Tuesday, June 30, 2009

One for the Road

At the end of next week, when I end my service as a US Peace Corps volunteer, I will have been in the Philippines for 1204 days. Three years ago, I got off a plane in sweaty, gritty Manila carrying on my back everything I thought the Philippines was lacking (a backpack full of tools to save the world). Several active volunteers and some well-seasoned staff met my group at Ninoy Aquino International Airport and herded us like jetlagged, gawking cattle with no idea where they were or how they might leave into buses and off to the nicest hotel I would stay at for my entire time here.

For 2 months, I was trained in the Bikol language and cultural appropriateness of eating, drinking and pooping (always take a bite, take a shot if you are offered and NO ONE USES TOILET PAPER). I studied hard and, with the help of my unforgettable group of fellow trainees, managed to spend the better part of every day laughing until my sides hurt.


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In June 2006, I was sworn-in to serve in the 265th batch of the more than 8000 Peace Corps volunteers to serve in the Philippines since 1961 (this picture is just of the people I trained with in Bikol, there were 75 of us in my batch of volunteers).


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August 2006 brought a volcanic eruption


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September 2006 brought the strongest typhoon seen in storm-smashed Bikol in 20 years.


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November 2006 one-upped September with the strongest typhoon in the living memory of Bikol. More than a thousand people were killed in the ensuing landslides and another 40,000+ people were left homeless. I saw millions of dollars in relief money thrown around with little thought or accountability; ever wonder where your "help-the-poor" donations go?



In April 2007 my fellow volunteer, and friend, Julia Campbell, was murdered on a vacation in her last few months before leaving the country.


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In May 2007 I decided that massive natural disasters weren't a good reason not to not do my job, so I helped set up a manufacturing center for household water filters. Since it started, the production center has made more than 350 filters and installed them in schools and homes around the region.


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I spent the rest of my service designing and constructing multiple piped water supply pipelines to communities who previously had to walk more than a half mile to the nearest source of water (of questionable quality). I have greased political palms to do this.


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I have used engineering equipment from world war II.


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I have seen necessity be the mother of invention (this guy is using a hacksaw blade with his bare hands).



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I have eaten rice for almost every meal



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I have slaughtered, cleaned, cooked and eaten pigs, chickens, turkeys and goats.


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I have crawled through caves, lept from waterfalls, slept on white sand beaches and swam through beautiful forests of coral.


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I have survived lava flows, knee-deep mud, plants whose leaves will burn your skin, foot-long centipedes, hand-sized spiders and hot-dog-flavored-mayonnaise sandwiches on wonderbread.


THE BEST PART:
I was paid by the US Government to do this.

Careful: Peace Corps is not the protected bubble of happiness and fulfillment that its colorful pamphlets make it out to be. I went through a daily roller-coaster ride of emotions. Moment-to-moment things like being yelled and giggled at by every person I pass on the street were just as taxing as the bureaucracy and corruption that are ways of life in the Philippines. Almost nothing works the way it should and I expect all restaurants to have less than half of their menus available at any given time. These frustrations could bring laughter or anger depending on the hour of the day and the day of the week. On the other hand, the few (less than 10) moments of pure success I had made every other second worth it.

To anyone stuck in a rut/office without any kind of meaning in your life: JOIN. Peace Corps is a leap of faith, so I really can't tell you why except that I have not met a single volunteer who regretted the decision to join. You will gain so much more from the "sacrifice" of your two years helping those in need than the dollars you don't earn. Every hour of every day is different and exciting in ways you can't comprehend. You will be a celebrity. Any ideas you might have of "how the world works" will be smashed and reshaped into something incomprehensible to the current "you". You will see how families and communities of people can come together and collectively survive while under threat from global forces well beyond their mental grasp.

If you don't think you could join for whatever reason or you don't think they want you, at least take 5 minutes and Email a Peace Corps Recruiter and ask them what they are looking for. Or go to a Peace Corps Event near you. What you learn might surprise you.

