to environmental and sanitary issues while offering poverty relief through economic activity.

There are various NGOs working in southern Chad, but there is very little collaboration. Yanice´s meeting with the French Ambassador and organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, African Development Foundation, International Development Enterprises, and the Red Cross, was a great encouragement to us. It not only gave us a chance to have a voice with very well renowned NGOs but also build contacts that can help us in the future.

Yanice has been invited in early June to represent ENVODEV at the French Embassy in N´Djamena. This will give us an opportunity to get registered there and have access to more resources and information about Chad. We are thankful that the French Ambassador has taken interest with our organization and is seeking ways France can bring financial support to ENVODEV.


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