I am hoping to visit as many solar companies in kenya as time allows:
The first i visited today is Telesales Solar - The power people.
The sales person was very knowledgable and helpful with answering my questions.
? How much would it cost to install a solar energy system for a 4 bedroom house with a color tv and a light in each room?
2 solar panels - 125Watts each: 1 Panel costs Ksh 47,500
1 Solar Battery 200AH Ksh 16,000
Charge Controller Ksh 8650.
650 Watt DC - AC Inverter : Here you have a choice of either a pure sine wave Ksh 27,500 and Modified Sine Wave Ksh 12,000. The factor to consider is that with the pure sine wave, your tv will be clear, and with the modified sine wave, the picture wont be as clear.
10 metres of cable for wiring will cost about Ksh 1200.
11 watt phillips bulbs will probably run about Ksh 350 each.
The mounting frame, bolts and nuts will be about Ksh 1600
The total comes upto about Ksh, 103,955
Installation can be done at a cost of Ksh 8000
Total cost could be approximately $1600 for a 4 bedroom house.
To contact telesales solar, their email is telesales@wananchi.com
Fax +254-20-227735/3745655
**Have a great holiday everyone, it might be a min before i blog again.
Nairobi -
Impressions: (Pardon the quick summary)
When we landed, the air was clear and earthy. Is it just me or has the walkway before getting to the passport check in area was renovated? (the last time i was here was in 2003). Well, it looked better than i remembered. A beautiful framed picture of a maasai woman caught my eye in the midst of the advertisements lining the walkway. Baggage claim - there is clear glass now where you actually see the bags being loaded onto the carousel, this discourages theft ofcourse, several years ago, it was commonplace to find your luggage rummaged through, sans some items. A security guard smiled, i smiled back, he said “Karibu Nyumbani” (welcome home), “Asante” (Thank you) i replied. On our drive out of the airport, i saw the “Adopt a light” initiative. Most kenyans i have talked to really like it. What i found even more interesting is the way several successive (5 or so) lights bore the same advertisement. So you would notice the ad, read it the first time and after afew yards or so you would see an identical light with the same (or slightly different-text-stylistically similar though). I think it is a very effective advertising strategy. I noticed the ad, and it was repeated in such a way that even after awhile, the ad is almost imprinted on your brain. How else could you explain that i can still tell you that one of the ads on the way out of the Airport is of a Samsung phone model D500? **Disclaimer - maybe i was just too aware at the time…but still…I think its a brilliant marketing strategy, perhaps even more effective than just one big billboard.
Random stuff
1. The city is cleaner than i remember. Go Kenya!!
2. Moratorium on dust: Was it mental who was promising those who vote for him broadband? The next president who gets my vote should tackle the issue of dust [and vehicle emissions while he/she is at it](Perhaps laughable, but i think it can be done!)
3. Zoning laws - i have just one word, things are abit haphazard. Oh another laughable thing? Urban planning?
4. The sale of 175 animals to Thailand by the govt is uhmm how do i say this….Elephant shit. shouldnt happen, plain and simple.
My opinion on the celibacy laws the catholic church imposes on its priests: they have created a monster. I think that if priests were allowed to marry, the sexual abuse problem that now plagues the church would not be so huge. Growing up Catholic, I knew for a fact that a lot of “fathers” in Kenya had girlfriends, wives, children, etc. Here is an interesting story on a married priest…the church never really excommunicated him.link to story.
Wow! I can’t believe Christmas is already upon us. It has been a very cheery and festive (and expensive) atmosphere where I work (in retail). Millions upon millions of dollars are being spent on gifts for loved ones and not-so-loved ones alike. My perspective of the whole thing gets a little skewed and sceptical when come January, a lot (and I mean a whole lot) of the gifts are returned “for cash”. Very, very annoying. Yes, people cash in big time on their holiday gifts, a habit I find really despicable. Since my company is well known for their liberal return policy, people will come in with all sorts of scams, like merchandise from Walgreens in our gift box. “I received that as a gift, my mother said she got it from here”; they adamantly insist.Well, enough ranting about annoying people.
Bottom line, it’s still my fave time of the year, and I hope everyone has themselves a ball!! I will.
