Sometimes there are moments in Peace Corps that make you sit back, smile and remember why you love this job.
The community of Jovellar, Albay is extremely rural and is one of the poorest in the province. Over the last 6-12 months (depending on how you look at it) I have been working with a number of local NGOs and government agencies to develop the plans to construct (2) piped water systems for barangays Rizal and Quitinday in Jovellar.
Just last week, my counterpart and I met with the barangay council of Quitinday to spell out the division of labor for pipeline and tank construction. We needed the council to offer, as the community's counterpart, local labor to haul all construction materials 2km into the jungle to the site where we will lay the pipe and build the water tanks. The total cost estimate, using local daily wages, came to about 25000 pesos. It is hard to understand how difficult it is to ask for donations from people who struggle to buy a kilogram of rice for their families everyday (even with the world rice crisis, 1kg of rice runs about $0.75 a kilogram).
They all speak a rural, upland dialect of Bikol that I can only partially understand, so I had only a vague idea of what they were debating. After an hour of raised-voice deliberation over how the materials would be moved into the woods, all 15 council members leaned back in their chairs at the same time, clapped once and said "iyan" (translates as "like that"). They had decided to have the council buy food for all the workers and families of the workers who will carry materials to the site.
Bikol is, for the most part, a contextual language; sentences are not too complicated and you can usually understand what someone is talking about just based on what they are doing at the time. To have a group of people who don't all necessarily agree with one another have one communal moment of clarity and come together with a clap and a "iyan" was an amazing sight to see.
From the volunteers I have spoken to, and my own personal experience, the best feeling a volunteer can get isn't building a pipeline or planting a tree but when someone UNDERSTANDS you. If a local takes what you tell them, interprets it and acts on it in the way that you intended the information to be used, there is this almost giddy sense of success that I can't really put into words (though clearly I am trying to).
Not too many people will admit to having "the clap" as their best memory of Peace Corps, but I know I will.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Donating my body to culinary science
A few hypothetical questions for all the vegans out there:
Let's assume I get in a horrible car accident which results in both my legs being amputated. I would immediately have the legs put on ice and saved for my next memorial day party. This doesn't sound like much fun, but let's look at the silver lining: there would be a few pounds of morally neutral meat available for the eating.
Would YOU, as a fellow enjoyer-of-barbeque, ever eat human meat if it was presented to you in this way?
Do the tenets of veganism (no violence against another creature) imply that cannibalism like this is not allowed? If I consciously offer my own meat, does that remove any moral qualms about where the meat came from?
Can I invite my vegan friend to the party without him/her getting offended?
How would you want the meat prepared?
If this question is too strange for you, ask yourself what about cannibalism makes it wrong or at least undesirable?
It may be human meat, but we are just animals with very similar biochemistry to monkeys, whether you think Darwin was a douche or not. If you would eat monkey, why wouldn't you eat me.... if I offered?
The Twilight Zone - To Serve Man
Let's assume I get in a horrible car accident which results in both my legs being amputated. I would immediately have the legs put on ice and saved for my next memorial day party. This doesn't sound like much fun, but let's look at the silver lining: there would be a few pounds of morally neutral meat available for the eating.
Would YOU, as a fellow enjoyer-of-barbeque, ever eat human meat if it was presented to you in this way?
Do the tenets of veganism (no violence against another creature) imply that cannibalism like this is not allowed? If I consciously offer my own meat, does that remove any moral qualms about where the meat came from?
Can I invite my vegan friend to the party without him/her getting offended?
How would you want the meat prepared?
If this question is too strange for you, ask yourself what about cannibalism makes it wrong or at least undesirable?
It may be human meat, but we are just animals with very similar biochemistry to monkeys, whether you think Darwin was a douche or not. If you would eat monkey, why wouldn't you eat me.... if I offered?
The Twilight Zone - To Serve Man
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Disaster season 2008
I just made it through my third typhoon season in the Philippines and even though the damage caused was nothing compared to the season of 2006 (remember typhoons Reming and Milenyo), Bikol is still an uncertain and volatile place to live. This year, the typhoons were mild and the winds were weak but there have been heavy rains extending 2 months into what is now supposed to be the dry season. The Philippines can be brutally hot when the time is right, but honestly I have been looking forward to a break from the overcast sky and intermittent downpour.
The rains fall with such intensity that the water cannot runoff fast enough, the result of which is widespread flooding and landslides.
