WASHEtheChildren

Hosanna Project - Great news!

2010-09-28T19:44:00.002-06:00

Initiated in February 2007, the Hosanna Project targeted ten rural communities (kebeles), with a total population of 55,800. Four Lifewater teams trained indigenous trainers who trained community leaders. According to government surveys, the independent baseline survey, and the final project evaluation, the Hosanna Project boosted latrine coverage in the project area from 60.9 percent to 97.2 percent. Not reflected in these numbers is the significant improvements made in 5,390 old latrines, many of which had been counted in the baseline survey but were deemed inadequate. The local government health offices responsible for monitoring public health reported that acute watery diarrhea, which had been the number two health risk to children dropped completely out of the top ten. In one survey conducted at the project’s conclusion, only 16 of 396 families with children under five years old had an incidence of diarrhea in the past two weeks (4 percent). In the baseline survey, the number was 63 (43 percent). For more details go to www.Lifewater.org

March , 2010/ Lifewater trip #8/ SE Asia

2010-03-22T09:38:00.003-06:00

While looking out the window of our turboprop in the Bangkok airport, I remember thinking: “I hope that bald tire doesn’t blow.” It was beyond bald; the core was showing. And, when our ride from the airport quit running half way to our final destination, memories of my first trip to Uganda came back. We had stopped about 7 times in the middle of Uganda to refill the radiator until it wouldn’t hold anything. This time the truck quit right across the street from a mechanic. He spent something under an hour fixing it -- just good enough to get us about 5 miles out of town. But, with God on our side, we found humor in our situations. Some locals who were watching us trying to push start the truck and laughing about it, came over and laughed with us a while before telling us of a (better) mechanic a few miles ahead.

Our training partner is required to operate as a for profit business, so we had to conduct this sanitation training in a way that complies with the country’s rules. Do you know how many engineers it takes to design & build a latrine? We didn’t either, so there were four of us on this trip. We even had a retired judge as part of our team to act as mediator. We ended up building (you got it) four different latrines at a village with a school of about 140 children and no functional latrines. All of our Asian students had at least a high school education, and an Australian, who will be working with them, has a degree in a related field of engineering. We told our students we wanted them to have a tool box full of options to fit different situations. About the time we were finished with construction, we took the students to lunch at the river. The restaurant apparently didn’t have enough food, so the hostess plopped a line over the side and had a good sized fish within seconds. I wouldn’t wash my hands with that water, so no telling what trace minerals that fish added to my diet. With the temperature over 100 and humidity close to that, a couple of them jumped in for a quick swim.
The people were amazingly friendly. It is absolutely fantastic to see the economic progress the country has made and why it is becoming a popular ecotourism destination. Our partner cannot simply provide subsidized sanitation as in Africa, so we suggested that they consider Jesus’ teaching of a person who build his house on a solid foundation (Matt 7:24-27). The analogy is that, while WASH (WAter, Sanitation & Hygiene) will not make you rich, you cannot be prosperous without the good health and other benefits of WASH. As with all the prior trips, this was an incredibly gratifying experience. You are missing a life changing experience filled with wonderful memories if you haven’t helped people in a developing country.

Sept 09 Cholera / advanced sanitation Zambia

2009-09-21T13:18:00.006-06:00

You haven’t lived until you experience the joy & gratification of helping others in a developing country. It only became clear to me just prior to this trip that cholera is a pervasive problem in Africa. It’s hard to get donors and foundations excited about projects with goals of constructing latrines, but cholera and other diseases can be eliminated with effective sanitation practices. The UN has designated 2009 as the international year of sanitation, yet there’s very little funding for sanitation projects. Even the indigenous people we help while training our students don’t realize that sanitation practices reduce mortality rate more significantly than providing them safe drinking water. It’s not very glamorous, but somebody’s got to do it.

