caif 2024

Week 6 was June 24-June 28.

A group of very tired CAIF fellows returned to work on Monday morning to start analyzing the data we collected through our time with the community. Over the next few days, we worked to discretize the information we collected through our more formal home visits and more informal homestay experiences. Based on the results, the solar team chose to narrow our focus to the area of solar irrigation.

Our next step was to generate 5 potential ideas as a team within our focus area that we might work on. Our two directions during the brainstorming phase were looking at how we could improve existing systems, and how we could create a portable system.

On Thursday and Friday we had some workshops on prototyping and reviewing some selection criteria for our ideas. Through an analytical process keeping in mind feedback on our initial ideas from our peers, mentor, and EWB, we selected a discrete design idea to present on Friday. In my next post, I’ll discuss a little more about our idea as we move into the prototyping phase.

On Friday night, we had a big dinner with many of the Ugandan fellows! For full disclosure, I did very little to help with this but greatly enjoyed attending.

On Saturday morning, Elena, Ishan, Vitoria, and I left for a day of hiking at crater lakes near Rubirizi. This was our first time taking the local minibusses (commonly called “taxis”). We had the misfortune of being the first passengers to get in, which meant we had to wait quite a long time as the taxis only leave when they are full. The good news was that there are lots of vendors walking around selling hot samosas and chapatis so we did not get hungry while we waited.

We had a lovely day looking at some beautiful crater lakes and hiking around the area.

On our way back to catch a taxi later in the day, we found an inn where we stopped to use the washroom. The place was so cool looking (and relatively inexpensive) that Vitoria, Elena, and I decided to spontaneously spend the night. The inn had a beautiful view overlooking one of the lakes and had a cave you could go into on the property. Our room had large beds and a hot shower with a view of the lake.

In the evening, we enjoyed exploring the property and got to see some monkeys in the trees.

Due to the impromptu nature of our overnight stay, none of us completely had what we needed. However, we each brought a small collection of survival-esque items so by pooling our resources, we all had what we needed.

The night away was a really nice reset and I enjoyed the time away from the city. I felt very relaxed and well-rested coming into Monday.