First, we went on a camping trip with Yaajeende in a village about 30k away from Agnam. The first day was pretty chill, as the actual trainers arrived late, but we did construct something known as a tippy tap, a hygienic water-saving hand washing alternative to the running water/sink combo, something I only see in larger cities or super nice restaurants. We built it outside of the bathroom at the health post (we were camping out in the grassy area by the health post). How it works is that you take a 5 liter bidon, make a small nail hole in the upper part, and tie it to a tight string attached to a large stick that sits at an angle when undisturbed. When you step on the stick, it pulls the rope tight, tilts the bidon, and lets out a nice trickle of water. No contamination is even possible as your hands never touch the handwashing device itself. Here's my interpretation:
(of course, that should say diameter up there)And here's a much smaller but probably better interpretation that I found on google images... actually, not that much better, because they forgot the soap on a rope!
The next day we started the discussion and construction of a simple hand-dug water filtration system to help prevent the contamination of the soil. We built it at the village chief's house. An issue in our region is that people will often dump oily, greasy, bloody, and otherwise filthy water just into the streets, where kids play in it, horses drink it, and it seeps into the soil. In addition, many people have shower drains that drain directly into the street, and all of the dirty soapy oily shower water puddles in the sandy roads. By digging a filtration pit and directing waste water into the filtration pit, you a) prevent standing water in the street which in turn prevents mosquito breeding and the diseases that come with it and b) protect the soil and potentially wells/ groundwater from oily icky contamination.Basically, you dig a large pit to the size of your liking, put large rocks on the bottom of it, and layer smaller and smaller rocks until you are layering with pebbles. Then, you attach pipes to your shower drain/waste water drain to guide the water to your filtration system. Then, you bury the pipes and protect them with a concrete encasing at the entrance of the shower/wastewater drain. Next, you build a strong wood thatching to cover the pit. Place a tarp over the entire wood thatching, then cover the whole pit, complete with tarp and wood thatching, with a few inches of dirt until it is level with the surrounding ground. I know the question you might ask: Won't the wood degrade and people will fall into the pit?! We asked our trainers about this, and they said that actually it holds pretty well but it does need to be rebuilt every 12 months.
Here's my interpretation:
And here's the proper, slightly more legit version, thanks again to google:
The concrete for the project was carried the way kings used to be carried in the olden days. A sack of concrete was put over two logs, and and four people carried the concrete by each standing upright while holding one of the four "corners" of the logs. Before my camera vanished I had this awesome video of Nic and 3 of our fellow trainees carrying the concrete and making this awesome grunting sing-song (nevermind the fact that Nic was wearing a Bob Marley turban- yes, those exist here, and yes, you actually see people with them, particularly shepherds for whatever reason), but you'll just have to settle for this:
Let's not forget about the olden days:
(That Egyptian king = concrete. Those guys carrying him = Nic et al)We also learned how to make a permanent smoke-cutting health-enhancing stove, but, unfortunately, I am tired and will just have to spend some time writing about it tommorow or the next day. It feels really good to have contributed to concrete, practical solutions in the village of our camp site. Have a great evening, all!
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