Monthly Archives: May 2024

Powered Up

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Power cuts are not an unusual thing in Kenya.Sometimes you’ll have weeks when it’s all good, and then a week where it is off and on. The worst we’ve ever had it was 48 hours without power. Just last week the power was off for 24 hours.

The weird thing is that there are two phases on our street and our building is split by this. So, sometimes when the power is off at our apartment, the office has electricity. It’s quite handy because when the power is off for a long time, we can go over there and have a hot shower, use the internet and have dinner there.

We also have some small solar panels to charge up our phones, and of course power banks. A generous donor purchased for us a generator which is really handy when the power goes off for a long time. You can’t run computers off it because they do fluctuate in power, which isn’t good for electronics. But it’s awesome for the internet and if we use a surge protector, then we can do small items.

And of course, we have a gas BBQ and a gas oven, which is very handy in power cuts. The BBQ is on it’s last legs as it’s about 10 years old, but we make the most of it while we can.

So what happens when we go camping? Pete was a smart cookie and got power points plus USB points in the landy when he was getting it done up. We also installed a couple of extra batteries. We have a fridge/freezer in the landy but if you’re totally off grid for a while, you need something to keep it going longer.

This is where the Dune Solar Blanket came into play. We bought it when we were in Australia earlier in the year as it was one quarter of the price we would pay in Kenya. The import duties here are quite ridiculous and make things so expensive. The blanket folds up nicely and we were able to fit it into our suitcase to bring home.

We’re still trying to work out a few things on it, but so far we’ve been able to tell it takes a good 5 hours in the sun to give our batteries a full charge. It’s just a matter of putting it out in the sun, plug in the cord to the panels, the other end into the battery holder and off it goes. Apparently it should be enough to charge the laptop and cameras, which is the main reason for buying it.

Check out the video below of how quick and simple it is to set up.

Where Do You Sleep?

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Our home is a rented two bedroom apartment in a suburb called Jamhuri in Nairobi. It’s really small but it’s affordable and across the hallway from the office. That means it’s a quick 3 second trip between the two.

The downside is that it doesn’t have a security grill, only a direct door to the hallway. If someone comes to the door, you have to ask loudly who it is. It’s a bit of a dodgy area but we actually like it. Downstairs is a open air marketplace where you can buy fruit and veges, as well as a supermarket.

Our lounge/dining area which currently has lots of camping gear ready to go.

When it comes to camping, it’s a whole other story.

We have a rooftop tent that we adults sleep in. It has a thin mattress, windows and you have to go up in it with a ladder. The downside is that if you want to go to the toilet in the middle of the night you have to go down the ladder.

Liz sleeps in a side room on the ground that comes out from the Land Rover. When we first had to put up it took a bit of working out but now it makes sense. It has sides you can let down for fresh air but keep the mossies out. Liz will have direct access to the landy at night just in case there’s a lion or leopard roaming around.

Check out our quick video of how we set up Lizzies room here.

Big News!

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When we started BeyondWater in 2007, we established a Board of Directors. Their job is to set up policies, procedures and as much as possible, ensure our future. This is not always easy when we’re based in Kenya and they in Aussie.

All of our boards are hand picked business men and women who have a passion for bringing about positive change through our work. We’re all in this together.

A couple of years ago, our Aussie board asked us to consider taking 6 months off for a sabbatical/long service leave. Can you imagine Pete sitting around for 6 months? Not only is he a sanguine, he has ADD and needs to be doing something practical, otherwise we all suffer. I get what they were saying, it’s time we took time out to refresh our batteries for the next season of the work.

We managed to whittle it down to 3 months. It’s still a long time and also means we can’t do fundraising when we go. We normally travel a few months a year in the US, Australia or New Zealand but if we were to take three months off, this wouldn’t happen.

We looked at doing short courses but nothing came up. Going back to Australia to see the family would’ve cost $10,000 just in flights – and it’s very expensive being there. Would’ve been great to go back and see them but this will have to wait until the end of 2025.

So, we’ve decided to take 12 weeks leave and drive in our landy all the way down to Namibia and back. That means going through Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and maybe even Malawi. We’ve all got things we want to see, the big one being Victoria Falls and the deserts of Namibia.

We were going to leave at the beginning of May but because we got back from New Zealand later than intended, we’ve delayed it. We might go at the beginning of June but we’ve a few things to wrap up in the office – like taxes first.

Check out our announcement here:

16 Years & Counting

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In 2007, we came up with a crazy idea to give people across East Africa better and safer access to drinking water. Thus, BeyondWater was born. Originally it wasn’t called BeyondWater, because we were going to partner with a company in the USA, but in the end we decided along with our Board of Directors to go it alone.

Fast forward 5 years and we found ourselves moving to Nairobi, Kenya. The plan was to volunteer part time with some kiwis who had their own program and do BeyondWater part time. After two years, we parted ways.

It was then that things really started coming together. We had one part time person, then another and then we increased days and staff. We moved into a very small office and after a couple more years had to find somewhere bigger as our staff numbers increased.

Our original plan was to go back every few years to touch base with family and donors, but grandkids changed all that. Our youngest daughter Hannah, got married and then for the next few years kept birthing children. So, we (or at least Sharon) travelled back and forth to New Zealand and ended up speaking to community groups such as Rotary and also in schools. This actually set up a pattern for the next few years.

16 years later, we are active in several countries across East Africa. We have a large team based in Nairobi, community workers across Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda and Board of Directors in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Kenya.

With the family in Aussie

In November 2023, a wonderful couple from C3 Frisco in Texas surprised us with this video celebrating our 16th anniversary and the 240,000 people who each day get access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities.

We don’t see ourselves as missionaries, but just normal people who stepped out to do something to help people help themselves. Yes, we have our personal faith in Jesus Christ, but BeyondWater was set up as a community group.

Giving out sanitary products in The Girl Project