AUTHOR: Nancy TITLE: Last Day in Senegal DATE: 2/16/2009 08:29:00 AM ----- BODY:
Hi all. Just a few notes to let you know I'm ready to push on to South Africa. I contacted the USAID folks who referred me to the World Bank people, but it seems every stove group is between projects and unable to meet, so we'll be back to the world of e-mail.

Yesterday we spent on Entebbe island learning more about the slave trade. We met an interesting teacher who is here on a Fulbright scholarship and another woman who was visiting from Montana. Much as we would have loved to have joined them for a musical evening picnic on the beach with their Gambian friend we decided to decline as we have to be at the airport at 4am tomorrow.

This morning was spent at a lovely gallery in downtown Dakar followed by a long walk along the corniche. There is a row of lovely hotels and restaurants along the beach, but the prices are astronomical. I doubt there is a hotel room under $300/night. The visitors are mostly from France and are used to European prices.

Leslie is now off negotiating with shipping companies while I type away. We'll have our last meal of a brochette of fish seasoned with lots of black papper and then we will be off to Nylstroom early in the morning.

Nancy

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Crispin in Waterloo DATE:Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:51:00 AM Dear Friends

Bon dia!

I am cautioning that although a concrete stove has certain advantages, there is a big jump from metal to cured cement products.

Something you may consider is one of the two version of the Maputo Ceramic Stove (MCS) executed in metal. There is a version available in Lusaka and we are working on a new 'take' on the very good MCS design principles. This will be done at the SeTAR Centre at the Univ of Johannesburg. The industrial design students at FADA (UJ) are also working on two novel charocal stoves in Manica with guidance and testing from SeTAR.

You can contact Cecil Cook
cst1863@gmail.com or me at crispin@newdawn.sz

We are preparing an analysis of why the past 20 years of efforts to introduce improved stoves to Lusaka have yielded nothing. We will offer a couple of versions of the metal MCS (the MMS for short, Maputo Metal Stove). Getting 500 metal stove producers to go to cement will not be easy as they make 80% of their income from other metal products.

I hope we can be helpful. If you pass through JHB on the way back you can drop in to see the SeTAR Centre (modest so far) at the FADA building, UJ, Auckland Park. The prototyping workshop is getting assembled.

Best regards
Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
SeTAR Centre ----- --------