For the last two weeks of Sept 09, three Lifewater volunteers went with me to Ndola, Zambia to teach advanced sanitation training. Our primary goal was to teach students how to construct latrines in waterlogged areas so that they wouldn’t over flow, collapse or otherwise fail during the rainy season. It became very clear on our first day there that there were a multitude of problems. The solutions were often simple, but most Zambians (or even schools for that matter) don’t have enough money to correct the problems. One solution seemed intuitive yet we had to point it out: construct the latrines on high ground (or build a mound to make high ground) rather than construct in low lying areas. We suggested eleven solutions to the latrine failures like composting, larger overlap of slabs over the pits and roofs.

We constructed demo latrines at a new school that had no latrines for the students or teachers. Lifewater provides development training rather than relief, so we required the school to provide community support. Local women helped us dig the pits and construct one of the slabs for the latrines, but the local men refused to help even when asked.

Memorial Day'09 - Training the Trainers.

2009-09-13T16:38:00.003-06:00

It was a privilege of helping to train more Lifewater sanitation trainers. Even better - three of them will going to Zambia with me to help solve the problem of cholera outbreaks after flooding overflows their latrines.

Back to Ethiopia

2008-09-07T16:43:00.010-06:00

13 Months of Sunshine
Four of us spent two weeks in Hosanna, Ethiopia teaching sanitation. The Ethiopian calendar actually has 13 months and their new Millennium began Sept 11, 2007. Even their clock is different with the day beginning at 6 am so that 1 pm would be 7 hours. Their rainy season was supposed to be winding down, but it rained hard all but the last 3 days day of the 3 weeks that we were there. Addis Ababa is above 8000 feet and Hosanna is only slightly lower, so we were wearing jackets most of the time. Pneumonia is a common problem there and it was easy to see why with many people walking barefoot or nearly so in cold, pouring rain.
The first week we taught sanitation promotion to 10 school directors (principals) of basic schools that ranged from 1000 to 1500 children and 10 sanitation promoters hired by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). They each represented communities of 500 to 800 people. Sanitation promotion may not sound important, but it was the most critical training since many people have never even seen or used a latrine. One rainy day, we traveled 2 hours to one of the schools to practice sanitation promotion with a target group of fathers. It is hard to convince people that their health depends on good sanitation. The fact that improved health will cost them less money and allow them to produce more income is a more convincing reason to them to practice sanitation. We learned that the project was a partnership between EECMY, Lifewater International, and USAID. The goal is for EEMCY to assure that 10 latrines are constructed in each school and one in each of 10 communities. If you do the math, the project should directly improve the lives of something on the order of 19,000 people.
The second week, we taught actual latrine construction to the 10 promoters and 10 community leaders. We discovered that they didn’t realize that maggots weren’t innocent white worms when we discussed how a latrine could control flies and odors. We constructed a VIP (Ventilated Improved Pit) latrine structure from locally available materials (structure from Eucalyptus & mud) and had them participate in construction of a portable, cement slab.
The students seemed to grasp the statement that I had heard: safe WAter reduces mortality rates by about 17%, Sanitation reduces it by about 35%, and Hygiene reduces it by something like 25% but the combination of the three (WASH) reduces mortality by about 65%. EECMY repeatedly points to its holistic ministry (promoting good health along with evangelizing), so they were quick to embrace the need for WASH instead of just safe drinking WAter.
Ethiopia may sound like a hopeless place with its over-population, famine, and poverty problems, but actually we were very surprised to see very positive signs of development since I was there 2 years ago (new roads, new buildings, and improved infrastructure). We were asked by the urban planning commission of “Hosanna town” to discuss sanitation with them. They mentioned a high death rate among children and the problems you would expect for a town of 77,000 people with no public latrines. We made some recommendations that included a promotion campaign followed by constructing public demonstration latrines in high traffic places like the bus station. They should require what amounts to 1 cent to use them, so someone could be paid to keep them clean. This is a picture in the heart of town.

One weekend we visited the Ajora falls which according to their register hadn't been visited for a month -- Ethiopia has great tourist potential. Two rivers come together here and fall over 900 feet.

Friday April 18, 2008 - we're done!

