Burt Visits!

Me, Burt Cohen, Sammy Barasa and Joshua Machinga

The past couple weeks have proven to be quite busy to the visit of potter extraordinaire Burt Cohen. But works with Potters Without Borders in Canada, a group which provides technical assistance to producers of ceramic water filters such as us. I'd first met back in Canada where I'd visited him at his Vernon workshop shortly before I left for Kenya, during which time he gave me a few lessons and some useful pieces of advice. Fortunately for us  UNICEF invited Burt into the country to draw up a report on the status of ceramic water filter production and Burt was able to spare a few days to help us out.

Collins, Sammy, Burt, Pius, Martin

Martin, Pius, Sammy, Burt

One of the first things Burt did was confirm some of our fears about our old source of clay. We'd been a bit concerned that it had narrower firing range than would usually be expected in such clays, meaning the workability of the clay was sometimes a little questionable. But happily he seemed quite impressed with our new clay, so now we're working on working integrating a measure of new clay into our filters.

Burt was also able to spend a lot of time working with Collins, Martin and Pius, (all of whom adore him) helping them with their technique in working with the clay. Clay is a very temperamental medium and it takes much practice to have a good working relationship with. I learned this when Burt gave us a quick lesson about  how to make a cup on a pottery wheel. Lets just say that whatever I made was nothing like a cup.

I also got the opportunity to visit Sammy's house. He lives very close to the factory, and the other day he invited me over and I met his family. It was a very nice experience, and we got some

We've also got another order in Nairobi, meaning already we need to organize for another truckload of fitlers to go to Nairobi. Which is of course very exciting, but also a lot of work. At this time of year the farmers are trying to bring their agricultural products to market, meaning the trucks are often very busy. And recently the fuel price has gone up again, which seems like a daily occurance here. Nevertheless it is quite encouraging, and if I need to cram into the lorry with a bunch of farmers again I'll be happy to do it.