Aquinas University (called Aquarium behind its back) is adjacent to the largest river in the province, the Yawa, which is tempermental and likes to flood and cancel classes on a regular basis. After typhoon Reming's reaming of the province, the school planners wised up and built all classrooms at least a meter above the floodplain so the school would be more resillient to disasters, but that has only worked so well.
During a particularly torrential rainstorm, students and teachers (and Peace Corps Volunteers) flee the flooding.
To escape the rising floodwaters without getting your feet wet, improvise a bridge!
The canteen, underwater
When weak, clayey soil becomes saturated with water, it becomes more prone to fail. Due to the soil in Albay, as well as the steep hills, makes the danger of landslides a very real one. There is no local budget for any kind of preventative measures besides relocating families to some where flatter, so the earth reshapes itself on a regular basis.
They just never let up
A minor slope failure in an area where I work regularly. You can see the failure plane around the rim of this area
A landslide diverted a river from its natural course and through the yard of this house
More drowned vehicles
The shoulder of the road has been totally scoured by the new river
These were semi-trucks at one point...
Manmade Disasters
On a morning much like any other, I walked out of my house full of caffeine and oatmeal, headed for parts unknown. As I passed a jeep parked on my street, I noticed some Filipinos running around and yelling at each other. Things are generally quiet and calm in my neighborhood so I went to investigate and found that a jeep parked on my street had a trickle of flame coming from the gas tank.
People ran back and forth throwing wet towels and sand bags at the flames, to no avail. Within 30 seconds of my watching the car, the car was a fireball with a tower of black smoke covering the nearby houses.
The towering inferno
"Oh shit, I hope I didn't leave my wallet in there!!"
Thinking like an American, I turned to the man next to me:
"Do you have a phone? We should call the fire department or someone with some water!"
"Oye, sorry sir. Walang load." (He didn't have enough prepaid credits on his phone to call anyone who might be able to help.)
At this point, he turned away from me and went back to watching the fire begin to spread to other vehicles and nearby houses.
The crowd that has gathered to stare dumbly and not do anything about the flaming car
Instead of lecturing people on the need to help others around you and passing out cards with the local emergency number (117) on them, I picked up my phone and called the local fire department.
I'll be honest, I didn't have much faith in the fire department here at first, but that has changed. Using the stopwatch on my phone, I marked them at a 4 minute response time; better than most places in the states. Luckily for us, it is national fire prevention month in Albay, so the firemen were on top of their game.
If it is going to be an official awareness month of any kind, you HAVE to have a banner
Only in the Philippines would you see a fireman wearing shorts and tsinelas (flip-flops)
Local reporters arrived moments after the fire department
As the fire died down, the crowd moved in until everyone was huddled around the burnt hull of this poor guys jeep
Videoke: A true natural disaster
Hanging out on the fresh lava flow from Mt. Mayon
Soon-to-be-cooked pig
Oh the sun'll come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun
The rains fall with such intensity that the water cannot runoff fast enough, the result of which is widespread flooding and landslides.
Aquinas University (called Aquarium behind its back) is adjacent to the largest river in the province, the Yawa, which is tempermental and likes to flood and cancel classes on a regular basis. After typhoon Reming's reaming of the province, the school planners wised up and built all classrooms at least a meter above the floodplain so the school would be more resillient to disasters, but that has only worked so well.
During a particularly torrential rainstorm, students and teachers (and Peace Corps Volunteers) flee the flooding.
To escape the rising floodwaters without getting your feet wet, improvise a bridge!
The canteen, underwater
When weak, clayey soil becomes saturated with water, it becomes more prone to fail. Due to the soil in Albay, as well as the steep hills, makes the danger of landslides a very real one. There is no local budget for any kind of preventative measures besides relocating families to some where flatter, so the earth reshapes itself on a regular basis.
They just never let up
A minor slope failure in an area where I work regularly. You can see the failure plane around the rim of this area
A landslide diverted a river from its natural course and through the yard of this house
More drowned vehicles
The shoulder of the road has been totally scoured by the new river
These were semi-trucks at one point...
Manmade Disasters
On a morning much like any other, I walked out of my house full of caffeine and oatmeal, headed for parts unknown. As I passed a jeep parked on my street, I noticed some Filipinos running around and yelling at each other. Things are generally quiet and calm in my neighborhood so I went to investigate and found that a jeep parked on my street had a trickle of flame coming from the gas tank.