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If you have kept in touch over the last 3 years, thank you. The isolation of being one of 10 native english speakers in a city of 150,000 is powerful and it helps to have support from home.

Peace Corps has told me numerous times not to underestimate the mind-warp of coming home from the developing world the the USA. I want to give myself about 6 weeks before I am ready to start saving the people of America, but other than that my plans are no more detailed than eating a sandwich and maybe getting some sleep.


AND REMEMBER:


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Monday, June 22, 2009

Water System Construction

Water System Construction Through Partnership (As published in the Aquinas University Campus Newsletter).

PICTURES AT THE END.

Aquinas University Foundation’s community development program in Lamba, Legaspi City has numerous aspects; from agriculture to education, and now potable water supply. A Level II (communal faucet access) water supply system is currently under construction in the center of barangay Lamba to dramatically improve the resident’s access to water for domestic uses. This project is being funded by a number of different stakeholders. Once completed, the water system will be managed by the barangay council, and eventually, a people’s organization.

The residents of puroks 1 and 2 of Lamba have a number of difficulties in accessing clean water for drinking, cooking, washing and other domestic needs. The closest potable water source is approximately 500 meters away, over a hill; men, women and children can regularly be seen carrying single gallon jugs to and from this source for their families. The barangay’s sandy soil and proximity to the Albay Gulf make all open and drilled wells undrinkable due to salt water intrusion and contamination. The source to be tapped for this system is a large, constantly flowing spring with no variation in flow during the summer.

The water system is very simple, yet effective. Water will flow, by gravity, through 2” diameter PE pipe for 500 meters until it reaches a high point in the center of purok 1, Lamba. In centro, a 9000 liter ferrocement (thin-walled concrete) water storage tank will be built to store water collected during the evening for use during the day. From the storage tank, another 2” diameter PE pipe will carry the water 400 meters to 8 different communal faucets strategically placed throughout the barangay for maximum benefit. Each faucet is built of reinforced concrete to ensure its safety.

This project has been prepared and will be funded by a number of different local, national and international agencies. The total water system budget of PHP288,000.00 is funded jointly by Hiefer International, the US Peace Corps and an in-kind labor counterpart from the community members. Community organizing and pre-project awareness were done by Aquinas University’s Center for Community Extension Services and the US Peace Corps volunteer, Page Weil, assigned there. Topographic surveys and water system design were done by the US Peace Corps volunteer, enlisting the help of the beneficiaries whenever necessary. The ferrocement tank technology was developed and tested for Albay at Aquinas University’s Rawis Campus; prototypes can be seen by the water refilling station near the cocofed building. Sunwest Development Corp has generously allowed use of the water source and the land where the transmission pipes will be laid since it lies within their property.

The people and barangay council of barangay Lamba have greeted Aquinas University and the US Peace Corps with open arms and, as of this writing, are working hard to make this plan a reality. The project is scheduled for completion in May of this year.


And now...PICTURES!!!


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The children in this picture carried those buckets of water from more than 500 meters away. They do this every day.


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To build this water system, we used WWII-era surveying gear.


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Water is transmitted over a kilometer through 2" plastic pipe


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Here the masons are plastering the reusable form for a 9000 Liter Ferrocement Tank (this is not the first one I have built)


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There are few feelings in the world better than watching someone's face as they turn on a water tap in their neighborhood for the first time ever.


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Kids playing in the spray of a pipe under repair.

I'm speechless

Ridiculous things that need very little explanation:

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A meat-shop LITERALLY on the side of the road. Notice the fan with no blades for keeping flies away.


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These are individually, and hand-wrapped, tomatoes and onions


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A worker HAND-PAINTING the lane lines on the national highway. This was not just a touch-up job, he spent all day doing this.


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Two girls are assigned to wrestle a single cow to the ground. It takes about 30 seconds.


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A curious lizard on my kitchen counter


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Cure-all drops from the Great Salt Lake (we all know how clean and full of healing energy it is).


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I challenge you to figure out where to pee in this bathroom... (hint, it ISN'T the bucket).


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Probably the most disturbing statue I have ever seen.


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My workspace