from jack...In December/January (‘08/’09), we sent a team of men and women from GCC to help install 5 bio-sand water filters in a small test-village near Kalavai as a “down payment” on a quantity of 75 more that we had shipped overseas for later installation to the rest of village. These filters are basically comprised of a large, blue, plastic bucket with nearly 140 lbs of various diameter sand and gravel, and effectively remove 90% of infectious bacteria from a water supply, thus improving overall hygiene and eliminating virtually all water-borne diseases from a family’s potential life. If the 5 we installed in January were a) still standing, and b) had been effective, then c) two members of our current team (Chad Anderson and Dan Scott) would jump in to train a group of village volunteers to install the remaining 75 in the other houses around the village.
So we inspected the 5 and found that all but one were operational (1 had been knocked over by a drunken male, and thus rendered useless). In fact, the 4 others were being well used, and each family reported that they had noticed an improvement in their overall health. “We haven’t been sick for 6 months” one mother smiled as she told us about her filter, “and I’m sure this has helped!” One family, in order to ensure that the filter stayed stationary, concreted the filter to the flooring to keep it upright an immovable. We were impressed.
So Chad and Dan set about training another group of village members the first day, and then, along with some additional members from our team, set about installing 15 more on Tuesday in combined teams of Americans and Indians. While Chad and Dan will still be available as resources on Thursday and Friday, the newly trained groups of Indians were, as Chad said, “doing just fine on their own”, and so expect to have the project and promise of 75 total filters to the community completed by the end of the week!
So we inspected the 5 and found that all but one were operational (1 had been knocked over by a drunken male, and thus rendered useless). In fact, the 4 others were being well used, and each family reported that they had noticed an improvement in their overall health. “We haven’t been sick for 6 months” one mother smiled as she told us about her filter, “and I’m sure this has helped!” One family, in order to ensure that the filter stayed stationary, concreted the filter to the flooring to keep it upright an immovable. We were impressed.So Chad and Dan set about training another group of village members the first day, and then, along with some additional members from our team, set about installing 15 more on Tuesday in combined teams of Americans and Indians. While Chad and Dan will still be available as resources on Thursday and Friday, the newly trained groups of Indians were, as Chad said, “doing just fine on their own”, and so expect to have the project and promise of 75 total filters to the community completed by the end of the week!
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