Detailed report coming soon..

Bom Dia!

All you need to prepare for your trip is a visa, the yellow fever vaccination and in the rainy season possibly malaria prophylaxis plus of course a PCR test (which was negative for me the second time around). The flight connection from Germany usually takes 21 hours via Lisbon to Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau.

Started at 12 degrees and landed with a time difference of one hour at 34 degrees and sun, which was my constant companion until the end of the journey without clouds. From the airport via the main street Avenida dos Combatentes da Liberdade da Pátria you can get to the city center within ten minutes - with traffic it can take over 30 minutes.

Bissau. You can easily explore the small city center consisting of ministries, markets, luxury hotels, bars and the port in one day and quickly get to know the friendly and interested locals and meet them again in the following days. There are hardly any tourists in Bissau, the only Europeans are employees of NGOs, which are spread all over the city - their purpose has yet to be understood.

The first destination, Mansoa, a border town about 60 km north of Bissau, can be reached at walking pace on a potholed road within 1.5 hours. Mansoa is Balanta's territory, one of the 25 ethnic groups in Guinea-Bissau, Creole is mostly spoken here. Prof. Glazinski owns a hotel and cultural center in town, is helping to renovate the hospital, will rebuild the Olympic campus, and is founding the Wilhelm von Humboldt University locally. The city also offers a state school, a huge market and lots of agriculture. Thus very well suited as a location for the SaveTheGrain drying houses.

The second goal served to procure materials for the drying houses. The "hardware store" & the workshop of Kumar & Litesch did not initially appear like a hardware store as we know it. But on closer inspection, he made a well-stocked impression. After translating and handing out our materials list, Kumar got back to us with an affirmative reply that he could get all the materials. To clarify further questions, we made an appointment with our engineers Marvin & Sven to ensure that all materials are ready for assembly by the time of the team trip in April. In the meantime, contact with the farmers is also being established, since the two weeks were full of appointments, meetings and accreditation work for the university, Prof. Glazinski and his employees assured that they would make the SaveTheGrain project known to various farmers over the next few months. I spent the next two weeks exploring the city and visiting the island (one of 60) Bubaque. Which can be reached by ferry within five hours. A small city center, beautiful beaches, lovingly designed lodges and kind-hearted people make the island a paradise. The trip was a consistently positive, formative experience, from a project perspective, but I was also able to take a lot with me personally and I look forward to seeing you again!

Our first project trip took place in April 2019. During this journey, two team members had the opportunity to meet our local partners personally. Together with them they built the prototype of our drying house which has been developed by our team. The almost three-week stay began with establishing contacts with important institutions such as the Ministry of Agriculture in togolese capital Lomé.

The location of the project itself was to be with our partners in Datcha. Tim and Lenia were accommodated by the family of project initiator Komi, who lovingly cared for them. Before builing the drying house could start, the togolese Independence Day was celebrated. Our team spent that day watching a parade in Atak­pamé. The whole city was on the move. After the pleasure, business came back. In cooperation with a carpentry and our partners we built the concept of the dryer as a prototype. When the harvest season comes, the farmers should be able to use the con­struction to dry their harvest properly. They should measure the temperature and other factors so that we can optimise the dryer if necessary. Time flew by and we are looking forward to the next reunion!