Eco-cooler bringing breeze of relief
Overview
Circle 4 implemented their action plan and were able to achieve satisfactory results, that I am more than happy to report. The DIY Eco-cooler was successfully installed in a shop for the purpose of testing and refinement. We are happy to report positive results as received in the feedback from the tester. This did not mean that we didn’t have to face a number of challenges along the way. But with the united strength of a team, we were able to overcome all of these obstacles successfully.
Progress Check-Points
The boys of our circle — Muslim, Mustafa, Affan and Taimoor went to the identified slum area on the 28th of May. The shop was near the This was the location of the slum:
We visited 7–8 homes and asked for the consent of the people to let us try our idea in their homes, but we received only negative responses from them. Since we did not have anything to show them as to what exactly we were there to do we couldn’t explain to them the purpose of our visit. We needed to examine their homes; how much hot wind was coming to their homes? What were the potential hot air inlets that will need to blocked so as to make the area as much airtight as possible? What was the measurement of the main in-let where we would attach our prototype? We needed the answer to all these questions before we could design our prototype. But unfortunately, we could not deliver our message to the people there. After visiting these homes, we reached a shop there. This was the only utility shop there. The shopkeeper was extremely helpful and understood what we were trying to explain to him. Therefore, we selected this shop in the slum areas to test our project.
The next step was, where I came in. My circle members brought in the information regarding the requirements of the prototype- the measurements, and the places where it needs to be attached. Keeping these in mind I designed an effective prototype. I also tested the prototype at home. There was considerable amount of cool breeze coming through the air-cooler. The steps of making the prototype are as follows:
Immediately following the making of the prototype, the second visit was made where the prototype was installed in the shop.
The shopkeeper was explained how he needs to test the prototype and we asked for his number so that we could contact him later feedback.
A week later, we contacted the shopkeeper for feedback on the performance of our prototype. We asked him if he was able to feel any difference in the overall temperature of the shop. He told us that the prototype worked pretty well and the shop had become cooler than it was earlier. We also asked him if he could suggest us away to improve our prototype for better performance. He told us that if we could make the shop more airtight the air-cooler would give considerably better results.
The cost estimation and fund collection sub-committee had contacted a local boy who collected garbage, sorted it and then sold it. As per his information, the circle members — Mahvish and Mariam, prepared the cost estimation chart.
We all had also collected funds from our family and friends to support our project, since this didn’t cost a lot. The total cost summed up to be Rs. 865/-, of which each bottle costed Rs.15 and the transportation cost was for two visits in total.
Further Refinement Ideas
As per the feedback provided to us by the shopkeeper, we brainstormed and came up with better ideas to make the air-cooler more effective.
One of the ideas was to attach the bottles directly to the fan in the shop or a home. This will directly push maximum amount of wind through the bottles and thus, creating more cool wind than before.
Another idea was to make a much larger air-cooler. Instead of covering the large openings to make it airtight, we could cover them too with an air-cooler. Thus, there will be more wind passing the air-cooler and producing more cool air.
Challenges
COVID-’19 lockdown restrictions posed serious challenges for us in the way of implementation of our project. We could not make frequent visits to the slum areas as people here don’t even believe in COVID-’19 and thus do not follow any SOPs to ensure safety.
Another challenge was that people didn’t quite understand the purpose of our visit. It was hard to explain to them. They just couldn’t believe us and had doubts about our visits.
Sustainability
Our journey doesn’t end here. This is an ongoing project and we have reached just a milestone in it. In order to keep it going, we contacted an NGO to pitch our idea to them. The air-cooler is an easy DIY project and can be made by the poor people themselves once a tutorial has been given to them. The NGOs can also support the project through the funds they collect. We plan on our collaborating with more NGOs and spreading the project.
Reflections
This was a rollercoaster of a journey. Through this opportunity provided to us by the Amal Academy we were able to learn a lot of lessons from our Mega Project.
We learnt that no matter what path we embark in life, we will always face challenges. But challenges are nothing but opportunities to learn and improve our ideas so that they are more effective. We learnt a great deal about coordination with our team members, time management and staying positive so that we can find solutions to our problems. This project has taught us values that will stay with us throughout our lives and help us to be not only better professionals in life but also better human beings.
Our circle member, Taimoor, who pitched the idea in the first place, had this to say about the Mega Project:
The mega project was a great experience and for me it was an opportunity of exposure to people and their perspectives. It made me aware of my hidden traits like multitasking and doing my semester work along with preparation of mega project. Working in a group helped me to express my ideas and to respect each others’ perspective and for me that’s the highlight. Over all, it was a fun and enlightening experience and I learned alot.
Muslim was a valuable member of the circle, who was always there to troubleshoot our problems with brilliant ideas and help everyone in whatever we needed help with. These are his reflections about the mega project:
Our project helped us better understand what people in slum areas go through during the summers in Karachi. While the rejections we faced was upsetting, the few residents that showed geunine interest in the project and helped us better the project was motivating, it felt more like a collaborative effort towards a common goal rather than an assignment we had to do.
Mariam played a very important role in the circle by giving suggestions and paying close attention to detail by pointing out anything that was not right. She was always available to help the team whenever we asked her for it. These were Mariam’s thoughts on the project:
This life is too short to live so it’s better to live it with a purpose. This fellowship has given us a chance to do something better for society through mega project. Our group suggested different ideas and then we collectively decided to work on air/eco-cooler. When I first thought about it seemed to be a difficult one to execute. But as soon as we started working on it the things went smoothly. Through this project not only I learn how to help the people but also how to work in a team. I learned about the leadership skills from our group leader and teamwork through other members. Everyone in the group supported and respected each other and that was the best thing of our group or may be the key reason of our project completion. Overall, it was an amazing experience, learned a lot of new things from my fellows.
Mahvish always reminded us of the little instructions that we needed to keep in mind and always brought us back on track:
Experienced I gained from Mega Project:
* This project helped me in indentification of very big and serious issues of society. I found out that normal people suffering alot and they actually need our attention but in reality, we don’t care them.
* I also learnt that problems are opportunities to take initative and resolving it is a chance to prove our abilities.
* This projects also taught me that how worked in team, how to resolve problems within very short time period, and how did well disscussion.
* We also refused by people for the installation of prototype which helped me in accepting failures.
* Time mangament also main thing I learnt from it.
* How to stay positive and communicate well in a group I learnt as well.
All in all, this was a life-changing experience for all of us.
