Technology!

I am getting excited for the time when I will have my school / shop to work from.  I have some fun technology projects planned.

Safe Water International Ministries -
I will go ahead and give these guys a plug...they have an amazing product.

http://www.swimforhim.info/

When Frantz and I were up in La Branle, he delivered some granulated chlorine that he was carrying in his backpack, I thought...there has to be a better way.  From my experience as a swimming pool operator, I was aware of saltwater pools and how they create chlorine.  A relatively simple process, Salt (NaCl) and water (H2O) is passed over a pair of electrodes and some electricity and some of the Chlorine is made available for sanitization from the salt.

I started googling chlorine generators and how to make them and I ran across this group.  They have developed a great product, made some relationships with parts suppliers and they have made the kit available for people in my line of work for just $50.  It is awesome - the reactor vessel is injection molded, the electrodes are securely installed, wiring harness is durable and it even comes with a chlorine test kit...all in a handy plastic tool box.

Making water safe to drink has never been easier!  This device can clamp on to someone's motorcycle battery and in ten minutes, you can make enough chlorine to treat hundreds of gallons of water and sanitize buckets and hands as well!  I have one kit down here and three more are at my sister's house waiting for the next group from the Omaha area to come on down!

Solar Panel Construction -
Grace is coming back this week!  I have had the pleasure of taking care of her Rottweiler - Tug.  When I took the dog sitting assignment, she asked me to name something special that she could bring back from the states as payment for being a dogsitter.  I just asked for luggage space!  I ordered some solar panel kits from E-bay.  I hope she has the room!!

Back in January, I took a three day class here in Gonaives about solar panel construction.  It was taught by a Haitian and the turnout was amazing - especially amazing because it was $50 US for the class and you did not get to take anything home with you.  There were around 50 students attending the three day class.  Definitely a subject that is interesting to a lot of young people.

I plan on teaching a similar class as soon as I get my parts.  The kit on E-bay contains everything that is not available here...the solar cells, tabbing and bus wires and the blocking diodes.  Everything else - the frame, glass, wiring - can be found here somewhere.  I am talking with some electrical engineers and some friends that have electronics as a hobby to design some simple and useful products that we can build in our classes.  Charge controllers, voltage regulators, lighting systems...whatever.

I even got in contact with a guy down here that does importing for an alternative energy product manufacturer.  The company makes kits for lighting and charging small devices...when they have to do warranty work, the company sends a new unit...the guy I talked to has a warehouse full of repairable solar components and he told me he wants to find an electronics trade school here in Haiti to give them to.  I told him..."WAIT FOR ME!!!! I AM ALMOST THERE!!!"

Learn by doing -
I am getting my room "Off the Grid."  My good buddy Chris Glissman gave me some small solar panels quite a while ago.  I have set up a small system to learn about the process as I am using it.  Currently I have two 18 volt 20 watt panels connected in series on the roof, running down to a charge controller in my room then to a 12 volt battery.  I have a small inverter on the battery to charge my laptop or  to run something small.  I have to buy bigger batteries if I want to run a fan or anything bigger...but it is a good learning process.

School -
Pursuit of Happiness English Institute is just weeks away from finishing our third session of classes.  We will start a new session on July 15...that means a little break for me before I get my hours extended a little.  I am going to take on one more class every afternoon.  I am very pleased with the progress of our students that started with us in January of 2012.  They have had many conversations with visiting teams and have left a lasting impression on those that they have met from the US.  With our new session, all of the current students who pass the exam will move up to the next set of classes and we will be starting around 60 new students as well.

Garden -
I have not had to purchase water for a couple of months.  We have been getting rain frequently enough and I have added some storage capacity to my collection system.  I have been experimenting with trying to grow things from cuttings...seems to work pretty well with most plants down here.  You really can't beat this climate for growing, especially this time of year with frequent rains.  I have several Hibiscus that have started from cuttings and I am excited to get them into larger pots.  My coconut palms are all doing well, and even my Sago palms are still alive.  I though I lost one of them but it sprouted a new set of leaves last week and they look pretty healthy.

I am anxious to find a place of my own to limit the damage to my garden from our "Community Living" arrangement.  I would love to set up an irrigation system and have a special area for propagation of new plants.  I am sure it will all happen soon enough.

Support -
I would like to thank all of you that currently support my work down here.  Chris and I do not draw a salary from our school yet and the only way I can do this right now is with your help.  I have a long term goal of not needing any outside funding for the day to day operations of our English school, my trade school and other projects that we work on down here.  I plan to accomplish this by creating businesses through my school to continue the apprenticeship method of teaching.  I would also like to offer partnership with my students in business to help them get started.

If you would like to help support my work down here, you can make an automatic monthly contribution using the link at the top of this page.  If you would like to make a one time contribution, you can do that through my church (Journey Church in Gretna) in person or by following this link to the donation page and selecting Scott Peters - Haiti in the drop down box.  The money goes through my church and therefore is a tax deductible donation.

Have a happy Fathers Day!