Enter: 2009

Well, it's certainly be quite some time since I've posted last. New Years Resolution: weekly/biweekly (= Wahoo!

Alright.. so a LOT of good things happened in EWB in *08, and *09 is already looking to beat *08. So here we go...

Things are going well in Nyambogo so far. Tom is doing a great job double dipping with both EWB and SBC. Last heard, Tom was meeting with Mike Morarity, a senior design student. He (Mike) had planned on going to (I think) Nyambogo for a quarter, but it will most likely just be spring break week. This would be a huge help to Tom and the whole Nyambogo crew here at UC.

Now onto the Burrere project in Tanzania. Before break, Phil was going to check and make sure important paper work was submitted during Christmas break. In terms of the issues we must deal with in Burrere, the walls of the school are in bad condition, the roof is also not sufficient, as it is too hot and it also leaks, and due to erosion, the foundation is not adequate.

In addition, Ely is also in charge of the *Lights out* effort on campus. Here's the 4-1-1 on that: every Friday, a group of EWBers goes around campus in the late afternoon-ishh and turns off lights. It may seem pretty..basic... but think about it: how many lights are left on in empty classrooms for the weekend or even longer? A LOT. And there's zippo point in having the lights on.. no one will even be in those spaces, and most importantly, it just wastes energy. So, before break, Ely talked to the PACE people on campus and then the facilities people, and she had to really push the sustainability issue, but the right people were interested. When lights out takes place, the EWBers are supposed to record the amount of lights in each room in an excel sheet, and the people who we submit this to (I'm not exactly sure who that is...) will know how much wattage it is. Then, they will calculate the cost of what they saved. EWB wants a portion of that savings to go to light sensors in each room so that lights are only on when the room is occupied.

2009 is off to a great start for EWB so far. More soon (=