News Internship in Togo

On Sunday the 5.5.19 I landed late in the evening in Lomé. My first day in Togo started with buying a Sim card and changing money. Lomé is a big, bustling city, where the best way to get around is on motorbike taxis. There was another trainee, Michael, at URBIS, who told me about the project of his bachelor's thesis, in which he worked closely with the Togolese government. In the evening I had the opportunity to get to know Miriam and Carina, the two German coordinators of URBIS FOUNDATION Germany and M. Adam and M. Chérif, the two Togolese coordinators.

Our first project was the evaluation of birth rates in order to evaluate the warm water needs of maternity wards in the surrounding hospitals. The wards are already equipped with solar collectors that heat the water needed after birth to wash mothers and children. However, some systems were defective and several stations were rebuilt or extended, so the need had to be reassessed. At the same time the work allowed me to get to know the region from Kara to Atakpamé, because we were on the road a lot.

Subsequently, with the help of the project work on the solar thermal system of the Sokodé Hospital, I evaluated the birth rates and determined the required tank size. The last and at the same time longest task that I was assigned was to accompany the construction of a solar plant at "Creuset Togo".

Creuset Togo is a children's home located in Sokodé. I was very lucky to be able to accompany the construction of this facility from start to finish and learned a lot from it. The two technicians who managed the construction were M. Issa and M. Alaba, who taught me a lot through their many years of experience and expertise. Thanks to the active support provided by Fousseni and Adam, I was always busy and had contacts who often helped me out. All the other URBIS employees gave me a warm welcome in Togo and there was a pleasant working atmosphere. In general, I can say that these six weeks have been incredibly instructive for me and that I feel comfortable in the solar energy sector.

We at URBIS FOUNDATION are very happy about his great commitment and wish him all the best.