The design phase has finally come to an end! The loads of information gathered during our research phase in Cameroon are included in the final design of the Docking Station. It was a tough and time consuming job, but we are proud on the result.

Once we were in back in Holland in our studio at the University, we structured all the main insights and conclusions and turned them into lists of requirements for the design of a Docking Station. We were still struggling with the complexity of the project and all the dependent factors. The solution to this challenge was just starting to sketch concepts. While doing this one has to make decisions and this way the process can be continued.

From the several concepts that were made, we selected the best features from each concept. Combining all these led us to the final concept, in which simplicity and minimalism were keywords. This concept was elaborated further and further until it was ready to be prototyped. Prototyping the design took us about a week, meanwhile we were still working on the business model as well.

By now, the prototype and the business model are presented to the company and the final report is handed in. Because of the holiday period, there will be only a few proceedings during the next weeks, but we are looking forward to the feedback of both the Company and the University.

By the end of August we will post a final update on the blog. For now, we wish NDASSIE all the best with implementing the business!

Vriendelijke groeten/Kind regards

Team Solergy

It took a while, but we are back again! Against all odds we arrived safely on Dutch ground past Tuesday the 20th just 2 minutes before 9 PM. In fact, we were the last flight arriving on Schiphol Airport that Tuesday. I have never seen Schiphol that quiet before.

Since our pretty Icelandic Volcano (which name I refuse to pronounce!) messed up the flight plans we were forced to stay in Casablanca for three days. Since we spend those few days at the Atlas Airport Hotel in Casablanca, “forced” might be a bit of an overstatement. We were pampered with a Swimming pool, Hammam, all-you-can-eat Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. The make matters “worse”, the weather was great, people were nice and all costs for accommodation were paid for by the airline company. We’ve become big fans of Royal Air Maroc. Big up Yourself Mohammed VI!

We even took the time to spend a day in the city centre of Casablanca. We acted like true tourists, sightseeing all major touristic places. We strolled around a local market, visited the Hassan II Mosque and drank super sweetened Moroccan coffee near the beach. We were guided by our hotel taxi driver who acted as our personal tour guide.

The Hassan II Mosque. You can't really capture the cheer size of the thing on a photo. But believe me, it's huge!

"A cheesy pose always does the trick!"

After spending two nights at the hotel we decided to try our luck at the airport. As we arrived at the airport we decided to visit the Royal Air Maroc office to check for any flights with destination Amsterdam or Brussels. Within several minutes we returned with bad news: “No flights today. No flights to Amsterdam or Brussels. Maybe next week, on a saturday or tuesday…”

People queuing at the Royal Air Maroc Office. Hard times for the Royal Air Maroc employees.

In discontent of the news we just received we decided to perform one last effort at the Check-In counter of Royal Air Maroc. While queuing at the office we heard there might be people with better news there. So, we split up to maximize our chances of getting some results fast. Unfortunately, after standing in line for half an hour, we got the same answer: “No flights today sir. Maybe tomorrow…”

With a sense of desperation we decided to get our stuff and head back to the Airport Hotel. Better luck next time…

As we were getting our stuff ready a woman from behind the Check-In counter walked in our direction, saying: “Any passengers leaving for Brussels?” In a hurry I answered: “Not Brussels, but Amsterdam. Is that fine as well?”. Woman: “Yes, Amsterdam as well.”

In under a minute I was standing in line to get our Boarding Passes for a flight with the destination saying: Schiphol Amsterdam Airport!

However, one problem struck up to mind: “The girls!” The girls had decided to stay at the Airport Hotel to await our results. They were expecting us to get some sort of reservation at max. for a flight to Amsterdam any day soon.

As luggage trolleys behind me were trying to push their way through I phoned the girls to inform them on the fact that they had to come NOW! The woman at the Check-In counter told me that Boarding Passes might be out in a matter of minutes, so any hurry might be appropriate. Moreover, we had to take the risk of obtaining our own Boarding Passes while having to leave girls behind, since no Boarding Passes might be left.

