A Volunteer's Experience in Ukerewe.

Hello,

Nansio Hospital, Solar Lighting.

My name is Sandy Tod and I have been privileged to take part in both the first (October 2009) and second (February 2011) Rotary volunteer trips to Ukerewe.   During the first visit when we refurbished Nansio Hospital's operating theatre, it was apparent that while the hospital is connected to mains electric power, it is notoriously unreliable and the hospital suffered frequent and sometimes extensive power cuts.   It is not difficult to imagine the havoc this can cause in the operating theatre and the delivery room in the maternity ward.  This part of Tanzania, being two degrees south of the equator enjoys year round sunshine about two hundred and fifty hours a month, every month of the year, so it seemed crazy not to take advantage of the sun's energy to provide reliable electric power for these vital hospital areas.   A back-up solar lighting system was therefore proposed to be implemented on the second visit.

Being the proposer, I was given charge of the project, not an easy assignment as I am no electrician, but a civil engineer!  Attendance at a three day course at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) at Machynlleth in Wales gave me a good grounding in the basics of design and installation of an off-grid solar system.   A Mwanza Rotarian, Rajan, who owned a solar systems company in Mwanza provided the equipment at cost and his own services as installer, free of charge.

On site local assistance was provided by Rashidally, the electrical instructor at the local vocational college and two of his students, who installed new wiring to supply the back-up lights.  A godsend was Dennis, a retired electrician from Harlow Tighe, Essex who came out as a volunteer and kept us from electrocuting ourselves!

Back-up lighting was provided by low energy LED tube-lights duplicating the existing fluorescent system.  The inclusion of the Maternity Ward involved a 15m long overhead line to connect it to the operating theatre.  The length of the circuit meant that to avoid excessive energy loss, the 24v DC system had to be transformed up to 230v AC.

Work started with Rashidally and his team installing the new trunking and wiring.

The small overcrowded and constantly busy maternity ward presented a particular challenge.  Some of the wiring had to be taken above the ceiling involving a precarious crawl through the loft space on old lightweight timber rafters in stifling heat, with nesting bats as company!

Specialist equipment arrived on programme via the daily vehicle ferry from Mwanza.  The picture shows one of two 12v 150 Ampere-hour batteries being unloaded at Nansio.

Here Dennis is instructing one of our students how to fill the batteries with electrolyte.  These are the only part of the system requiring regular maintenance.  It is essential that the electrolyte level is checked regularly and kept topped up.

Rajan sets up the inverter in the battery room, a small disused room in a corner of the theatre building.  The inverter converts the 24v DC electric current from the batteries into 230v AC current to power the system.

Finally, with the battery room equipment installed, the wiring complete and LED tube-lights fitted, the first of two solar panels is fixed to the roof of the operating theatre.

Rajan in the battery room checking that everything is working as it should.  The back-up system is automatically triggered by a mains power failure, so it can be tested by simply cutting off the mains supply.

Happily everything works satisfactorily.  The picture shows emergency lights on in the Maternity Ward, - a happy Ward Sister!  We finished one day ahead of schedule and during the first night with the system working,  an emergency operation was completed thanks to the back-up lighting system.

Our thanks go to Sandy for this very interesting article.


Until next time,
Best Wishes,

Derek and Diane.