People ran back and forth throwing wet towels and sand bags at the flames, to no avail. Within 30 seconds of my watching the car, the car was a fireball with a tower of black smoke covering the nearby houses.
The towering inferno
"Oh shit, I hope I didn't leave my wallet in there!!"
Thinking like an American, I turned to the man next to me:
"Do you have a phone? We should call the fire department or someone with some water!"
"Oye, sorry sir. Walang load." (He didn't have enough prepaid credits on his phone to call anyone who might be able to help.)
At this point, he turned away from me and went back to watching the fire begin to spread to other vehicles and nearby houses.
The crowd that has gathered to stare dumbly and not do anything about the flaming car
Instead of lecturing people on the need to help others around you and passing out cards with the local emergency number (117) on them, I picked up my phone and called the local fire department.
I'll be honest, I didn't have much faith in the fire department here at first, but that has changed. Using the stopwatch on my phone, I marked them at a 4 minute response time; better than most places in the states. Luckily for us, it is national fire prevention month in Albay, so the firemen were on top of their game.
If it is going to be an official awareness month of any kind, you HAVE to have a banner
Only in the Philippines would you see a fireman wearing shorts and tsinelas (flip-flops)
Local reporters arrived moments after the fire department
As the fire died down, the crowd moved in until everyone was huddled around the burnt hull of this poor guys jeep
Videoke: A true natural disaster
Hanging out on the fresh lava flow from Mt. Mayon
Soon-to-be-cooked pig
Oh the sun'll come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Conspicuous Foreigners
It is now that magical time of year in the Philippines, as the rainy season comes to an intense, floow-prone conclusion, when the white people come out in force. All over Bikol there are sightings of Peace Corps volunteers participating in civic activities and generally helping out their fellow Bikolanos.
Three weeks ago, anyone wandering by the Shell station on Magsaysay avenue at 5:30 AM would have seen several Americans doing their duty by getting up before dawn to ride their bicycles 100km. Senator Pia Cayetano has put on what is called the Bike for Hope every year for the last 6. This year the ride was from Naga to Legaspi City.
Becky, Aaron, Francis (a local TV talk show host) and I joined in the fun and took our sweet-ass time getting all the way down to Legaspi. This trip was Francis' first bike ride over 1 or 2 km so a trip of ~50x that was a new thing for him. We all ended up with sore butts, but hanging out with a senator was worth every painful day for the next week or so.
Plus, for the Php300 entry fee we got a delicious lunch and free bike jerseys and a gift pack.
What is in a bike ride gift pack, you ask? Not what you would expect, but useful nonetheless.
(1) Package of high-calcium powdered milk (with pictures of ole people on the front)
(1) Can of generic energy drink
(3) Packs of shrimp-flavored cheetos knock-offs
(1) Blue plastic bracelet signifying something
(1) Package of ramen noodles
(1) Tube of pain-relief cream
(3) Cans of vienna sausages
Makes sense to me...
Getting pumped the night before
The senator making us dirty Americans look better
Ready to go
The Route!
Francis on his last legs
The heroes taking their victory lunch
Official website of the ride:
http://www.cayetanofoundation.com/bfh/newslist.php?cmd=reset
Three weeks ago, anyone wandering by the Shell station on Magsaysay avenue at 5:30 AM would have seen several Americans doing their duty by getting up before dawn to ride their bicycles 100km. Senator Pia Cayetano has put on what is called the Bike for Hope every year for the last 6. This year the ride was from Naga to Legaspi City.
Becky, Aaron, Francis (a local TV talk show host) and I joined in the fun and took our sweet-ass time getting all the way down to Legaspi. This trip was Francis' first bike ride over 1 or 2 km so a trip of ~50x that was a new thing for him. We all ended up with sore butts, but hanging out with a senator was worth every painful day for the next week or so.
Plus, for the Php300 entry fee we got a delicious lunch and free bike jerseys and a gift pack.
What is in a bike ride gift pack, you ask? Not what you would expect, but useful nonetheless.
(1) Package of high-calcium powdered milk (with pictures of ole people on the front)
(1) Can of generic energy drink
(3) Packs of shrimp-flavored cheetos knock-offs
(1) Blue plastic bracelet signifying something
(1) Package of ramen noodles
(1) Tube of pain-relief cream
(3) Cans of vienna sausages
Makes sense to me...
Getting pumped the night before
The senator making us dirty Americans look better
Ready to go
The Route!
