Wiki nne
After days of collecting parts and inspecting construction drawings, it was time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Time to get physical. The week before we bought some 5m long semi rusty, but still acceptable, steel which needed to be cut to the right length. This was done manually using a hacksaw. Hence the physical part. Luckily for us we're here during the short rain season, meaning that we can take some a nice cool showers in-between and during the sawing.
When the sawing started, it must have looked a little clumsy, because we immediately got a lot of help from the staff. Some of the employees from the woodcutting department helped us with finding and adjusting the vise. Usually they use the vises for gluing palmwood together to make the wooden lids of the jars. After seeing our endeavour in the sawing field, some of the employees soon came to the rescue and together we continued the project. Together we looked at the drawings and explained the purpose of the parts. We worked through as much parts as we could and at the end of the day we had done a great deal of it.
We continued the sawing the same way the next day. When almost all parts for the Injection moulding frame were finished, it was time to find a welder to weld it all together. Mudrick, the guy who also helped us with sawing and polishing the rods, knew a welder close to Chako, so together with Mrisho we went to take a futher look at the mysterious welding man. After getting a small snack on the way there we arrived an Mrisho helped us explain our query. We made an appointment at 11 the next morning.
Due to some communicative difficulties the welding guy & co showed up at 12:30. When not taking his late arrival into consideration, he was weldelicious. He did an amazing job. His work was neat, calculated and done with precision and all of this he did barefoot, wearing sunglasses and nothing more. No safety mask, no gloves nothing. The ground clasp of the electronic circuit was a lump of molten metal and the welding metal was not inserted in the gun. Even though we feared for his eyes and face, he seemed to know what he was doing. When finished he took the frame back to his workshop to remove the rust and spray-paint to avert further corrosion. Understood us and our plans very well and we asked him to weld the hopper for the shredder as well. We gave a professionally dawn drawing (Femke, 2018) and he was on his way. We're awaiting his results but we expect them to be just as welderfull as the frame.
On Thursday the big fundraising event took place. The event was very importance to Chako because the need for a new workplace is high and funds from other/third parties are essential in order to start with their future plans. The main focus of the future plans is seeking to build a new workshop using sustainable practices such as using shipping containers for workshops, solar energy to supply power, water collection from rain and composting. Furthermore, they want to invest in a vehicle for the company because up until now they had to rent a taxi for everything which is not efficient. For more information about their plans, you can take a look at the brochure we made for this event!
When the guest were arriving, we helped Chako to design their stand. After a while when the guests mingled a bit, local media arrived too and the minister of trade did a speech. He had some warming words ready for Chako and encouraged people -maybe a bit too direct- to donate money. After the intro from Christine, we had to chance to do a little presentation about plastic recycling and convince them why it it so important to invest in plastic recycling. We were thankful that we got this chance because many general managers were present at the event so it was vital for us to reach them. A general manager from Zuri hotel (already a partner from Chako) even approached us afterwards to talk about plastic recycling. She was curious about the method we are using and what we can do with it. Moreover, we discussed some opportunities with her regarding product ideas because she was enthusiastic to work with us in the future and would like to showcase Chako's products in their boutique. Next weekend there will be a staff trip to the Zuri hotel so then we can look what we can make for the hotel and discuss product ideas and styles that would match with the current style of the hotel.