Three teams, led by professors from Computing, Electrical Engineering and Building Services Engineering, prepared with their students meticulously from the beginning of the year. They design, test and simplify, repeatedly, the systems to be installed, knowing full well that most likely we would not be able to travel over there this year. For the project to work we have to rely on local volunteers. The systems have to be as simple as possible, but robust and efficient at the same time. In the past, we would make electrical connections by the cheapest method, stripping the insulation from the ends of the wires and then using a screw driver to secure the wire. This time we solder connectors to the ends of the wires so that the local volunteers only need to plug the connector in. This way it is faster to install and less likely to have problems, but it is more expensive and we have to put more effort into the early stage of the assembly. We would manufacture and assemble the solar panel systems as far as possible, ship them over there, teach the local volunteers to finish the assembly and install them.
In the case of the stoves, the bricks have to be purchased locally. It simply does not make sense to ship bricks over there. Partly because of the shipping cost. But also because of the benefit of using local material as far as possible. Likewise, 150 big rechargeable batteries to store the electricity generated by the solar panels, and small ones to operate the radios also have to be purchased locally. Funding them is a challenge in itself.
Then there is the problem of shipping 150 sets of solar panels, charging controllers, LED lights, switches, cables, tools, …, totalling more than two tons. The logistics of shipping them over there, declaring them properly to customs, transporting them to the local site through the lock down imposed by the pandemic, …, requires meticulous planning, money, …, and praying.
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Our local partner, African Evangelical Enterprise Rwanda, considers this project a top priority. Hence they assigned a top administrator to manage the project. They found a suitable village off the electrical grid, assigned several of their staff to be team leaders, and recruited many young local volunteers. One of the reasons we chose to work in Rwamagana this year is that AEE Rwanda runs a local vocational school, Center of Champions, which teaches practical skills including basic electrical technology, plumbing, sewing, etc. AEE was able to recruit some young graduates from Center of Champions who have been trained in electrical technology, some of whom are actually from the village.
There was a twist and an almighty scare along the way. Rwanda has been reporting a relatively low number of infections of the coronavirus for a long time. We were even entertaining the thought that we might be able to send a small number of staff over there, to help with the project. Our partner, AEE Rwanda, was hoping that we would be able to that, since this is quite a big undertaking that they have not tried before, and this is the first time, since we started collaborating in 2013, that we are not sending a team over there. In June, however, suddenly there was a big jump in the number of inflections. The government imposed a lock down. Not only are we not able to travel over there from Hong Kong, even local people cannot move around. How could we even collect the shipped material, purchase the batteries, and move the equipment to Rwamagana, let alone send the local youths to the village to do the installation.
After much anxious waiting, and prayers, the lock down was eased slightly. We are then able to actually carry out the project. Our students from Hong Kong trained the AEE team leaders as well as the local youths on the operations of the projects, with great difficulty, through the Internet, making use of video conferring, social media, and whatever technology that works, under severe restrictions of the low bandwidth and unstable network service. Once the local youths master the techniques needed, however, they work amazingly fast. At one point, our students in Hong Kong could not connect with the Rwandan youths through the Internet at the appointed time. We were, naturally worried. It turned out that the local youths were working so hard, and so keen on getting the job done, that they had forgotten to connect with our students for coordination, progress monitoring, testing, etc. In the end, the installations were completed ahead of schedule.
We had a small, secret weapon that was also quite important. PolyU had been accepting undergraduate students from Rwanda for a couple of years, partly as a consequence of our working in Rwanda. Two of them happen to be home during the summer break. These two students ended up working for us, helping us find critical equipment such as the batteries, monitoring the progress of the project, and running important errands.
This audacious tele-engineering project would not have been attempted, let alone completed, if we had not been operating in Rwanda since 2013, if we had not gotten to know Rwanda reasonably well by now, if we had not develop admiration of the commitment and effectiveness of AEE Rwanda, if AEE Rwanda had not developed trust of our commitment and capabilities, if our team had not planned meticulously, if our students had not worked os hard to manufacture and assemble the equipment, if we had not found a way to ship tons of equipment to Rwanda, if we did not have those skilful graduates from Center of Champions, if AEE had not assigned a top administrator and capable team leaders, if the lockdown had not been eased, …, if we did not have faith.
We were probably fortunate that all these happened in such a way. But it is also a truly great team effort, with players from so many different backgrounds, with such diverse skills, joined together with one great desire to do something good for some people who need and deserve them. God bless all of us.
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