Today started like any other day with breakfast at the Lutheran center, except for the fact that each of the students was looking forward to their presentations later today. Work began right after breakfast with each group continuing to work on their presentations. All the computers were filled with MATLAB and Google Earth. Each group worked hard to design the different solutions for their village, including cost estimations, distribution points, maps, and pipe sizes.
Today started like any other day with breakfast at the Lutheran center, except for the fact that each of the students was looking forward to their presentations later today. Work began right after breakfast with each group continuing to work on their presentations. All the computers were filled with MATLAB and Google Earth. Each group worked hard to design the different solutions for their village, including cost estimations, distribution points, maps, and pipe sizes.
With presentations expected to start at 3 p.m., each group was hard at work to get as much information in their presentations as possible. Around lunchtime, the groups split up to the two favorite restaurants in Iringa: Neema's and Ruksana’s. This did not stop the groups from finishing their presentations, as work came before food.
We had a full house for all our practice presentations with our peers, instructors, Saint Paul Partners, and a local water engineer in attendance. The first group to go was the Mahenge village, then Mukungo, and finally Masisiwe. The presentations went well with lots of feedback from the audience. After the presentations were over, each group met with our professor to discuss what can be improved on. After going first, the Mehenge group made a quick run to the market where their bartering skills were put to the test. Andrew got 15,000 shillings off of a 35,000 shillings turtle.
Our group had a delicious meal at Mama Iringa’s. We had a variety of pizzas, but the favorite seemed to be the prosciutto pizza. Games were played, laughs were had, and bets were made. The main entertainment was the group's guessing game about how long the couple next to us had been dating.
All of the groups worked really hard on our presentations today so that we can have an early send off to the safari tomorrow morning. There will not be another blog post until Thursday, as we will be traveling to Ruaha National Park without much Internet access. Stay tuned for some epic pictures.
—Blog post by Andrew and Anna