
Fuel for Thought: problem with briquettes
“We’d like to know what the problem was with the briquettes.” It’s Monday morning and Emily and I are talking with a group of women with the help of Naomi as translator.
We are four students from Dartmouth College working in Tanzania to promote capacity building of cheap and sustainable cooking fuel. We are a part of the student-lead group Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering (DHE) which focus on providing ecologically and socially viable energy sources through the creation of fuel briquettes in the Arusha region of Tanzania. Follow Rachel Margolese on Twitter @HumanitarianEng
“We’d like to know what the problem was with the briquettes.” It’s Monday morning and Emily and I are talking with a group of women with the help of Naomi as translator.
Communicating with Tanzanians who speak limited English is a tricky balance between talking down to people and expecting too much of an understanding of English.
How many people can you fit in a dala-dala? Answer: One more. Plus a chicken. Dala-dala is the main mode of public transportation in Tanzania.
Mambo from Tanzania! We’ve been living and working in northern Tanzania for a little over a month now, building a kiln, getting quite muddy, experimenting with traditional Tanzanian cooking, and filling ourselves with Swahili...
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