With all the gang assembled, there were 18 students, Dr. Komp, Sidi, Aboli (our cook) and me. Plus the family who had rented us the house decided to stay since it was so lively and fun! Oh well it is Africa after all and things are more relaxed. This was a rather small three bedroom house with a small yard and two bathrooms.
Susan, my great friend and the director of the Boston University Niger Program abroad, jumped in to offer to house me and save the foundation the cost of hotels. I was able to retreat each night to the peace and quiet of her house and leave the gang on their own. Dr. Komp managed to keep up his spirits in spite of the less than perfect conditions and determined to make the most of a difficult situation. He set several groups to production. They were to make four large panels, four cell phone charging panels, and 4 battery chargers–this is all the photovoltaic cells that survived the trip here. (They are paper thin and extremely fragile.) He stepped back and let them carry on
on their own.
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