We decided to stretch time a bit by fiddling with our luggage check-in. (Acting as if we were in search of papers and passports, while in fact, they were still in the back of my pocket.) As time run out, we were told to please check in the remaining luggage. However, the girls still didn’t arrive. We begged the woman at the counter to please wait as the girl could arrive any minute now. Luckily, within 5 minutes, the girls came running at the check-in counter and the process of luggage check-in could continue. We all received our Boarding Passes on time and, against all odds, within three hours we were on a flight back to Amsterdam.

Actually seeing the airplane made all the waiting worth it!

Looking back at that day, I’m still amazed of the fact that we were able to leave the country on time. It seems as if sometimes, luck is just on your side!

Now that we are back in Holland we appreciate all everyday luxuries you normally took for granted. Doing groceries at the Albert Heijn, Highspeed Internet and nice Dutch recipes like “Gehaktballen” and “Kroket”.

Furthermore, we are slowly but surely starting to continue our project. To be honest, we all have problems with getting back on track. It is a true challenge to work according to the quick Dutch pace again. Now that we’ve experienced Cameroon, we are starting to appreciate the easy way of living in Cameroon. And the Cameroonian weather of course!  It is 13 degrees out here, very cold!

Well, this is all for now…

For the upcoming weeks, we will continue our project by finally starting our design phase! Merely all research results are properly documented. The challenge is now to make decisions and start designing again. Thanks to our elaborate research efforts we are confident that all puzzle pieces will quickly fall together just as we had expected.

So please, keep checking our Flickr Photostream, if you are curious to see some of our first design results!

For now, de groetjes!

Casper van Huisstede

Fortunately, we knew they were Dutch so communication might be less cumbersome. And, just as we had expected, communicating in Dutch was in fact paradise. Suddenly we became aware of the fact that communication doesn’t have to take more than five words to get the message across. Free from misinterpretations and wrongful disputes, what a breeze!

Together we discussed some of the cultural differences and other strange happenings we encountered during our stay. It was really fun to share some of the amazement for things that apparently seem to be really normal for Cameroonians.

To give some examples:

• During our stay in Fotouni we already discovered that a lot of small local media exists to cover daily life in the village. Since there is such a rich variety of different media channels it is hard to stand out among the rest and have a true headline story. Result: Most front page stories are just roughly based on a true story. It often occurs that one topic appears with three completely different scenarios. Anyway, who cares!? As long as it is fun to read! -
• Business/Work ethics – During our stay at our host families we noticed that the actual number of proper sleeping time never exceed 4 to 5 hours a night. We began to wonder how people here are able to work day after day without getting exhausted. But now we know. On a typical working day an average lunch break easily lasts for 2.5 hours. Moreover, it isn’t considered weird to take a short nap with your face flat on the table, still sitting behind your desk.
• In true African fashion it is expected that all the wealth you earn will be shared with your close relatives. Consequently people are unable to collect savings. However, there are ways to save money for yourself. One common solution is the following: Just buy bricks and start building a house! You shouldn’t expect to finish it within a decade, since it stays an easy excuse not having to share your wealth with your family. People just take their time, resulting in thousands of large villas still being “under construction” for several years in a row.

To celebrate our weekend off we went out for dinner were we had our first taste of Cameroonian crocodile. Strangely enough, it reminded me of turkey or chicken.

The weather during the trip to Yaoundé was actually great. Phil finally had the chance to work on his trucker-arm.

The local market provided a beautiful view on the city.

Heavy thunderclouds covered the city in a matter of minutes.

The rain poored down like waterfalls.

We finished the night with a few beers at a local teenage bar. This was the only nice place where beers weren’t priced 5.000 CFA (= 7,5 euros) and the music was at a normal volume. We spent the night on a simple mattress on the ground. Still, it felt as if I was lying on a Hästens bed.

The morning after, we ate delicious hamburgers while we discussed our system concepts. Unfortunately there was no time left to enjoy the beautiful streets of Yaoundé so we left early by VIP bus (with AC) back to Douala.

We had a great time in Yaoundé, and having tasted some of the chillness of a weekend off we are exited to spend our last few days on the beaches of Limbé.

