 Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania |
New Batteries for Kilimanjaro transmitter |
 Loading the cars:Left a hired 4x4 truck with Protos, right: our office van
Deo, Mama Urima,Director Calvin Lyaro, Bishop Gideon Magina and our driver Temba beeing thankful about the new battery cells
arrived at the camp site. His truck can not continue due to slippery road conditions!
Decon Deo Mosha and Temba walking the muddy road between the camp and the transmitter sitee
Moving the new cells up and down into the battery room
Deo is filling the new batteries with acid
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Praise the LORD! September 3rd 2007 Today we returned again to Kidia after Protos brought up another new battery bank to Kidia last Thursday. It always takes a hole day to lower all the new cells of a battery bank, fill them with acid, replace them on the rack, bring the old ones up and store them on the truck to return them to the studio. I also took up the solar panels and the battery acid, while Protos, a hired truck driver, took the new battery cells. He left before us, but when we came to the camp site, where we leave the cars usually, the others did not arrive yet! We left our truck there, because with the slippery road you can not turn the truck around on the narrow, steep way. In the afternoon, Deo our diacon came up to the transaitter site and told us, that the others went out of fuel, and Protos returned down in the village with the carrycan to bring some more petrol. We had all hands to do to exchange the old battery cells with the new ones, fill them with acid and connect them instead of the old ones. So time went by very quickly. In the evening, around five, we went back to the campsite and found the Landrover of Protos there. But he did not return yet. We found him down in the village with his carrycan, and brought him back to the campsite, while it started to get dark. But Protos told us, there is no problem any more, and he will bring up the batteries the 1.5 km right now. Actually we hoped, he would be up earlier, that he can take up the solar modules and acid on a second trip from the camp site, those we still had in our truck. But that did not work out now! The next day my director called Protos. But his wife answered, and told him, that protos did not come home the hole night. Our director gave us a carrycan of extra 20 litres of petrol, that we should not run short of petrol again. When we came up to Kidia, the las village before the transmitter site, the people told us, that Protos returned early in the morning! But we hoped, that he will bring up the new acid, and bring the rest of the old batteries down. On that day we lowered all cells of the battery Bank 3 into the battery room under ground, filled them with acid, and brought the old cells up. But Protos did not return this day. So we passed by his place in the night. where we found the old battery cells as well on the road. He told us, that after returning him to his truck before, even the headlights of the car started to faint, and they had to sleep there right where they stopped. Actually they tried to continue the trip by a and torch. But the vision was so bad, that they nearly missed the way close to to the deep decent down the mountain. After delivering the load, down the road, the car suddenly stopped, and did not move again. He had to bring down the old cells with another car now. Because our track had been still full with many undeliverd goods, we could not leave it at the campsite up, our driver had to return to protos later on around 10 pm to fetch the used cells, before they were carried away by others... Topmorrow we go up again to the transmitter site to mount battery bank no. 4. Let`s see, whether protos will be there also to bring up the battery acid and the new solar modules, we brought up to the camp site twice already!
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