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TL;DR
Autosafety-Uganda is a non-profit based in Kampala that runs community-based monitoring and awareness campaigns to fight local air pollution; specifically pollution caused by vehicular emissions. They were donated an emission dynamometer: a heavy, expensive, and specialized piece of machinery by a private individual in Texas. The dynamometer, which helps simulate driving conditions, would help with 1) gathering data on vehicular emissions to advocate for policy change and raise local awareness, and 2) training auto-mechanic repair professionals to avoid common pitfalls such as the removal of emission control systems from vehicles. We are raising money to handle crating and shipping expenses from Houston, Texas, all the way to Kampala, Uganda.
Here's a summary of the project as told by Autosafety-UG's Executive Director, Michael Wanyama:
Help me ship an emission dynamometer to Kampala, Uganda!
I am a U.S.-based master's student, researching community-based monitoring of air pollution, and I am productively and creatively procrastinating on not writing my thesis in a timely manner.
WHY?
Last year, I got in touch with Michael Wanyama , the Executive Director of Autosafety-Uganda, to help spread the word for his GlobalGiving fundraising campaign; raising money to improve air quality in Kampala through community-based air quality monitoring, awareness outreach, and training workshops. The emission dynamometer will assist Autosafety-UG with those efforts.
What about air pollution?
Air pollution is a silent killer; ambient air pollution alone (excluding household pollution from cooking stoves, for example) is estimated to cause 3 million deaths annually (World Health Organization, 2016).
Uganda is no exception, especially in the capital city, Kampala, the country’s main financial and industrial driver of activity. The impact on air quality in Kampala is layered: heavy traffic, unpaved roads, very old vehicles in poor mechanical conditions, a high density of industrial emissions, and open-space burning of charcoal combustion stemming from household activity all lead to a great deal of particulate matter released into the air.
Particulate matter is a fine mix of dust and liquid droplets that is easily absorbed by the lungs and bloodstream, leading to chronic respiratory illnesses like asthma, causing or aggravating cardiovascular diseases and, possibly, cancer.
Air pollution is a global health crisis whose effect often makes bad situations into worse outcomes. For instance, there are developing studies suggesting correlation between air pollution and worsening COVID-19 mortality (article: Air pollution linked with higher COVID-19 death rates).
What is the role of Autosafety-UG in this fight?
A big source of air pollution in Uganda stems from burning fossil fuels in poorly maintained vehicles running on unpaved dirt roads, in addition to most of the cars presently in circulation being imported as pre-owned old cars (until 2018, the average fleet age was more than 15 years).
The problem of traffic pollution in Kampala is cumulative: some of it is behavioral (people excessively idling their cars, I'm sure some of you can relate), while some of it is structural (mixed-zoning activity, where auto-mechanic repair and maintenance occurs in front of schools and hospitals).
Pictured below, a frequent problem that Autosafety-UG identified is the removal or modification of catalytic converters (exhaust emission control devices that reduce toxic gases and pollutants from being emitted via exhaust pipes). Besides failure to maintain several inbuilt emissions abatement systems in vehicles, auto-mechanic staff, often by ignorance of consequences on air quality, will not apply best industry repair practices, something that could be entirely avoidable with the right training and education!
According to Autosafety-UG, only about 3 out of every 10 vehicles that have been on Ugandan roads for the past 10 years have functional emission control measures. Autosafety-UG has been reaching out to local mechanics, motorists, and industrialists to train and advocate for the upkeep of emissions control systems in personal vehicles.
To learn more about Autosafety-UG’s work, check out the video below:
So where does the dynamometer come into the picture?
An emissions dynamometer is a tool used to simulate different road conditions within a controlled environment, allowing for the measurements of emissions.
Emission dynamometers are very expensive and heavy; luckily Autosafety-UG was offered the donation of a used dynamometer which is currently sitting in storage in the Houston metro area, living a lonely Texan existence (pictured below). We want to give it a loving home in Kampala where it will help local communities to make better informed decisions about car maintenance. It will also produce much valuable data for Autosafety-UG to advocate for policy change and effectively demonstrate to auto-mechanic professionals about the importance of properly maintaining emissions control systems in place.
So what's happening?
It’s been hard to orchestrate everything since Michael is based in Kampala, and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thankfully, we’re getting help from the Houston Ugandan Community, and they have been graciously involved to vouch for the item at its site of storage, and have agreed to act as the financial agent of this fundraising campaign.
