The check is in the mail...

After two weeks of waiting, and waiting... we have received our first check! This is our first down payment for our order for 200 filters. We’re hoping to use this down payment to buy raw materials and start production prior to our departure. We are experiencing some snags with bureaucracy and all that it takes to start a business. In order to open a business bank account we need a mysterious PIN number from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Nevertheless, since we registered a mere 11 days ago our business is not in the KRA database which takes 2 weeks to populate newly registered businesses. We’re trying to contact some people in Nairobi to see if we can get our business populated in the KRA database earlier. We’ll see. Ahhh, the beauty of working in a foreign system. As Becky so eloquently stated today, “Toto, We’re not in Kansas anymore."

Photo taken June 19, 2009 at Yasha Mission School, Njoro, Kenya (May seem like a random post with the above blog entry, but these kids are so cute. I thought we would show some of the local kids.)

Moving Forward and Introducing RWI-Maji Salama- Its Official!

Our team has hit a fork in the road on this journey. Aseel and Sanghamitra will be leaving Kenya on Monday to head back to their home countries (Iraq and India respectively) for a bit before starting the fall semester this August. Meanwhile Becky and Tanisha will remain in-country for about two more weeks. As we prepare to bid our teammates goodbye we are also reflecting on how fruitful this trip has been. We started this journey and calling this a “Feasibility Study” and quickly came to the conclusion on week two that this was “very possible.” Since then we have been trying figure out what is the most appropriate strategy for our team.

Isaac our local Kenyan representative has helped us in registering the entity RWI-Maji Salama. “Maji Salama” means, “Safe Water” in Swahili. We are official, and are awaiting our first down payment for a big order of 200 BSFs. Once we receive the down payment we are hoping to start production!


"Give me a R- Give me a W- Give me an I... what's that spell??? RWI!!!"

The highlights of our time in Kenya:
 Going on Safari in Masai Mara and seeing tons of wildlife!
 Visiting urban slums in Nairobi, and understanding the sanitation and water situation there.
 Visiting communities in the Njoro Watershed and understanding how the BSF has impacted households already.
 Installing three BSFs in a local secondary school and going back to see the progress and implementation of the BSFs.
 Visiting local microfinance institutions and even having the possibility to partner with one!
 Establishing a partnership with the Nakuru Youth Polytechnic Institute for production and manufacturing.
 Experiencing frustration and trying to understand how things get done in Kenya especially registering a business entity.

These are just a few of our highlights… and there has been much more!
We wish our dear teammates a safe journey and a restful time with their families.

Partnership Established with Nakuru Youth Polytechnic Institute

Well, we all managed to survive past June 30th, and are proud to announce that we have established a partnership with the Nakuru Youth Polytechnic Institute. The institute trains local teens in various vocations such as carpentry, masonry, welding, hairdressing, automotive mechanics, dressmaking etc. We will be able to manufacture the Biosand filters (BSF) in their facility while using the student man-power to manufacture the BSFs. An equitable agreement has been struck for both parties and we are excited to see the possibilities for our partnership. June 30th was a big day for us we feel like we have accomplished something big. Now we have to implement and make sure everything is in line prior to our departure in late July.

In addition we are also happy to introduce you all to Isaac the local Kenyan Representative for Running Water International. Isaac has been a part of our team since we interviewed him during our trip over spring break in March, and he will be working with our local Kenyan partners and making sure the project runs smoothly on the ground for the next 7 months here in Nakuru. The RWI team has identified the next 7 months as a trial period as we prepare to manufacture the BSFs with the Nakuru Polytechnic to fulfill an order of 200 BSFs. Also we would like to mention that we are in the process of registering our business in Kenya and should be official soon.




*The pictures featured were taken June 30th, the day the MOU was signed and an agreement was made with Nakuru Youth Polytechnic. The picture of Isaac is from the same day when we were invited to a "baraza" (village meeting) in a community called Lare.

A New Method for Promotion. (Hire these guys!)

So we were out and about in Nakuru town running errands. We ran into these guys promoting a new restaurant opening in town. We were impressed with this method of guerrilla marketing!









We have been busy and will update more after tomorrow which is our big deadline. We're hoping all things go as planned... and will let you know how things turn out. In short we have an interested partner and may have a solid partnership by the end of this week. Details to come.

Pushing the Possibilities

We have been visited by our project partner from the US who has been our main contact for SUMAWA. She has come to make sure that the transition from the research project into an enterprise goes smoothly. We have been learning in real life how development funding must be spent and how to allocate funds and assets when a USAID funded project is ending. We are nearing June 30th the date in which the SUMAWA project’s funding will end as well as the work established from many years of research in the region will be handed over. Handed over to whom you may ask? Well these are the same questions we are asking ourselves. We are working on acquiring some of the assets.

Another project in Eldoret (in western Kenya) conducting research on nutrition and its impact on the health of individuals infected with HIV has put in an order for 200 filters, and will need an invoice from RWI or the entity that we establish by June 30th. They need to have evidence that they have allocated and “used” the funds by June 30th -- because they are funded by the same source as the SUMAWA project (which is ending). This is part of the learnings mentioned above, and has put a fire under our butts!

This situation has pushed our team to evaluate the viability of this enterprise and measure our commitment to this project. This has also pushed us to look into the registration process in order to establish legal entity. Additionally we are working hard to identify local private partners who can help us build manufacturing capacity for such a big order. We have visited two potential partners today and will continue to look for more as we progress.

The picture posted is from the day we visited the Teret Secondary School to install 3 filters. The students treated us like celebrities and we now know what it feels like to be chased by a mob of excited teenagers. Its hard to believe that was just last week so much has happened!