This is a really cool concept that could eventually turn things around in rural communities in Africa. By eliminating the red tape that banks and financial institutions bring with them, this really simplifies the implimentation of grassroot projects that could help a lot of deserving rural folks. IMHO, development projects in rural areas in Africa are the way to go in order to enable people to rise out of the throes of poverty; particularly women and children. I would love to see this happen on a large scale in Kenya…I think Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt movement is helping Kenya’s rural communities in a similar manner. This idea not only makes it easy for the poor people in Africa, but it’s also really easy for us (in the USA, UK, and elsewhere) to give. By giving a minimal amount, a guy in rural Kenya can buy a tractor, open a small shop, etc. Very cool. Here is the link to the Kiva site…link to site
The first real snow fell here today. And it’s my day off work! It’s so cool to just veg out at home and watch the snow from the warmth of the house. After all these years in the mid-west, I am still scared of driving when it snows. So I am apprehensive about my drive to work tomorrow. I guess you can take the girl out of the tropics, but not the tropical love of warm weather out of the girl?
I am an avid watcher of reality TV. I loved survivor the first couple of seasons, and thoroughly got hooked on amazing race. Such a cool show (until the family version showed up). I even occasionally watch real world and the inferno/gauntlet mess on MTV (ouch!…hurts to admit that). Anyhow, my fave is Heidi Klum’s “project runway” on Bravo. The season premier was tonight, and it delivered. All kinds of insanely creative people (and I do mean the “insane” part) showcase their designing talents under intense time constraints and other pressures. Three people were eliminated in tonight’s 2-hour premier. JJR (aka my husband) likes to tease me, telling me that I enjoy the elimination part of the show the most. In my defense (though I will confess that I do love the said part of the show), the drama and the suspense is so palpable at this point, you can’t help getting sucked in…I love being one of the judges, sitting on my couch, deciding who should go…
Anyway, this show airs on Wednesdays, 10pm, (9 central). I recommend it. Highly.
OK…so this is a bit of an old (outdated) story, but what the heck…now I have access to a blog I’m telling it. On Thanksgiving day, my sisters and I, in true family spirit, decided to call our mother in Kenya. When she picked up, the conversation went something like this:
Me: Hi mom, how are you doing?
Mom: Hello! Hello! Shiru (that’s my “home” name) is that you?
Me: Yes mom. What’s going on with you?
Mom:(very excitedly) We decided to go with “macungwa” (oranges). We rejected bananas.
Me: (thoroughly confused, and wondering if people in Kenya had suddenly developed an interesting affinity for oranges) what? what are you talking about?
Mom: The referendum…we voted for oranges…against Kibaki and his bananas.
I must confess I had lagged behind sana on Kenya politics until my 57 year-old mother brought up the oranges/bananas issue in her uniquely hilarious style. I used to keep track of the goings-on, but I get sidetracked and miss big chunks of interesting happenings in Kenya. Now I’m all caught up. So I read that Kibaki now has a new cabinet. What’s different (besides dropping the king of corruption Murungaru)? Old names like Njeru Ndwiga’s still made the cut. I do not necessarily see any kind of reform here…or was there meant to be any?
Shukrani Afro-M for allowing me the honor of writing on this amazing blog. I will try my darndest not to let you down!!
Thanks - Irene.
The band is composed of 6 men in sierra leone, forced out of their homes because of the civil war there.
Feature on Weekend Edition NPR: Listen here to the interview of Zach Niles the producer of a documentary that followed the refugee all stars as they performed. There are also 3 clips of songs, “Living Like a refugee”, “Soda Soap” and “Mental Slavery”.
Reuben Koroma said that their music is like medicine to those with troubles. The few snippets of music i heard on the program and online are very touching.
Zach Niles mentioned that when reporting or speaking about war, not much attention is paid to the effects of war on people’s pysche. He pointed to the fact that music - the universal language is a very important form of dealing with the ravages of war.
For documentary details please click here
For CD by Refugee All Stars, click here While you are at CD baby, if you do not have a copy of Eric Wainana’s CD, its also available. [Eric Wainaina is one of the pre-eminent musicians in Kenya, to me his music is synonymous with the art of kenyan democracy].
