Painting for Artisans

Two days ago I had the pleasure to visit a friend who works with an association of painters. It was a pleasantly warm day, and we sat around painting and chatting. I was going to paint a political piece concerning my last post about the protests in Egypt. Mid-painting one of the Dominican painters told me stop painting and take a step back. He told me he loved the figures I was drawing and had to stop. He art is an unpredictable process; sometimes you create something completely different that you imagined. I think my friends felt bad since he was basically not allowing me to finish the painting I had envisioned, but over the last two and half years, I have learned to go with the flow. So I cleaned up the lines and had a little definition to the figures and ya!

So, my question to you guys is what do you see in this picture? I will give you clue of what I see. There is a very specific reason I am giving this painting to my old group of artisans... and that's all you get!

Moral of the story, because I always need a moral. Do not stress if things do not turn out as planned... things turn out as they should, and usually for the better.

The Twitter Revolutions? Revolutions for Democracy in the Middle East and Their Underlying Causes.

Hey ya'll! Below is an article I just wrote for one of our Peace Corps publications, Reclama. Enjoy!

The Twitter Revolutions? Revolutions for Democracy in the Middle East and Their Underlying Causes.

-Cairo, Egypt

The Twitter revolution? The last time I checked, technology cannot start a revolution, people can. However, technology is a powerful tool and the right to information technology should be protected. One commanding reason is because information technology can be strategically used to aid or hinder people to communicate and gather behind a cause. That is exactly what has been happening in the Middle East since mid December 2010. Up until recently, this part of the world has been stubbornly immune to the surge of democratization that swept Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. The toppling of the dictatorial regime in Tunisia has inspired a domino effect of revolutionary demonstrations in Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Algeria and probably even more Arab countries by the time this article goes to print.

Many news medias sources, have been noting the important role social media sites have been playing in the current Arab revolutions. It’s true that 18% of Tunisia’s population is on Facebook, and since the site was left unblocked by the Tunisian government, many were able to write updates of the protest. Youtube served as a popular forum for current news about the revolution. Wikileaks has exposed much corruption in the governing of these countries. Twitter was widely used to accelerate the mobilization of demonstrators by quickly disseminating information. When citizens of Egypt started using social media to organize their own revolution, the government was so threatened that they shut down all Internet and SMS texting service nationwide.

Although social media may be changing how revolutions are organized, lets not forget that social media is not the cause of these revolutions. The underlying factors are the years of poverty, unemployment, income disparity, and political repression that have characterized many modern Arab nations. Although, Tunisia is thought to be one of the richer Arab countries, it is also characterized by income disparity, with powerful elite ruling the country.

IT ALL BEGAN IN TUNISIA

In Tunisia, demonstrations began in response to police corruption and brutality concerning merchant, Mohamed Buoazizi, when they confiscated his fruits and vegetables he was trying to sell on the street. On December 17^th Buoazizi protested the stealing of his merchandise by setting himself on fire in front of the municipal building. Demonstrators began to gather in front of government headquarters in the city Side Bouzid to protest the ill treatment of Buoazizi. Although images of police dispersing youth during the riots were shared on social media sites such as Facebook and Youtube, coverage of the demonstrations was mostly limited to Tunisian media and went widely unnoticed.

Demonstrations escalated over the weeks, which included more protests include self-immolation. On December 22^nd, Lahseen Naji, a protestor, responded to "hunger and joblessness" by electrocuting himself after climbing and electricity pylon. Ramzi Al-Abboudi also killed himself because of financial difficulties arising from a business debt by a micro-credit program. Larger groups began to protest in solidarity. On December 28^th the Tunisian Federation of Labor Unions held a rally in Gafsa, which was blocked by security forces. At the same time about 300 lawyers held a rally near the government's palace in Tunis. As demonstrations by lawyers continued, Mokhtar Trifi, president of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), said that lawyers across Tunisia had been "savagely beaten.” The demonstrations in Tunisia have been described as non-violent but there are many reports of police brutality in response to protesters. On the 12^th of January, a reporter from the Italian state-owned television broadcaster RAI stated that he and his cameraman were beaten with batons by police during a riot in Tunis' central district and that the officers then confiscated their camera.