2008-04-18T09:58:00.003-06:00

We awarded training certificates to our students today. SHIP's operations director leveraged our work by convincing Mobile Missions to construct the structure of the twin VIP. They are learning a German technology that allows bricks to be made at very little cost (76 bricks from 110# bag of cement) and laid with very little mortar. They used our latrine site as a training site, so we gave them a donation for helping us out. They were close to finished when we left. It has been a great experience as always. The students were very grateful and anxious to help make Zambia a better place.

One done, one to go

2008-04-17T10:02:00.004-06:00

This is a picture of our students with the completed arborloo. This is overkill on the materials I will admit, because it is intended to be made from the cheapest of materials (like bamboo walls). When an arborloo fills up, you simply move it to a new pit and plant a fruit tree where the old pit was. Since this is a demo latrine, we have invited the community to use this, so it might get moved every few weeks. The vision is for a row of fruit trees. Jerry was able to line up a team from Mobile Missions to construct the structure of the twin VIP from hydroformed bricks - completed picture tomorrow I hope.

2nd day 2nd week of training in Mapalo

2008-04-15T11:11:00.003-06:00

We have essentially finished the construction of the Arborloo latrine which is ready to use and the pit for the twin VIP today. We have to wait one more day for the slab to cure on the twin VIP, so tomorrow will be dedicated to refreshing everyone on design, latrine types, promotion, etc. The picture is a little sad - the girl on the left is 5 yrs old and hauled that baby around all day long.

Zambia Sanitation 1 week gone by

2008-04-13T09:57:00.002-06:00

The first week went by incredibly fast, but it was good to get a rest this weekend. You haven't lived until you worship Yehway (God) in an African church. I made a couple short videos, but they don't begin to do it justice. The picture shows our students, who we've been training in between construction steps, working on the slab for the twin VIP. It is going to be REALLY interesting trying to move about a ton of concrete on Thursday after the cement has cured.

Starting the Twin VIP

2008-04-09T10:39:00.003-06:00

4/9/08: We started construction of the Twin Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrine. It is designed for composting, so there must be access for someone to climb down into the pit after it has composted. We spent the day digging a pit, preparing a site to pour the slab, and determining how many concrete blocks we would need. It was a slower process than the engineer in me would like, but they are definitely starting to understand the process.

Sanitation training day 2 in Zambia .

2008-04-07T10:47:00.004-06:00

4/8/08 : On Monday we made a form for a latrine plat, but it POURED rain. Add to that the daily electric power outages of 4-6 hours and the unbelievable cost of living, and it becomes challenging. I don't know how people afford to eat. Diesel, which is cheaper than gasoline by a fair amount, is $7.77/gallon. On Tuesday , we poured the cement for the latrine slab and trained for construction of a twin VIP latrine that we will construct in Mapalo. No rain today fortunately. The people here are inspiring. Some were really excited to learn that sanitation has the most impact of the WASH elements.

Zambia sanitation training - day 1

2008-04-07T09:57:00.003-06:00

April 7, It has been a good day. We met our students - 17 of them - and some were familiar faces from the July training. Many were representatives of their respective compounds - Nkwazi, Mapalo, MacKenzie, and George. We were trying to pour a latrine slab for the arborloo that we will set up at the construction site in Mapalo when the skies opened up. We had a change of plans, of course, and began teaching disease paths and blocking and other of the sanitation latrine theory. We plan to pour a slab tomorrow and go into more theory. If you think prices have gone up in the USA, you wouldn't believe how much things cost here now. 80,000 kwacha ($22.41) for a 50KG (110lb) bag of cement. Diesel costs 7,300 kwacha/litre ($7.77/gal) and I have to wonder how the common family can afford to eat. We're enjoying the experience and the people are great! blessings, Lon

Zambia - 2nd trip

2008-03-29T10:49:00.005-06:00

wo Lifewater Volunteers (Steve & Marcia) and I left on April 2nd for Zambia to teach latrine construction. This is a followup to the training that Jeff, Darcy & I conducted in July 07. There are over 2.6 billion people in this world without adequate sanitation, see what you can do to help -- check http://www.lifewater.org/ We will be teaching three different latrine designs including two that compost the waste. As they say: "Its a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it." On 4/4, we arrived after MANY hours of travel and have begun the task of obtaining materials & supplies.