We are currently working on getting everything into motion to move the dynamometer and its components (computer station, power supply) out of its current storage location to have it crated, and then ready to ship in the foreseeable future, i.e. as soon as we get enough funds to make it happen!
How much do you need?
The original target for this campaign was $3,000. Upon consultation with Michael and understanding that there might be fees associated with customs and getting the dynamometer transported via road throughout Kenya to Kampala (reminder: Uganda is a landlocked country), there’s a good chance to run into further expenses. Therefore, we have raised the ceiling to $4,000 just to have enough buffer in our expenses.
That being said, we are always looking for the most cost-effective option to get the dynamometer shipped.
Where's the money going?
Originally, I was going to take responsibility to handle the money directly to make the required payments. However, as stated, Houston Ugandan Community is helping as this campaign fiscal agent. So you don’t have to worry about your donation fueling my caffeine addiction, and trust me, it definitely would if I had no scruples whatsoever.
All the money will go towards handling shipping costs. If we are fortunate to have some leftover funds, the difference will be donated to Autosafety-UG's GlobalGiving campaign, which will help them with keeping the project ongoing, in spite of being hard-hit with COVID-19 as much as everyone else. Michael has truly been pouring his body and soul into making this a reality, so if we can give him a bit of a break, that would be great!
You better have receipts.
Transparency is the name of the game, and we’ll make sure that every expense is accounted for. So yes, receipts for days.
“I” started this GoFundMe, and this is where you can go and find me if you guys have any questions or concerns:
On Twitter where you can go to cancel me: @geocuriosity
Here’s my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hp-nunes/
And, of course, any of us organizing this fundraiser can be reached through GoFundMe directly.
So I better have receipts, because I’ve got skin in the game, as the kids say.
Bro why do you care?
Autosafety-UG's work is something I believe in, from the standpoint of my graduate research into social and environmental justice, and in my belief to foster the capacity of local communities to respond to local environmental crises. What Autosafety-UG is doing is really exciting, and success in their endeavors could mean that their work is replicable and proven to make positive, long-lasting changes. A major understatement is that Autosafety-UG is doing all this IN SPITE of having very limited resources, a complicated institutional landscape, and a large burden of pollution to grapple with.
But simply enough: clean air is a human right.
Autosafety-Uganda is a non-profit based in Kampala that runs community-based monitoring and awareness campaigns to fight local air pollution; specifically pollution caused by vehicular emissions. They were donated an emission dynamometer: a heavy, expensive, and specialized piece of machinery by a private individual in Texas. The dynamometer, which helps simulate driving conditions, would help with 1) gathering data on vehicular emissions to advocate for policy change and raise local awareness, and 2) training auto-mechanic repair professionals to avoid common pitfalls such as the removal of emission control systems from vehicles. We are raising money to handle crating and shipping expenses from Houston, Texas, all the way to Kampala, Uganda.
Here's a summary of the project as told by Autosafety-UG's Executive Director, Michael Wanyama:
Help me ship an emission dynamometer to Kampala, Uganda!
I am a U.S.-based master's student, researching community-based monitoring of air pollution, and I am productively and creatively procrastinating on not writing my thesis in a timely manner.
WHY?
Last year, I got in touch with Michael Wanyama , the Executive Director of Autosafety-Uganda, to help spread the word for his GlobalGiving fundraising campaign; raising money to improve air quality in Kampala through community-based air quality monitoring, awareness outreach, and training workshops. The emission dynamometer will assist Autosafety-UG with those efforts.
What about air pollution?
Air pollution is a silent killer; ambient air pollution alone (excluding household pollution from cooking stoves, for example) is estimated to cause 3 million deaths annually (World Health Organization, 2016).
Uganda is no exception, especially in the capital city, Kampala, the country’s main financial and industrial driver of activity. The impact on air quality in Kampala is layered: heavy traffic, unpaved roads, very old vehicles in poor mechanical conditions, a high density of industrial emissions, and open-space burning of charcoal combustion stemming from household activity all lead to a great deal of particulate matter released into the air.
Particulate matter is a fine mix of dust and liquid droplets that is easily absorbed by the lungs and bloodstream, leading to chronic respiratory illnesses like asthma, causing or aggravating cardiovascular diseases and, possibly, cancer.
Air pollution is a global health crisis whose effect often makes bad situations into worse outcomes. For instance, there are developing studies suggesting correlation between air pollution and worsening COVID-19 mortality (article: Air pollution linked with higher COVID-19 death rates).