Francis on his last legs
The heroes taking their victory lunch
Official website of the ride:
http://www.cayetanofoundation.com/bfh/newslist.php?cmd=reset
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
2 Tales of Fun and Adventure
Point A to point B
I find it is easiest to relate to people outside of Peace Corps in terms of things in their daily lives that they take for granted. Ease of travel is a BIG one.
Going to a restaurant with family can be a bit of an emotional ordeal sometimes but the actual transportation is relatively easy.
Insert ass into vehicle. Turn key. Depress gas pedal. Obey traffic laws. Enjoy food. If you are a bit cheaper you can take a cab or the bus; probably air conditioned; probably not filled with pigs or chickens.
In the Philippines there are many modes of transportation but all of them belch large quantities of noxious fumes and none of them have seatbelts or obey traffic "suggestions." To get to the same family-style restaurant from above requires a bit more bravery.
Cross road while dodging the multitude of high-speed transportation barreling at you. Flag down jeepney. Clamber inside after stepping over sack of piglets on the way to market. Squeeze your butt in between any two people with more than 6 inches of bench between them (not an exaggeration). Watch the road through the front window that has more area covered in decals than is actually translucent. Bang on the roof and yell for the driver to stop when you see your destination. Climb out over the 3 cockfighting roosters that were just brought onboard. Breathe. Eat food. Repeat.
What about much longer distances? If getting to a restaurant was hard, traveling cross-country to get to Boracay, the expensive beach resort that Cancun WISHES it was, seems daunting. Although there are 2 airlines in the Philippines, I decided that boats are much more entertaining and took nothing with me but a map and a machete as I headed off through the islands surrounding Legaspi.
A basic itinerary of my travels looks something like this:
1. Van to city - Php110
2. Jeep to port - Php7
3. Fastcraft boat to next island - Php360
4. Large 4x4 across island - Php90
5. Extra passenger fare on fishing boat - Php600
6. Bus to city - Php75
7. Jeep to van terminal - Php7
8. Van to Port - Php65
9. Boat to island - Php25
10. Tricycle from port to hotel - Php10
Total one-way travel budget - Php1349
Currently that is $33.64 for 250 miles of travel by the seat of my pants (and in only 10 easy steps!).
Unfortunately, this table of statistics can only do so much for a your understanding of how wonderfully uncertain this trip was. Let's look at the line item 5, "Extra passenger fare on fishing boat;" but first, a little preface.
While on the 4x4 (number 4 in the budge above), I met a family going home for the weekend from the big city. A father and his three teenage daughters (let's call them J-1, J-2 and J-3) were sitting next to me on a pile of cabbages and, almost immediately after departing, they asked me who I was, why I was there, what my cellphone number was, and where was I staying? (This line is bolded for effect, but when three teenage girls coo in unison, it is hard not to remember without the emphasis). I told them I was going to look around the port area for a pension of some kind and they said that simply wouldn't do.
2 hours of bouncing down a rainy road later, we arrive at their house where I was treated like some kind of low-level royalty. Food was placed in front of me; I was asked to sing some videoke songs for them; the ubiquitous Filipino drinking circle found us at the bottom of two large bottles of brandy. Considering I didn't know any of these people 2 hours prior, they proved most hospitable hosts.
The next morning I awake early with the intention of connecting with the passenger boat that supposedly leaves this port with regularity. No such luck. 30 minutes of hunting found no passenger boats of any kind. J-1, the eldest daughter seemed excited at the prospect and, seeing as the next ferry didn't leave for 2 days, DEMANDED that I come back and stay a second and third night at their house. I saw flashes of Indiana Jones-style outlaw romance in my head and ran for the nearest fishing boat. With a good deal of haggling in a language I only half-understood I managed to secure myself passage across the adjacent strait although, the captain said, I would have to wait while they traded some fish. Seeing no reason to stay in this bear-trap of a port any longer, I jumped on the boat with him and we headed out to sea.
The transportation I had managed to secure was a courier ship that received its load in the open ocean from two other boats (one filled with a fresh catch and one filled with ice to preserve said catch for the journey ahead). The exchange was an ordeal of sounds and smells as one boat was emptied of several cubic meters of hand-caught fish. After 2 hours of trading we headed seaward and were blessed with perfect blue skies, cottony clouds and calm seas. The first mate cooked a pot of the fresh catch and we ate delicious, hot fish cooked in garlic and onions with our hands as the boat treaded on. Once we ate I used the map in my guidebook to introduce the captain to the idea of triangulation and how, based on the position of the islands around us, we could tell approximately where we were and how far we had come. We came into port and I bid the crew farewell as I headed on to my next adventure.