Along with police brutality, protesters ran the risk of arrest. Reporters Without Borders said the arrest of at least six bloggers and activists, who had either been arrested or had disappeared across Tunisia, was brought to their attention and that there were "probably" others. Even with all the fear that the government was trying to instill in the protesters, the demonstrations continued and grew stronger. On January 14, 2011, the military chased off the security forces of the former President Zine El Albidine Ben Ali and forced him into exile. Ben Ali dissolved his government and a “state of emergency” was declared to protect Tunisians and their property. People were also barred from gathering in more than groups of three people otherwise courting arrest or being shot if they try to run away. Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia, and he has been excused of extorting gold from the government. Saudi Arabia demanded Ben Ali to remain “out of politics” as a condition for accepting him.

AFTER THE OUSTER OF BEN ALI

After Ben Ali was removed from the presidency, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi then briefly took over as acting president. Looting and violence continued days after Ben Ali was ousted, but the perpetrators have not been identified. The main train station was torched. Furthermore, a prison director in Mahdia freed about 1,000 inmates following a deadly prison rebellion that left 5 people dead. Many other prisons also had jailbreaks or raids from external groups to force prisoner releases, some suspected to be aided by prison guards. General pandemonium was said to have occurred in Tunisia as residents who were running out of necessary food supplies had armed themselves and barricaded their homes, even to the extent of having formed armed neighborhood watches. Al Jazeera's correspondent said there were apparently three different armed groups: the police (250,000 people of the country's population were supposedly part of the police force), security forces from the Interior Ministry, and irregular militias supportive of Ben Ali who were vying for control.

Demonstrations continued after the removal of Ben Ali to protest the former government and request the removal of all political officials connected with Ben Ali’s regime and his party the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD). On January 27^th, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, enacted a major reshuffling of the government leaving only two ministers from Ben Ali’s old government, the industry and international cooperation ministers -- but neither of these had been a member of his ruling RCD party. Although this was seen has a major concession to protesters, demonstrations have continued to remove the Prime Minister from power. Ghannouchi has declared that he will resign after holding transparent and free with elections within six months.

TUNISIA INSPIRED REVOLUTION ACROSS THE ARAB WORLD

The recent success of the Tunisia demonstrations have inspired the citizens of other Arab countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Algeria and Jordan to try to topple their oppressive regimes. An article in Al Jazzera by Lamis Ardoni said that the protests had "brought down the walls of fear, erected by repression and marginalization, thus restoring the Arab peoples' faith in their ability to demand social justice and end tyranny." He also said that the protests that succeeded in toppling the leadership should serve as a "warning to all leaders, whether supported by international or regional powers, that they are no longer immune to popular outcries of fury" even though Tunisia's ostensible change "could still be contained or confiscated by the country's ruling elite, which is desperately clinging to power."

Since the 25^th of January, Egypt has been in an upheaval of “non-violent” demonstrations with many protesters carrying Tunisian flags as a symbol of their influence as they protest the removal of current President Hosni Mubarak. Although, Egypt has also notably been using Facebook and Twitter to communicate, coordinate, and document events from the protests, the real reasons for their revolt are focused on legal and political issue including police brutality, state of emergency laws, lack of free elections and free speech, and corruption, as well as economic issues including high unemployment, food price inflation, and low minimum wages. Demands from protest organizers included rights of freedom and justice, the end of the Hosni Mubarak regime, and a new government that represents the interests of the Egyptian people.

SIMILAR PROTESTS IN EGYPT BUT DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

Although, the Egyptian demonstrations have been inspired by successful protests in Tunisia, the two situations are very different and it is unclear if the Egyptian protests will have a similar outcome as Tunisia. First, Egypt is much poorer than Tunisia. Approximately twenty percent of the Egyptian population lives below the poverty line, and another twenty percent live very close to the poverty line. Although GDP growth has been strong in the past for Egypt, the country suffers from a very high inflation rate around 25%. Thus, prices increase much more rapidly than income, making it increasingly more expensive for Egyptians to live. Many products are highly subsidized by the government because the poor cannot buy them. In 2008, 13 people died while fighting in a long line for subsidized bread.

