Last week before class, I know that the Egoli Electricity project group was feeling pretty overwhelmed about the daunting task of providing electricity to the 3/4 of the residents in the township lacking electricity as seven university students with no background in engineering, little funding and even less time.
Well, I'm happy (and relieved!) to announce that we were just confused about our goal for the project. After speaking with Professor Gilbert last week during class, we realized that we weren't expected to magically solve the electricity issue in the township, but rather propose an alternative energy source for residents that could be developed in the future. From Dr. Gilbert's recent visit to Cape Town, we have some context: Right now, there's only one woman selling electrical batteries to a small sector of the township (her customer base is only 1/4 of residents) and there's concerns about her making all the profit.
We'll do research, experiment with a model on a small scale (aka, bring one energy-harnessing soccer ball, etc.) and see what seems to be most successful. At the end, I hope we can produce a comprehensive report that we can then suggest to a program like UT-Austin's Projects for Underserved Communities, a longer-term service learning initiative that uses the practical skills of engineering and social work students.
Here's a comprehensive Guardian article that talks about the legacy of apartheid on the living conditions of South Africa's black township residents, with a particular focus on Khayelitsha*, Cape Town's second largest township. Although this article isn't specifically about the township we'll be working with, it provides the big picture context of the fact that the city's township residents feel like they've been forgotten 20 years after the apartheid system ended as expectations for the potential of the Reconstruction and Development Programme have fallen incredibly short.
* Some hard facts about housing in Khayletisha.
It's great that you thought about UT's Projects for Undeserved Communities, it's a tremendous opportunity for engineering and social work majors to make a big impact. That would be great if they took the project on. Although we many not be able to completely solve the various projects, it's good that we can collaborate with them in order to start somewhere in finding a solution.The Egoli Projects sounds really interesting and it will be rewarding in the end. Great post!
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