Expect to find some new pictures on our Flickr Photostream at the beginning of next week, when we are safe and sound back in Holland.

For now, de groetjes!

Casper van Huisstede

So here I go…

After dragging ourselves around for almost two weeks, some of the excitement we started with was beginning to drain. The first few days we were happily surprised by all the excitement and chaos Douala had to offer. But all the chaos and uncertainties were beginning to pay its toll.

Since we worked on throughout the weekends we decided to take a few days off to enjoy the country and get our minds clear from all the cluttering of the project.

Enjoying the beaches, waterfalls, jungles, heavy rains and delicious food of Kribi was one of the best decisions we made so far. The calm and fresh sea breeze was a pleasant change after inhaling the exhaust gasses of cars floating around at every street corner in Douala. In Kribi, we gave a new definition to the word “bronzing” and shook hands with tiny pigmys living in the middle of the jungle. We ate fresh grilled fish round a campfire underneath the palm trees and took a shower at the Lobe waterfalls.

Sitting underneath the trees at the beach of Kribi.

Taking a bath in the fresh waters of the Lobe waterfalls.

"No, there's nothing wrong with your TV-set"

After four days of ultimate chilling we finished our days with an evaluation of both the project and our personal competences. Luckily, no egos were harmed in the process and we could continue our journey back to the office in Douala to make a fresh new start.

However, now that we are getting used to daily life in Douala, we are starting to see some of the downsides of local culture and governance in the country.

Reality is not what you see in this country. The Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) led by Paul Biya is the current leading party in the country. For the outside world Cameroon is a democracy, but from the inside, things are rather different.

Cameroon seems to be in a stranglehold opposed by upright governmental corruption and the false promise of democracy.

During our few days of paradise in Kribi, I had a long conversation with a close friend of us about the governmental situation in Cameroon.

I asked her: “Do you believe in the strength of your vote? She answered: “Well, for 26 years now I’ve seen the same face as the face of our president. Although the majority of the people isn’t satisfied with the way the country is governed, the face of the presidency doesn’t change after an election. But I keep trying”, she added.

Coincidentally, our host family is in fact at the forefront of a critical movement in Cameroon. The chairman of this movement has become a close friend of us,which we speak to on a daily basis. Together we discussed some of the problems of his country.

He told us: “People don’t believe in changing their own destiny. The government should take care of providing labour and career opportunities. But the reality is that the government is doing all they can to maintain the established elite at the top, neglecting the majority of the people in this country.”

The good mentality of the people is limited by all sorts of regulations, laws, taxes or other forms of subtle corruption.

As a team of designers working for Ndassie we are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities to run a business and start development. But the more we speak to the people, the more were are starting to realize that life in Cameroon is thougher than it seems.

The goal for the movement is to gradually change the mindset of the people of Cameroon. Step by step getting rid of the poverty in the minds of the people, get rid of the laziness. “We should create a society that participates in the development of Cameroon. People need to believe in the opportunities of this country, instead of seeking for career opportunities elsewhere.”

Hopefully with these new insights we can help the people of Cameroon to offer a way to participate in the development of this country. People with the right mindset can have the opportunity to start as entrepreneurs owning a Ndassie docking station selling batteries and light to jump start new educational careers one step at a time. Moreover, the majority of the people we meet are genuinely exited and curious for our proposals. Consequently, this mostly results in a barrage of practical questions we cannot answer yet. Though, it strengthens us in our believes that this system might have a good chance of succeeding and that is great. Solar energy seems to be a life changer for the people in Cameroon.

Groeten,

Casper van Huisstede

PS. Just as a reminder: Please check our Flickr Photostream if you are curious to see more of Cameroon!

We left the beautiful hillsides and tropical green surroundings of Fotouni behind and replaced it with the chaotic, dirty, hot and humid climate of Douala. Still, it felt as coming home, when our host families yesterday evening welcomed us.

The last couple of days we were busy in Fotouni performing research, which basically boils down to doing interviews, observations, focus group and lots of visits to various stakeholders.

