For a couple of months we are doing fund raising via 1%-club. This Dutch NGO attracts people to donate just a small amount of money, time, and effort into the developing world. Although it is called 1%-club, it is not mandatory to donate 1% of your salary; every contribution is valued. At the moment the budget is raised for around 80% and therefore we decided to start-up preparations.
After a survey in Dar Es Salaam, we found the Yombo secondary school for people with a disability most motivated to work with us. They have a workshop which only needs some minor extra investment to make it suited for building a wind turbine. In a two week training we are going to build one turbine of the type ‘Piggott – 3 meter’ plus assemblies and parts which will be used for the next ordered turbine. It is our intention to make this workshop a kind of preferred supplier for sub-assemblies of wind turbines.
The picture shows our meeting with teachers, trainers and the principal of the school. All details have been discussed and agreed upon. The training will start monday 26th September. We hope to get some media attention because we think that we might have a world premiere here! “The first ever wind turbine build completely by people with a disability.”
In tradition with our usual way of working, the turbine which is produced during this training is not just a demonstrator. It is going to be used by a real customer. More on that, in the next blog.