Solar panels and other things

Administrative hold


 The Friday email update from the amazing Eastern Caribbean country director gave me hope, but not assurance, that I will be able to return to Dominica as a Peace Corps volunteer.  There is still some final analysis to be performed and then experts in Washington D.C. will decide after a meeting next Thursday.

The plan is to tell us the decision about continuing our service by next Friday.  Peace Corps might not reopen Dominica now, but I hope that the decision will be to offer the evacuated volunteers a choice to go back to Dominica or to serve on another island in the Eastern Caribbean.  We will also have the option to end our service.  

 Dominica has the greatest need and where I pledged my Peace Corps service so that is where I want to go back if at all possible.  Regardless, I want to continue my Peace Corps service if at all possible.   

 The Peace Corps will ship personal items back to home of record for anyone who decides to early terminate service.

 If we accept the offer to return we will fly to St. Lucia on November 27th.  We will likely spend a week on St. Lucia in training and meetings.  This is about the time we would have “reconnect” and we’ve been on the bench for a time so training is a good idea.  (Reconnect is a normally scheduled training a few months after one has been in site for a few months.).  Then we would either go to a site on St. Lucia, Dominica, or other island.

 So, I don’t know where I will end up but it seems likely I will be getting on an international flight in about three weeks as I’m willing to serve.  More details next week.

Solar panels and power pack

My first field test of my solar panels in sunny Arkansas.

 I’ve been working on the presumption that I would be returning to Dominica.  Even if not Dominica, then a different island that could get hit by a hurricane next year.  I want to be better prepared and more resilient in the future.

Electrical service is not expected to be restored in Dominica for 6 to 12 months.  So I will need a way to charge my cell phone and have lights if I return to Dominica.  I decided to go with portable solar panels and external battery pack, rather than a combination panel and battery pack that tends to have a much smaller solar panel.

 A Peace Corps volunteer and anyone else who might be without electricity should have a battery pack.  This is something you can charge and then use to charge your electronics.  I had a Sherpa 50 that I left on island and liked it.  I bought a Sherpa 100 as a replacement.  The new one should be able to charge my laptop.

 In Ghana I kept my battery pack charged on house current for those times when I was without electricity for a day or more.  If I go back to Dominica I would be able to go to the Peace Corps office and charge it.


Expected to be my primary power source without electricity


 I want to use solar for those times when I can’t get down to the office.  I’m happy with Goal Zero products but they do have a proprietary connection so I can’t use any solar panel. I got one Nomad 20 panel to evaluate.

 I also got a more affordable Anker 21 watt solar panel that has two USB ports to directly charge electronics or a USB power pack.  The solar panels should be a good start to meet my power needs.
Additional solar panel, lights, and batter charge.

 Lighting will also be an issue and I’m going to try to two solar lights.  I don’t expect that the small solar panels on the lights will charge enough for daily extended use, but they can be charged via USB.

Other things I’m bringing

I will also bring things I had from my past as a local Red Cross Disaster volunteer and from my Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training that might be useful in supporting a more resilient Dominica or other Caribbean island in the current environment.
Supplies and other things I've already collected and packed

So, still waiting, not so patiently.


Love always,

John

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