Furthermore, Egypt has suffered from much more political oppression than Tunisia because it has been ruled under a continuous state of emergency with a heavy hand, cracking down on Islamic militants since President Anwar El Sadat’s assassination in 1981. Hosni Mubarak has ruled since the assassination under the state of emergency, and is the longest serving president in Egypt’s history.

EMERGENCY LAW IN EGYPT

Emergency Law (Law No. 162 of 1958) highly restricts the political rights of Egyptians. Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended, censorship is legalized, and the government may imprison individuals indefinitely and without reason. The law sharply limits any non-governmental political activity, including street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations. Thus, you can see that the law basically outlaws any protest against the current regime.

The Mubarak government has cited the threat of terrorism in order to extend the emergency law, claiming that opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood could come into power in Egypt if the current government did not forgo parliamentary elections, confiscate the group's main financiers' possessions, and detain group figureheads—actions allowed under emergency law. Therefore there has not been free and fair elections in Egypt since Mubarak has been in office.

Pro-democracy advocates in Egypt argue that this goes against the principles of democracy, which include a citizen's right to a fair trial and their right to vote for whichever candidate or party they choose. Human rights organizations estimate that in 2010 between 5,000 and 10,000 people were in long-term detention without charge or trial, and that in the 1990s the number of detainees was over 20,000.

THE BRAVERY OF EGYPTIAN PROTESTERS

Inspired Egyptian protesters have been taking on extremely high risks to protest for their human rights and a democratic government, since under emergency law; Egyptians can be imprisoned without trial for any reason. Still the demonstrations continue to increase in strength no matter what the regime lays on the protesters. On Friday, January 28^th Egyptian government stepped up efforts to limit Internet access, especially to social media. The government turned off almost all Internet access and mobile phone service on the eve of major planned protests on Friday, causing a nationwide "blackout". In response there has been an outpouring of hacktivism with global groups attempting to provide alternative communication methods for the Egyptians. Some limited mobile service was resumed on Saturday, 29 January, but protesters have been left without Internet.

In early February, thugs presumed to be supporters of the Mubarak regime slipped into the non-violent demonstrations causing much violence. Similar Mubarak thugs are also thought to behind much of the looting that has been taking place with the motive of making the “non-violent” demonstrations appear chaotic and violent. There have been also reports of violence towards international reporters along with many reporters being detained. The Committee to Protect Journalists said it had received 100 reports of attacks on journalists. A crew from ABC News was carjacked and threatened with beheading. A Swedish journalist was stabbed. Authorities also arrested reporters from the New York Times, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, and other outlets. In addition, backers of Mubarak dismantled satellite equipment making it impossible for most TV stations to broadcast scenes from the square. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks on journalists and peaceful protesters. "Violent attacks against peaceful protesters are completely unacceptable. It is important to ensure an orderly and peaceful transition. I have urged all parties to engage in such a process without delaying, with a full respect for human rights, in particular the freedoms of speech, expression, association and information."

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

The pain many protesters have endured has reaped already some results in Egypt. Mubarak has made some initial changes to quell dissent, including dissolving his government, and appointing military figure and former head of Egypt's intelligence service Omar Suleiman as Vice-President. On February 5^th Vice President Omar Suleiman is meeting with opposition groups to begin negotiations concerning a new government. But representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt's largest opposition party - said they had not participated in the talks. Nor did Mohamed ElBaradei, the democracy advocate and Nobel peace laureate, who had earlier been chosen by opposition parties as their spokesman. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, secretary general of the liberal Wafd Party, said he and other party officials had presented Suleiman with their proposals for constitutional change. Nour said that Suleiman ruled out Mubarak's resignation from the presidency. "Not only will he not resign, he will not cede or delegate his powers," Nour said. That stance means it is unlikely other opposition parties will join the talks. Mubarak’s refusal to step down is unacceptable to the protesters and opposition parties, so the demonstrations continue into its twelfth day on February 5^th. Although concessions have been made, only time will tell, if real democratic progress will be made in Egypt.

