During the summer of 2008, DHELP sent a team of seven Thayer students to Banda, Rwanda a rural electrification pilot project designed to test the efficacy of small, locally manufactured hydro-electric systems. The system was designed in the US with the goals of being simple to use, inexpensive, and sustainable. The turbine was designed to be easy to manufacture with locally available materials, tools, and techniques, so that local mechanics could replicate or repair it. Additionally, the implementation team worked with local technicians to create a permanent local knowledge base capable of effecting system repairs, or building and installing additional systems. Successful on site testing proved the system fundamentally sound, and further analysis reinforced the idea that the concept and technology are viable.