I am still getting text messages from the eldest daughter "mis u alam mo parang na in LOVE ako sau"
I find it is easiest to relate to people outside of Peace Corps in terms of things in their daily lives that they take for granted. Ease of travel is a BIG one.
Going to a restaurant with family can be a bit of an emotional ordeal sometimes but the actual transportation is relatively easy.
Insert ass into vehicle. Turn key. Depress gas pedal. Obey traffic laws. Enjoy food. If you are a bit cheaper you can take a cab or the bus; probably air conditioned; probably not filled with pigs or chickens.
In the Philippines there are many modes of transportation but all of them belch large quantities of noxious fumes and none of them have seatbelts or obey traffic "suggestions." To get to the same family-style restaurant from above requires a bit more bravery.
Cross road while dodging the multitude of high-speed transportation barreling at you. Flag down jeepney. Clamber inside after stepping over sack of piglets on the way to market. Squeeze your butt in between any two people with more than 6 inches of bench between them (not an exaggeration). Watch the road through the front window that has more area covered in decals than is actually translucent. Bang on the roof and yell for the driver to stop when you see your destination. Climb out over the 3 cockfighting roosters that were just brought onboard. Breathe. Eat food. Repeat.
What about much longer distances? If getting to a restaurant was hard, traveling cross-country to get to Boracay, the expensive beach resort that Cancun WISHES it was, seems daunting. Although there are 2 airlines in the Philippines, I decided that boats are much more entertaining and took nothing with me but a map and a machete as I headed off through the islands surrounding Legaspi.
A basic itinerary of my travels looks something like this:
1. Van to city - Php110
2. Jeep to port - Php7
3. Fastcraft boat to next island - Php360
4. Large 4x4 across island - Php90
5. Extra passenger fare on fishing boat - Php600
6. Bus to city - Php75
7. Jeep to van terminal - Php7
8. Van to Port - Php65
9. Boat to island - Php25
10. Tricycle from port to hotel - Php10
Total one-way travel budget - Php1349
Currently that is $33.64 for 250 miles of travel by the seat of my pants (and in only 10 easy steps!).
Unfortunately, this table of statistics can only do so much for a your understanding of how wonderfully uncertain this trip was. Let's look at the line item 5, "Extra passenger fare on fishing boat;" but first, a little preface.
While on the 4x4 (number 4 in the budge above), I met a family going home for the weekend from the big city. A father and his three teenage daughters (let's call them J-1, J-2 and J-3) were sitting next to me on a pile of cabbages and, almost immediately after departing, they asked me who I was, why I was there, what my cellphone number was, and where was I staying? (This line is bolded for effect, but when three teenage girls coo in unison, it is hard not to remember without the emphasis). I told them I was going to look around the port area for a pension of some kind and they said that simply wouldn't do.
2 hours of bouncing down a rainy road later, we arrive at their house where I was treated like some kind of low-level royalty. Food was placed in front of me; I was asked to sing some videoke songs for them; the ubiquitous Filipino drinking circle found us at the bottom of two large bottles of brandy. Considering I didn't know any of these people 2 hours prior, they proved most hospitable hosts.
The next morning I awake early with the intention of connecting with the passenger boat that supposedly leaves this port with regularity. No such luck. 30 minutes of hunting found no passenger boats of any kind. J-1, the eldest daughter seemed excited at the prospect and, seeing as the next ferry didn't leave for 2 days, DEMANDED that I come back and stay a second and third night at their house. I saw flashes of Indiana Jones-style outlaw romance in my head and ran for the nearest fishing boat. With a good deal of haggling in a language I only half-understood I managed to secure myself passage across the adjacent strait although, the captain said, I would have to wait while they traded some fish. Seeing no reason to stay in this bear-trap of a port any longer, I jumped on the boat with him and we headed out to sea.
The transportation I had managed to secure was a courier ship that received its load in the open ocean from two other boats (one filled with a fresh catch and one filled with ice to preserve said catch for the journey ahead). The exchange was an ordeal of sounds and smells as one boat was emptied of several cubic meters of hand-caught fish. After 2 hours of trading we headed seaward and were blessed with perfect blue skies, cottony clouds and calm seas. The first mate cooked a pot of the fresh catch and we ate delicious, hot fish cooked in garlic and onions with our hands as the boat treaded on. Once we ate I used the map in my guidebook to introduce the captain to the idea of triangulation and how, based on the position of the islands around us, we could tell approximately where we were and how far we had come. We came into port and I bid the crew farewell as I headed on to my next adventure.