A CONTINUED FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY

Although the demonstrations are still continuing, the fervor of youth demonstrating democracy represents a hope for a changed Arab world. Many battles have already been won. On Thursday, the president of Algeria promised to lift a 19-year-old state of emergency and to provide more political freedoms. The move comes as anti-government protesters have announced plans to hold mass protests on February 12^th.

In Yemen, tens of thousands of anti-government protesters marched on February 3^rd and called for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 32 years. On February 2nd, Saleh announced he would not seek to extend his presidency beyond 2013.

In Syria, anti-government protesters are planning to demonstrate on February 5^th calling on the government to end the state of emergency, which has been in place since 1963. On Wednesday, a small group of Syrian protesters attempted to gather in Damascus to hold a candlelight vigil for the Egyptian demonstrators. According to Human Rights Watch, the protesters were beaten by a group of 20 people dressed in civilian clothing. The police, who were present nearby, failed to intervene.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE?

The fight for democracy across the Arab world is truly inspiring. The saga continues, but I have faith that regimes will be toppled and a new era of democracy will ensue. Social media has changed how people can organize and we must continually think how new technology is affecting politics. But, lets not lose sight of the real bravery and fervor for political rights that are the true catalysts for these revolutions.

As we continue to follow the demonstrations in the Middle East we must be aware of how the access to technology and information is a basic human right that must be protected. Without the Internet, it would have been much harder for demonstrators in Tunisia to quickly get information out about protests. In China, Google has blocked the word “Egypt” from the search engine, leaving the Chinese oblivious to the current democratic revolutions. Even in the U.S., we were left much in the dark about the Tunisia revolutions because of the lack of press covering the riots.

We also must value and protect are right to information and technology. Think of how your current perception would be changed in a world where the government could choose what you could and could not know. In the last session of Congress the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, was a proposed bill in the Senate that could lay the foundation for blocking communications in the United States in the case of a "national threat." The bill was struck down, but there is support to reintroduce the bill in the next Congressional session. Let us have the same fervor as the youth population in the Middle East and not stay indifferent to politics. We are lucky to live in a country with many political freedoms, but we must be weary and cognizant of such proposals to take away our rights to information, and thus are rights to free thought.

Scuba diving

Last week, I had one of those, wow did that really happen moments... I signed up to take a three day scuba certification class in the capital, purely for an opportune investment. Scuba diving classes here with the Peace Corps discount are only US$250 as opposed to the same certification in Washington D.C. for US$1,200, not even adding in the aesthetic added value that you are diving in the Caribbean as opposed to the Chesapeake Bay. So clearly by taking this scuba class I have warranted my staying an extra 8 months with Peace Corps.

So, I took the class with some of my new regional friends, or as we call ourselves Beach Corps, since we all live on the beach. We got to dive around two shipwrecks and a taino artifact site, where I saw a taino statue head lying on the ocean floor. I was ecstatic when my instructor told me I was a natural scuba diver, although this really just means I am not obese and a good breather. Additionally, I can breathe with the best of them probably due to my daily yoga. Maybe one day I can enter into a breathing contest with a hindi yogi, but let me not get ahead of myself.

So, I finished the class with flying colors minus that I forgot I was suppose to be drowning during our emergency "no air" situation, and I just leisurely swam to the surface... I figure I won't make the same mistake in the real life situation. Vamos a ver!

The day after I was certified, I was lucky enough to be able to tag on to a free diving trip with Indiana University completely funded by USAID and a foundation with IU (thank you tax payers)! Although I was just certified, I figure I might as just "dive right in" to my new underwater pass time hahah (Puns are the best!)

We first visited a government center in the capital, where the national government is preserving artifacts found in the ocean from shipwrecks and from the previous indigenous population the Tainos. The Tainos apparently sunk objects as underwater offerings to their gods and these artifacts were preserved much better in water than on land. We got to tour the center and learn all about different shipwrecks and how we could distinguish from what era a shipwreck was from by the type of canons we could find. I also got to see a Taino vomit stick, and a really neat medieval flexible bopper weapon that I wish I had to use on my little brothers in middle school. Furthermore, we learned the reason we were brought out here was to help preserve and promote three "underwater living museum" sites, which they hoped to make into national parks. These underwater museums consist of three shipwrecks with coral growing on top of the artifacts.

