PAMOJA, EnviroCare and KIDT

Yesterday (Wednesday), we visited three different organizations in and around Moshi. They were PAMOJA, EnviroCare and KIDT.

PAMOJA - - Pamoja means together in Kiswahili, and working together is the goal of this NGO. We heard about how PAMOJA works to bring people from the government, the private sector and civil society together so that they can interact more constructively. PAMOJA has projects in three different sectors: education, health care and natural resource conservation (primarily water). Their role is to promote good governance and joint action in these fields.

EnviroCare - - At their local office, we learned about a variety of EnviroCare projects. Their projects include organic farming, planting trees and building fuel-efficient stoves in the Kilimanjaro region. We saw a group of people separating hibiscus flowers (presumably from one of their farms), which they then dry and use to make a nutritious juice. They have a simple solar dryer for this purpose.

KIDT - - Our visit to the Kilimanjaro Industrial Development Trust was a personal favorite of mine. They showed us their biogas digester and stove demonstration project, which includes a digester surrounded by a brick casing and roof. The overall design was similar to ours, although more durable and therefore also more costly. We also saw the factory where they make bricks in order to build houses and fuel-efficient stoves. As a mechanical engineering student, I enjoyed seeing how the clay/mud is crushed, mixed, molded, dried and fired. It was very hot among the kilns! Finally, they showed us the adjacent factory where they produce briquettes from sawdust to use as fuel. Many of the briquettes fuel the ovens for making bricks. We saw how the rough sawdust is sifted, dried, heated and compressed in order to make long, hexagonal briquettes.

For now,
Adam