OH YEAH BABY! New (Pics) Ergonomic Backpack is Ready!

Feb 9, 2010 01:32 am 2 Comments

Hello all you wild and crazy Change Agents and supporters!!!!!

I wanted to share some pictures of our new Backpack. Yes, the Backpack Farm is actually a backpack.   Until now we have been working with a basic canvas backpack but I knew I wanted something more strategic which would last longer and support the weight of the drip irrigation lines.

The most amazing company, Sandstorm Kenya (www.sandstormkenya.com) has been working with me since last year. Mark Stephenson and Jim Wagner from the Sandstorm team have been very committed to working with me to translate my vision into detailed sketches, diagrams, working demos until we have the best possible design; an ergonomic backpack that will be the most sustainable as well as practical for use by the farmer.

It has been designed with a blend of PE, canvas and meshing which won't rot away even when exposed to water. The farmer can use this to transport filler packs of new agriculture products.  Heck, he could carry a small child in it, if he needed to! Each pocket correlates to the 4 layers of agro inputs we provide the farmer and eventually we will color code the tabs of each pocket to correlate to color tabs (red, yellow, blue & green) so farmers who are illiterate don't use the wrong products at the wrong time.  There is an inner pocket which holds all the training material and farm journal.  There are lots of other cool but practical features.   

Now I am not saying that during this process we haven't had our tense moments but it is a pleasure to get to work with another Kenyan enterprise (like Lachlan and Irrico; my 2 technical suppliers) who are fully committed to the success of this project.  Another big step forward!   I know this isn't so sexy to look at but I actually had tears in my eyes this morning when I unveiled it to the team.  Everyone was impressed, which says a lot. I work with a tough and professional team. For me, it is the physical embodiment of more than 2 1/2 years of blood, sweat, tears and dreams.  It is also a bit of fear that YES, this is really happening!

I know this may not be my most exciting blog to date. No, I am not sleeping a lot but too many amazing things are going on to sleep!  I am not going to go into all of it now but will keep all of you updated.  

HINT:  Next week we install 5 new demo farms on schools in Naivasha, Gilgil and Naroc. But so much more!!!!!!!! 

Rachel

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Jen_Changents
January 27, 2010 - 10:48am

Congrats Rachel! Your hard work is paying off and I'm so happy to see everything coming together. The backpack looks amazing and what a brilliant idea to color code the tabs. I love it. Glad you are working with a great team who is supporting you and moving things along. I'm excited to hear how the new demos go next week. You said these will be at schools, what types of schools? Is this blend still eco-friendly? ~ It seems like the non-rot benefit is pretty huge!

RachelKenya
January 27, 2010 - 1:10pm

I only wish the word ergonomic meant sexy and maybe more people would click and read! The newest demo farms we are installing with be at schools. It still gives commercial farms and NGOs access to visit and evaluate them for their own programs but also provides food for children who need it. And everything in our backpack is always eco-friendly!

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