My field office in Kinshasa

Today has been a hot and sweaty day in Kinshasa. The sun has burnt the dry dirt and the rain that fell yesterday has vanished into thin air. We dedicated the morning to discussions about the possibilities of starting a solar cell import firm. The business would also import all the accessories needed for solar power production. Tuto has hands-on experiences of setting up solar installations, and he has some well-developed ideas of how to organize a sales organization. We juggled ideas and I think the mix of our experiences will lead to something fruitful. Tuto is delighted with the product we have found. It is very simple and has a reasonable price. During two evenings, I have used one of the sample lamps we brought and it provided a very good task lighting. Tonight there was a power failure, and we took our supper in the light of a solar cell lamp. When Julienne arrived around nine o´clock, she claimed that our household was the only one in this part of town that still had lights.

The afternoon was spent doing desk work. Yapeco and Tuto went to town and brought back some roasted peanuts and bananas for snacks. We still have a lot of calculations to do, to make it all more down-to-earth. We plan to cover the Kinshasa and Bas-Congo area. Yapeco will work with the western part. Tomorrow we will continue developing the plans.

Today, Emma has been doing the cooking. We had tea and baguettes for breakfast, potatoes, maniok, meat and vegetables for dinner and pineapple for dessert. In the evening we had porridge with powdered milk and baguettes. All the food is prepared on a small stove resembling a pot out on the terrace. The saucepan is standing directly on the charcoal. Water is fetched in buckets from a well in the yard. The lodger cousin assisted Emma in the kitchen. Even though Emma obtained her law degree last autumn at one of the universities in Kinshasa, she can´t find a job.