Last Morning at the Mabati House
Last night I moved to the Mabati house, one of the rental houses on the property. This one has room for 6 people, more than I needed, but it was the smallest house available. I also got to meet someone working at the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi who was staying for a night or two — always good conversations.
The Mabati house was beautifully designed. One wall opened up entirely in three separate panels, and on the other side about two-thirds opened up, so you could just be part of the surroundings. There were no traditional windows — just some light-colored corrugated material at the top that let in light. Amazing design work. Nice job, Jamie.
After letting everything go back to the way I found it and having breakfast at the restaurant, it was time to make my way back to Nairobi through the Rift Valley.
Driving Back Through the Rift Valley
Today is my last day in Kenya. I have a flight one minute before midnight leaving Nairobi on Kenya Airways to Bangkok, then on with Thai Airways to Haneda, Japan, where I’ll be visiting my son Nathan, his wife Medea, and grandson Noah for five or six days before moving on to Seattle.
The ride back to Nairobi was very special — there’s no scenery quite like the Rift Valley. I stopped along the way for a bite and picked up one or two souvenirs, even though I hardly ever buy anything like that since I didn’t have room to carry things around. There were some G Adventures vehicles there — they apparently are everywhere.
Finding Burn Manufacturing in Nairobi
My whole objective for this last day in Kenya was to find Burn Manufacturing, also called EKOHA. On my website, Bern Design Lab is one of the companies I’m trying to spread the word about, located on Vashon Island. The person who started it, Peter Scott, moved to Kenya in 2016 to put all their innovations to work. Now in Nairobi, Burn Manufacturing has both a headquarters and a manufacturing space.
I had tried to touch base with Peter beforehand but hadn’t made contact. I only knew Peter from giving him a ride once on Vashon, from the ferry to town. I decided to just go to headquarters on Spring Valley Road and see if he was around. It’s a very busy place with more than 300 people working there.
Peter wasn’t at headquarters — he was at the factory giving a tour — but someone was able to text him, and we arranged to have lunch together. That was icing on the cake. It was only about a 15-minute ride, and he recognized me despite our one brief meeting.
Lunch with Peter Scott — Carbon Credits and Global Expansion
Over an amazing lunch, Peter explained what’s happening with Burn Manufacturing. A few years after he got started, carbon credits came about. Companies that produce too many carbon emissions have to pay for doing that, and companies that save carbon production receive the money. This is how Burn Manufacturing can produce stoves without having to sell them at full production cost — and it’s helping in a very big way.
Peter was enthusiastic as always and enjoyed hearing that I had visited the EKOHA assembly plant in Malawi. He mentioned that in Kano, Nigeria, what started as an assembly place is now also manufacturing many parts. That operation is called Burn Stoves Nigeria Limited.
Factory Tour with COO Oliver Mauersböe
Peter connected me with Oliver Mauersböe, the COO, who offered to give me a tour of the factory. The only downside was navigating Nairobi’s busy traffic to get there, possibly arriving after 5:00 when one of the shifts was ending. But I made good time.
Meeting Oliver was amazing. He started out working at Tesla in its early days, responsible for all the electronic parts. He mentioned that he’s never worked with anybody as passionate and enthusiastic as Peter Scott about solving a world problem — and Peter is solving it big time, even though there’s a lot more to do.
Burn Manufacturing’s Incredible Impact
The numbers speak for themselves:
- 7.2 million stoves sold
- 75.7 million tons of CO2 reduced
- $2.8 billion saved for households
- 44.6 million tons of wood saved
- 36.7 million lives impacted
- 52,000 jobs created since 2013
The factory in Ruiru, on the north side of Nairobi, employs 1,200 people working in two shifts, with 40 people dedicated just to equipment maintenance. It’s an impressive place, and getting the tour from Oliver was really fun.
Oliver was instrumental in securing the Ruiru location, the Malawi assembly plant, and the Kano location. They have a really strong team. Peter mentioned I was lucky he was around, as he spends much of his time traveling to keep the business growing. It’s a challenging business with a lot of moving pieces, but they’re doing an amazing job.
How You Can Help
If you see fit to support Burn Manufacturing and the work Peter Scott is doing, visit bridgingthecontinents.com and consider making a contribution to the lab. What Peter is doing will be furthered all around the world. Thank you for coming along.
