By Catherine Craig, Mamy Ratsimbazafy | President CPALI
In our last report on the training center we told you about our chicken and egg conundrums . . . lack of electricity and lack of bamboo - unfortunately the electricity problem has not gone away although the bamboo problem may be solved.
The sustainable source of bamboo we had hoped to use to build the training center is not available. To supply it, we would need to build a bamboo processing plant in Maroantsetra. Alternatively, if we harvested the bamboo locally (and sustainably) we could ship it to the capital to be treated. But then the bamboo has to be shipped it back to the site. That is not feasible due to our isolated location. Nevertheless, the ever patient Boston Architects for Humanity have answered our clarion call and is designing a modified center to be made from bamboo - they never stop assisting us - thank goodness.
A second problem and one that is also related to location, is a lack of electricity. The demonstration site the team has devoted so much time to developing for faming does not yet have access to the town's electrical cable. Will we now need to find a new site that is on the electric line? (Likely to be out of our price range), lay a new cable? (Definitely out of our price range) or design a combination of wind, solar and generator power? If we simply buy a generator then we will be greatly increasing our program costs over the long term and will become slaves to fuel shortages and fluctuating prices. If we try to install solar panels, we will need many, as well as employ full-time, 'round the clock, on-site guards to prevent their theft. The biggest headache, however, is a budget for long-term maintenance. We are told that a maintenance officer will need to visit the site, at a minimum, once a year. Given that we are isolated, that air transportation is expensive and that hurricanes and storms that rack Maroantsetra every year, it is unlikely that we can get away with just one service trip a year. What to do? We will let you know . . .
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