I am still getting text messages from the eldest daughter "mis u alam mo parang na in LOVE ako sau"
Tale 2: New Year's Eve and Couchsurfing
New Year's Eve on Boracay Island. Crazy. It was a party with drinking, dancing, singing and many other forms of debauchery that need no mention here.
Couchsurfing, on the other hand, DOES deserve a round of applause for the good it does for the world.
(Begin shameless plug)
Couchsurfing is a website/social network that connects people who need someplace to crash but don't the dough with people who have a place and want to meet some crazy-cool travelers. "Social network" in this sense is much more accurate than the way it is used to describe Myspace and Facebook. In Couchsurfing you actually MEET people and have real interactions. Users are ranked based on how good they are as house guests/owners. When you "friend" someone on Facebook or Myspace, little or no judgement is passed and little social interaction beyond, "SWEET PARTY LAST NIGHT BRA!!!!11" is ever had.
I stayed with a Filipino family in Manila on my way back from Boracay and I have to say that living with someone, albeit briefly, from an area you are interested in visiting is a MUCH easier way to learn about the quirks of the city than simply getting on the big bus marked "Metro Manila Bus and Mall Tour, 100 Pesos Lang!"
(End shameless plug)
This second story is not really up to my usual standards, but click on one of the two following links to entertain yourself more:
Pictures from my travels TO Boracay
New Year's Eve Funtime Partypics ON Boracay
Couchsurfing, on the other hand, DOES deserve a round of applause for the good it does for the world.
(Begin shameless plug)
Couchsurfing is a website/social network that connects people who need someplace to crash but don't the dough with people who have a place and want to meet some crazy-cool travelers. "Social network" in this sense is much more accurate than the way it is used to describe Myspace and Facebook. In Couchsurfing you actually MEET people and have real interactions. Users are ranked based on how good they are as house guests/owners. When you "friend" someone on Facebook or Myspace, little or no judgement is passed and little social interaction beyond, "SWEET PARTY LAST NIGHT BRA!!!!11" is ever had.
I stayed with a Filipino family in Manila on my way back from Boracay and I have to say that living with someone, albeit briefly, from an area you are interested in visiting is a MUCH easier way to learn about the quirks of the city than simply getting on the big bus marked "Metro Manila Bus and Mall Tour, 100 Pesos Lang!"
(End shameless plug)
This second story is not really up to my usual standards, but click on one of the two following links to entertain yourself more:
Pictures from my travels TO Boracay
New Year's Eve Funtime Partypics ON Boracay
Monday, November 19, 2007
Ferrocement Tank and Rainwater Harvesting Training!
Hey there! I just blew in from Pamplona and BOY is that rain harvestable!
Last week, I went to the next province north of me and had a grand old time building thin-walled concrete tanks with a bunch of other water and sanitation volunteers.
Ian, Lee, Alan, MAriah, MOria, honorary Wat/San Tom, myself, and all of our various Filipino counterparts, under the direction of the fearless Kiwi mixed and poured concrete in the almost-pouring rain. Fun times!
A ferrocement tank is basically a cheap way of making a large-volume concrete water reservoir. The tank is used, in this case, to catch rainwater so that the people near this school don't have to walk a half-kilometer to take a drink.
It is round because circles have all kinds of NEATO physical properties. It is made of concrete because, let's face it, concrete is about as awesome as a bucket full of ninjas. It reinforced only with tie wire because engineers like to show off how cool they can be by using minimal materials and still having a casual conversation on a 3" thick roof:
"But Paaage, I know all that and I want to be able to make one myseeeeelf."
"Slow down there, little lady, and let me walk you through the process."
First:
a) find or make a tank-shaped mold made of rebar
b) divide the mold into sections
c) wrap each piece in rice sacks
d) re-assemble into something resembling a giant beehive
e) fill mold with tallest volunteer in Philippines for the amusement of the Filipinos "Oh! He is very tall!"
a) find or make a tank-shaped mold made of rebar
b) divide the mold into sections
c) wrap each piece in rice sacks
d) re-assemble into something resembling a giant beehive
e) "Oh! He is very tall!"
