PROJECTS
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FOR STUDENTS OF NYABYEYA
FORESTRY COLLEGE .
In a strategic Endeavour to build the capacity
of professionals in the energy field, the Sustainable Energy
and Organic Farming Systems (SEOFS) offers industrial training
to students that are undertaking an energy related course.
A good case in point is the training of students
of Nyabyeya Forestry College who are offering a diploma course
in Biomass Energy. Owing to its experience and professional
expertise, SEOFS was selected to offer practical training in
the construction of Improved Household Energy Saving Stoves
to students of Nyabyeya Forestry College. This training was
conducted in Nangabo Subcouty.
The specific objective for this practical orientation
was to equip the students with hands-on skills in the construction
of the stoves that are most economically viable among the rural
poor. It is a common occurrence that many times the students
undertaking such a course may have a lot of theoretical knowledge
but without concrete expertise. This short practical orientation
opens such students to the real applicable skills that produce
the useful output, which is, in this case, a stove.
Experience shows that students who have practical
skills are more innovative when they graduate, able to create
their own jobs than seeking to be employed. Even those who are
employed become more practically oriented than those that are
almost exclusively taught the theoretical concepts.
The specific type was the Mud Rocket Stove –
the kind that is made out of cheap, locally available materials,
specifically, clay or anthill soil mixed with grass. There are
two categories of mud rocket stoves:
• The shielded fire, (which is a single pot stove) and
• The rocket Lorena (which is a two pot stove with one fire
chamber).
THE TRAINING PROCESS
Under the instruction of two SEOFS instructors,
the 5 students were taken through the 3 main stages of stove
production:
a) Construction, which involves collection and
preparation of materials, and building the stove
b) Finishing, which involves the removal of the mold (a banana
stem), completion of the chimney and smoothening of the stove
c) Firing, which is a practical demonstration of how the stove
is operated
Since these are household stoves, the training
was carried out in 10 selected rural household. This approach
makes the trainees appreciate the real family setting where
the stove is built and used, hence integrating the technological
aspect into the socio-cultural context.
This practical training exercise took a
total of 12 days, broken down into the following stages:
| Stage |
Content |
Description |
Duration |
| 1 |
Theoretical Concepts |
- Alternative Energy sources
- Introduction to stove theory (combustion and heat transfer)
- Stove designing and dimensioning according to saucepan
size
|
2 hours |
| 2 |
Practical training |
- Preparation of construction materials
- Construction process
At this stage, the trainees were divided into smaller
groups until each one was able to construct a stove on
his/her own to ensure that the practical skills are perfectly
acquired |
7 days |
| 3 |
Post construction processes |
- Removal of the mold (banana stem) to
create the air passage
- Smoothening of the stove body to give it a good-looking
finishing .
- Filling all cracks that develop during drying process
|
4 days |
| 4 |
Firing |
Practical demonstration of the use of the
stove, including lighting and cooking |
1 day |
| 5 |
Maintenance and repair |
- Regular removal of ash, soot
- Filling cracks |
1 hour |
| |
|
|
|
OUTCOME OF THE TRAINING
There was 100% attendance of the students throughout
the training period, meaning that they were all committed to
the training program. Consequently, they were all fully equipped
with the practical stove construction skills.
The assessment of the trainers indicates
that each of the students was able to construct the shielded
fire stove by his/her own by the third day. All in all the training
was a very successful one, having furnished the students with
the practical skills in the stove construction. This was confirmed
by both the SEOFS instructors and the students trained.
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