Since people in Fotouni speak French and Bamilike we were really glad to meet the English teacher Cyriel who was willing to help us during our research as an interpreter. He could arrange to get permission from the principal to get one week off from school. Although we had practiced our French since we arrived in Cameroon this wasn’t enough to gain all important information from our stakeholders.

We’ve met with the villagers, teachers and children of the high-school of Fotouni, Doctor, existing and future entrepreneurs. Days started at 7:00 am and regularly ended at 23:00. This meant we made long days, with a chronic lack of sleep and proper food we were quite exhausted at the end of our Research phase.

All stakeholders mentioned above were fairly easy to find and categorize. However, we soon found out we hardly knew all different formal stakeholders within the region.

It seemed we had to deal with a mayor, a chief and a king. Strangely enough, the last two happened to be one and the same person in the end. Let us not forget, the notables and nobles in the region. It was all too confusing, but near the end it all became clear.

The population of Fotouni is extremely poor. Most of the inhabitants of Fotouni work and live from the agriculture. Some people work to feed themselves and some people do also sell. In the cultivating period, people use the minimum income they generate to buy kerosene for their lamps or to pay their electricity bills. In harvesting time they have some more money to spend.

There runs a power grid through the village of Fotouni, but since it is expensive to connect to the grid many households do not have proper access to electricity. Instead they make use of kerosene lights, firewood and poorly designed Chinese lanterns. During the dry season it often happens that the whole village is disconnected from the power supply. A power cut can easily last for five days, since the main source of energy is a hydropower plant owned by the electricity company AESonel.

During our stay in Fotouni it became more than obvious that there is a real need for a safe and good lighting solution combined with a reliable source of energy. Local villagers are extremely thankful and curious on what we might be offering them. They believe we have come to bring the light in their life. You might even consider this last sentence as a philosophical one. Seeing the dedication of the local community in assisting us with our research strengthens our determination to come up with something good when this is all over.

Groetjes,

Marianne Stigter and Casper van Huisstede

We arrived in Douala at 1.35 a.m with still a temperature of 38 degrees.

The travel went fine. Flight schedules are fortunately according to a tight time schedule. (In contrast to normal daily life in Cameroon) Once the plane opened up we were welcomed by the warm and humid smell of Cameroon. You really feel the humidity sticking on your skin. An appropriate Dutch word came to mind: “Klam”

During our daily activities we are hopping from on place to the other, embracing every new impression with full attention. The main means of transportation is a taxi. (pronounced: “tassi”) I never knew you could stuff 7 people in one car and still be able to breathe!

The office is what we might call “home base”. We even have a desk, internet, A/C and a private toilet. From here, we arrange our meetings and work on our plans for doing research within the village of Fotouni. Today, at the meeting with the mayor we agreed on traveling and presenting the plan on a sunday community festival.

After a hard day of work the team separates to spend the night at different places.Guy Parfait Songue from the  ”Change and Move Foundation” has been so kind to arrange a dinner for the entire team. Together with his family we ate at his family home. They served grilled fish, beef and potatoes. Very nice indeed!

Today we were wondering around in the city market centre. We arranged some essentials, like SIM cards, water, bread and of cookies of course. Now all communications are up and running we are motivated to work even harder. Luckily Jean-Seraphin is at least as motivated as we are. Already many thanks to him for joining our discussions and thinking along to improve our plans.

Curious to see more of Cameroon and our direct surroundings? Please, check our Photostream on Flickr!

A tout á l’heure!

Casper van Huisstede

We’ve just agreed on setting up a blog to keep track on our progress for the Integral Design Project (IDP) which will start in february.

Let me introduce the team to you (from left to right):

• Phil van den Eerenbeemt
• Katrina Heijne
• Geert Koemans
• Marianne Stigter
• Casper van Huisstede

The five of us in close collaboration with the Ndassie Company will be working on designing a sustainable lighting solution for the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) in the rural area of Cameroon, Africa.

In no time there will be more information in detail on the project, all parties involved and our plans for making this project in to a success. Once the project will officially start, this will be the place to read our stories and adventures in Fotouni and Douala.

For now, we all wish you a great ‘10 and hope to see you back at our blog some other time!

Groetjes!

Casper van Huisstede