FAQ's

2007-08-17T10:21:00.001-06:00

Here are answers to frequently answered questions:

Do I need to be an engineer to teach water well drilling, pump repair or biofilters? No. Lifewater and other NGO's can teach you within a week. On the first trip, you can assist with training. Within another trip or two you can be prepared to lead the training.

Is it safe? Obviously there are no guarantees, but a good partner and a good NGO will keep you out of harm's way. The biggest risk is vehicle accidents. Except for the vehicles, I've felt safer in these countries than when I am in the "wrong part" of big cities in the US. Check with a group like Passport Health for your immunizations.

Vision for the slums of Zambia

2007-08-08T07:17:00.000-06:00

In July, 2007 we worked with Seeds of Hope International Partners (SHIP). Teams from LI had recently taught hygiene and biofilter technology. LI had also taught drilling and pump repair. This trip was focused on teaching sanitation (latrines) which was the final piece of the WASHE puzzle. SHIP has already done some amazing work. They will become the center of expertise for all of Zambia teaching other organizations how to manufacture and market biofilters. They have a vision of providing biofilters to people in the slums who have taken training in the use of biofilters and have demonstrated that they are utilizing the hygiene and sanitation training they have been taught. This seems like a practical solution for the slum areas because it is unlikely that governments or donors are likely to install water systems and sewers.

Pump repair and biofilters in Uganda

2007-08-06T18:34:00.000-06:00

Uganda (February 2007): One team taught biofilters to almost 20 students while another man and I taught hand pump repair to 20 other students. We were in northern Uganda in an area that had once been overrun by the “Lord’s Resistance Army.” We heard horror stories of the terrorism and destruction spread by the LRA and its child soldiers. We saw villages that had been destroyed and conducted our training within a stone’s throw of a “displaced persons camp.” People from that camp used the water pump on the compound where we were teaching. We fixed several pumps while teaching. One pump served a displaced persons camp and a school of over 1000 children. Their water source is shown in the picture with the camp in the background. We pulled a pump that had been serving thousands of people in a large suburban area. It had ceased functioning almost 6 months earlier. I enjoy pump repair the most because it costs so little to help so many people. People in northern Uganda are desperate for our help. Between terrorism, AIDS, malaria, unemployment, and WASH related diseases, these people have little to be happy about. It is a good feeling to know the people we taught will be helping many more people (funded by a large grant from Blood Water Mission/Jars of Clay).

Teach a Man to Fish

2007-08-05T07:48:00.000-06:00

Ethiopia (June, 2006): There is a proverb that says "Give a man a fish and he will live another day, but teach a man to fish and he will eat for life." In this typical Lifewater trip we worked with a host agency, the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church. We taught advanced pump repair skills to 8 EKHC men and 8 government "water desk" employees -- one of whom was Muslim. EKHC has built a well-deserved reputation of excellence. In addition to WASH programs, it also has other departments that educate the public (AIDS, agricultural skills). Each of these students, who were not new to pump repair, are now in a position to teach others pump repair skills.

These trips are rewarding and memorable. They are the most fun when I get to mix with the children and the villagers. While the students are repairing a well, LI volunteers try to stay out of the spotlight. We want our host agency to be remembered as the people who fixed their well. I use this as an opportunity to talk to the villagers (through an interpreter) and take pictures.

Teaching water well drilling & hygiene in Tibet

2007-08-04T19:27:00.000-06:00

Tibet (May 2005): This was my first trip with Lifewater International (LI). We worked with our host agency (Friends of China) and taught hygiene to four Buddhist men as well as how to drill with a rotary drilling rig. Other teams had been there before us and others have followed because LI emphasized sustainable development. We drilled a well in a school of over 100 children. Construction and development is occurring about everywhere you look in China, but every country has its poor. Conditions in Tibet are incredibly harsh. I was a little surprised how cool it was in the middle of the summer. We were told that the ground freezes about 10' deep (~3 meters). This shouldn't have surprised me as we were on a 12,000' plateau. The children watched our activities with great curiosity. LI is a Christian organization, but we did not attempt to even share why we were there in keeping with Chinese laws.