Rafting the Nile & Bring Solar To The Villages!

So much to catch up on! Turns out that internet is harder to come by than we though :)

Last weekend we went to Jinja to do some "touristy" activities. I (Ryan) got pretty sick on Saturday and could hardly stand up. We managed to get me on a boda and to the international clinic for a Malaria test (which came back negative). We were told the test would cost a dollar or two but when we went to pay we think we got the "Muzungo" price. We were told 15,000 ush. ($7.50) and when we started to pay she said, "15,000 for the test and 30,000 for the consultation" the "consultation" that I received was 30 seconds with the doctor who mumbled, "No sign of malaria or parasites" in an almost undecipherable accent. so we paid $25 bucks for it, but sometimes there's nothing you can do.

On monday I was feeling much better and was able to white-water raft the nile. Phenomenal! There are 5 grade V rapids including a 16 foot waterfall. We flipped 3 times and I was sucked a quarter mile down river--underwater--on the largest rapid named "Big Brother." It was so much fun, and is considered to be the best rafting in the world by many. Even more, they are putting a dam across the nile and so the world-class section of river that I ran will only be raftable for another couple of weeks and then it will be gone forever. Kinda sad really, but I understand that a lot of people need electricity, so the dam is all bad either.

We came back to Kampala for a few days during the week and set up some appointments with contacts that we had. One of which was a man that I sat next to on the bus to Jinja. He started his own solar company and developed a technology to drastically lower the cost of an "solar system" (not the one with planets) so that it is reasonable affordable for people in smaller towns and villages. We talked on the bus like old friends for 2 hours on the way to Jinja and then swapped emails before we parted ways. Yesterday Crystal and I were able to meet him in downtown kampala for some passion fruit juice and talk about solar, and different business models and ideas. It was such a great two hours as we talked about how to get affordable, and clean energy to the 15-20 million people in Uganda that have no power at all. He can set up a basic solar system that powers three lights, a cell phone charger and an FM radio for $150. This is a perfect product for the villages and is desperately needed. Electric light at night would allow adults to work into the evening extending the work day and productivity and would allow school aged children light to do their homework by. You can imagine the transformative effects that power would have on the development of Uganda. Also, nearly everyone in the villages have cell phones, but no way to charge them. Instead they spend hours sitting at "charging stations" and paying for electricty to charge their phones so they can stay in contact with loved ones. Solar truly has an ability to transform a lot of people lives--and to be able to do it for $150...Incredible! I got to apply my finance background and go through some financing models of how he might be able to extend credit to his customers or structure his working capital to grow his business.

I loved this conversation and I came away so inspired about how business can transform peoples lives.

We're still in Kampala this week, we're hoping to connect to a few more contacts before heading back to Gulu at the end of the week.