Next comes the concrete:
a) Stand around while other people mix concrete
b) Pour a circular base with tie wire embedded
c) Watch with glee as your boss mixes concrete
d) Plaster the outside of your beehive (making sure to remove honey first)
a) Stand around while other people mix concrete
b) Pour a circular base with tie wire embedded
c) Watch with glee as your boss mixes concrete
d) Plaster the outside of your beehive (making sure to remove honey first)
And then you build some more:
e) Cover concrete with vertical tie wire
f) Place concrete like you mean it
g) Wrap horizontal tie wire (looks kinda like a giant bug-zapper)
h) One more layer of concrete!
i) Remove form from inside (I hope it's not too big...)
e) Cover concrete with vertical tie wire
f) Place concrete like you mean it
g) Wrap horizontal tie wire (looks kinda like a giant bug-zapper)
h) One more layer of concrete!
i) Remove form from inside (I hope it's not too big...)
And then you do a victory dance:
a) Get a pic with the army detachment sent to guard against any kind of full-frontal assault on your training.
b) Place small female volunteer inside concrete shell
c) Take a picture with counterpart for posterity
d) Take a CU/CSU rivalry pic for the heck of it
e) Go get loaded and celebrate
a) The guy next to me was known only as 'Nades
b) Place small female volunteer inside concrete shell
c) Take a picture with counterpart for posterity
d) Take a CU/CSU rivalry pic for the heck of it
e) FUN CENSORED BY THE FORCES OF CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
Ingat kamo!
Last week, I went to the next province north of me and had a grand old time building thin-walled concrete tanks with a bunch of other water and sanitation volunteers.
Ian, Lee, Alan, MAriah, MOria, honorary Wat/San Tom, myself, and all of our various Filipino counterparts, under the direction of the fearless Kiwi mixed and poured concrete in the almost-pouring rain. Fun times!
A ferrocement tank is basically a cheap way of making a large-volume concrete water reservoir. The tank is used, in this case, to catch rainwater so that the people near this school don't have to walk a half-kilometer to take a drink.
It is round because circles have all kinds of NEATO physical properties. It is made of concrete because, let's face it, concrete is about as awesome as a bucket full of ninjas. It reinforced only with tie wire because engineers like to show off how cool they can be by using minimal materials and still having a casual conversation on a 3" thick roof:
"But Paaage, I know all that and I want to be able to make one myseeeeelf."
"Slow down there, little lady, and let me walk you through the process."
First:
a) find or make a tank-shaped mold made of rebar
b) divide the mold into sections
c) wrap each piece in rice sacks
d) re-assemble into something resembling a giant beehive
e) fill mold with tallest volunteer in Philippines for the amusement of the Filipinos "Oh! He is very tall!"
a) find or make a tank-shaped mold made of rebar
b) divide the mold into sections
c) wrap each piece in rice sacks
d) re-assemble into something resembling a giant beehive
e) "Oh! He is very tall!"
Next comes the concrete:
a) Stand around while other people mix concrete
b) Pour a circular base with tie wire embedded
c) Watch with glee as your boss mixes concrete
d) Plaster the outside of your beehive (making sure to remove honey first)
a) Stand around while other people mix concrete
b) Pour a circular base with tie wire embedded
c) Watch with glee as your boss mixes concrete
d) Plaster the outside of your beehive (making sure to remove honey first)
And then you build some more:
e) Cover concrete with vertical tie wire
f) Place concrete like you mean it
g) Wrap horizontal tie wire (looks kinda like a giant bug-zapper)
h) One more layer of concrete!
i) Remove form from inside (I hope it's not too big...)
e) Cover concrete with vertical tie wire
f) Place concrete like you mean it
g) Wrap horizontal tie wire (looks kinda like a giant bug-zapper)
h) One more layer of concrete!
i) Remove form from inside (I hope it's not too big...)
And then you do a victory dance:
a) Get a pic with the army detachment sent to guard against any kind of full-frontal assault on your training.
b) Place small female volunteer inside concrete shell
c) Take a picture with counterpart for posterity
d) Take a CU/CSU rivalry pic for the heck of it
e) Go get loaded and celebrate
a) The guy next to me was known only as 'Nades
b) Place small female volunteer inside concrete shell
c) Take a picture with counterpart for posterity
d) Take a CU/CSU rivalry pic for the heck of it
e) FUN CENSORED BY THE FORCES OF CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
Ingat kamo!
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