What is the role of Autosafety-UG in this fight?
A big source of air pollution in Uganda stems from burning fossil fuels in poorly maintained vehicles running on unpaved dirt roads, in addition to most of the cars presently in circulation being imported as pre-owned old cars (until 2018, the average fleet age was more than 15 years).
The problem of traffic pollution in Kampala is cumulative: some of it is behavioral (people excessively idling their cars, I'm sure some of you can relate), while some of it is structural (mixed-zoning activity, where auto-mechanic repair and maintenance occurs in front of schools and hospitals).
Pictured below, a frequent problem that Autosafety-UG identified is the removal or modification of catalytic converters (exhaust emission control devices that reduce toxic gases and pollutants from being emitted via exhaust pipes). Besides failure to maintain several inbuilt emissions abatement systems in vehicles, auto-mechanic staff, often by ignorance of consequences on air quality, will not apply best industry repair practices, something that could be entirely avoidable with the right training and education!
According to Autosafety-UG, only about 3 out of every 10 vehicles that have been on Ugandan roads for the past 10 years have functional emission control measures. Autosafety-UG has been reaching out to local mechanics, motorists, and industrialists to train and advocate for the upkeep of emissions control systems in personal vehicles.
To learn more about Autosafety-UG’s work, check out the video below:
So where does the dynamometer come into the picture?
An emissions dynamometer is a tool used to simulate different road conditions within a controlled environment, allowing for the measurements of emissions.
Emission dynamometers are very expensive and heavy; luckily Autosafety-UG was offered the donation of a used dynamometer which is currently sitting in storage in the Houston metro area, living a lonely Texan existence (pictured below). We want to give it a loving home in Kampala where it will help local communities to make better informed decisions about car maintenance. It will also produce much valuable data for Autosafety-UG to advocate for policy change and effectively demonstrate to auto-mechanic professionals about the importance of properly maintaining emissions control systems in place.
So what's happening?
It’s been hard to orchestrate everything since Michael is based in Kampala, and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thankfully, we’re getting help from the Houston Ugandan Community, and they have been graciously involved to vouch for the item at its site of storage, and have agreed to act as the financial agent of this fundraising campaign.
We are currently working on getting everything into motion to move the dynamometer and its components (computer station, power supply) out of its current storage location to have it crated, and then ready to ship in the foreseeable future, i.e. as soon as we get enough funds to make it happen!
How much do you need?
The original target for this campaign was $3,000. Upon consultation with Michael and understanding that there might be fees associated with customs and getting the dynamometer transported via road throughout Kenya to Kampala (reminder: Uganda is a landlocked country), there’s a good chance to run into further expenses. Therefore, we have raised the ceiling to $4,000 just to have enough buffer in our expenses.
That being said, we are always looking for the most cost-effective option to get the dynamometer shipped.
Where's the money going?
Originally, I was going to take responsibility to handle the money directly to make the required payments. However, as stated, Houston Ugandan Community is helping as this campaign fiscal agent. So you don’t have to worry about your donation fueling my caffeine addiction, and trust me, it definitely would if I had no scruples whatsoever.
All the money will go towards handling shipping costs. If we are fortunate to have some leftover funds, the difference will be donated to Autosafety-UG's GlobalGiving campaign, which will help them with keeping the project ongoing, in spite of being hard-hit with COVID-19 as much as everyone else. Michael has truly been pouring his body and soul into making this a reality, so if we can give him a bit of a break, that would be great!
You better have receipts.
Transparency is the name of the game, and we’ll make sure that every expense is accounted for. So yes, receipts for days.
“I” started this GoFundMe, and this is where you can go and find me if you guys have any questions or concerns:
On Twitter where you can go to cancel me: @geocuriosity
Here’s my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hp-nunes/
And, of course, any of us organizing this fundraiser can be reached through GoFundMe directly.
So I better have receipts, because I’ve got skin in the game, as the kids say.
Bro why do you care?
Autosafety-UG's work is something I believe in, from the standpoint of my graduate research into social and environmental justice, and in my belief to foster the capacity of local communities to respond to local environmental crises. What Autosafety-UG is doing is really exciting, and success in their endeavors could mean that their work is replicable and proven to make positive, long-lasting changes. A major understatement is that Autosafety-UG is doing all this IN SPITE of having very limited resources, a complicated institutional landscape, and a large burden of pollution to grapple with.
But simply enough: clean air is a human right.