Mozambique Excursion Oct-Nov 2008

On October 19, 2008 a team of four of us leave for Mozambique, which is on the southeast coast of the continent of Africa. My two youngest daughters Jen and Sarah are accompanying me along with my friend Marcus. Jen and Sarah will be working in an orphanage in Pemba while Marcus and I will be networking and setting the groundwork for the first of many windmills we expect to install on future visits. These windmills will generate electricity primarily for pumping water in large villages which have no connection to the power grid. We also hope to provide villagers with light, replacing candles, kerosene or gas lanterns, and battery flashlights with solar lighting.

If you are interested in seeing the area where we will be working check out Pemba and Ibo Island, Mozambique on Google Earth. When you find Pemba (it's right on the coast), navigate to the northern edge of the city. Follow along the north shore until you see a large blue and white tent. This tent is part of the compound that we will be calling home during our visit there.

*********************** NEWS FLASH!! *************************
I just got word that a new well driller has been commissioned by Iris in the area we are visiting. This is great news because it means that our project will have wells in place to pump water from!

You can go here for more pictures of the drill rig.
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We are currently paying for our travel and accommodations for this trip out of own pockets.

Some other things we could really use some help with :

1. Cash donations. We would like to have at least $2000 cash in hand to present to our hosts in Mozambique to be used 100% to provide for the needs of the native people. (Any amount gratefully accepted!). We currently have had corporate donations totalling $700. and many individuals contributing a total of over $800.

2. Hinges. The staff at Iris want to provide all of the kids in the orphanage with wooden boxes to put their personal stuff in. They are looking for 420 - 3" plated steel hinges for the lids. We can take some of these with us but they are bulky and heavy. Please search through your basement inventories to see what you can come up with.

3. Screws. They call them casket screws down there but I think what they are looking for (to hold the boxes together) is a 1 1/2" #8 screw. They need 1000. We can take these with us.

4. BOGO lights. We hope to take eight of these with us (two apiece) followed up with another eight shipped directly to Iris from the US. Each light is $30 with a second one being donated by the BOGO people, so the 16 lights will cost about $300. landed in Mozambique.

Please leave a comment on this blog, email me at gregj@greenskyenergy.ca, or call me at 650-2027 if you can help with any of the above items.

My sincere thanks to those who have already contributed!

Greg