Then after our lecture we took a bus to Bayahibe, a beautiful harbor town on the south east tip of the country. The next day we made a trip to the only know pirate shipwreck in the caribbean, the shipwreck of Captain William Kidd http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kidd. You can read more about him yourself, but he is know to be one of the most notorious pirates in history or one of the most misjudged. He abandoned his ship in the Caribbean in I believe 1699, where it was later sunk, and then he was hung for piracy in England in 1701.

So, first we visited the Captain Kidd site. We snorkeled and dived around the site taking note to make sure everything from the wreck was still present and had not been moved. We checked the wild life and found many endangered corals broken, probably from boats dropping and dragging their anchors. We also checked the site buoys and lines for damage and brainstormed ways to develop the site, with information about Captain Kidd and how volunteers could help promote community outreach, educating dominicans about marine preservation and the history of this shipwreck.

Later we dove around a second shipwreck site called Guadalupe, which was a ship from 1800 that IU sunk and made into a dive site. There were canons, canon balls, and a huge anchor at the site.

The next day we went back to Kidd and started saving the world... one coral at a time. The coral was called Elkhorn coral and its extremely endangered. So we had teams find broken coral and we zippy tied them to other coral, which would allow them to have a chance to stay a live and grow in the sunlight. Then we went over to one more shipwreck name Morales, which was like the Guadalupe wreck, because it is a historic ship that was purposefully sunk. Here there was also an archeological site, where artifacts had been cemented down around the coral, for divers to explore. After we made all are observations we ended are two wonderful days on the boat and got to work writing Rapid Protocol Assessments of each site.

Then... GET THIS.. we were told we are getting certified by Indiana University in Underwater Archeology, so we can come back and make independant checks of the shipwrecks! I almost feel like a famous person who gets one of those honorary degrees... After this experience, that seems the way to go. I wonder, who thought of that? Honorary degrees? I just hope I am never operated on my an honorary surgeon!

So, to end the story, it was a really fun surprise to be able to learn about pirates, shipwrecks, and marine preservation, while having an all expensed paid trip to one of the most beautiful areas of the country! O yea and free diving! IU was even so nice as to take us out to dinner again once we had finished and were back in the capital.

Moral of the story... get scuba certified! It's amazing and great things will happen after you are certified!

In other news... I may now be writing a class about "underwater museums", marine preservation with a case study on Captain Kidd.

The innaguration of the site will happen on May 23rd with I believe a concurrent opening of a Captain Kidd exhibit in England along with pirate reinactments from Peace Corps Volunteers!

I just received a grant with three other volunteers to hold a volleyball tournament for International Women's Day which will include workshops concerning women empowerment.

I've applied to 10 grad schools in public policy and international affairs, and almost pulled all my hair out writing all the essays!

I'm finishing up a class on Afghanistan to be a part of a new manual for a kids class about exploring the world, begun my talented boyfriend :)

And I've been exploring management skills to help the volunteers in my region succeed:

As of now I'm planning to create a directory of all current and past projects of volunteers in our region along with funding sources, informational sources, and key contacts to help aid volunteers who want to work with similar projects.

Updating a regional handbook/ guidebook, with lists of restaurants, organizations, and useful services in the major regional towns.

Creating a volunteer of the month program and a group service initiative, where instead of just having volunteer gatherings, the gatherings will be centered around helping another volunteer with a project in their site.

In the next blog... I should be hopefully posting an article I'm writing for a Peace Corps Publication about the democratic revolutions in the Middle East, and the role of new technology.

¡Feliz Navidad!

¡Feliz Navidad! I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart! do do do do do do

It pains my heart that I cannot be home with everyone this Christmas to wear silly sweaters, watch childhood Christmas movies, bake a ridiculous amount of cookies, and especially go to glee Christmas concerts. But fear not, I have been partaking in many Dominican Christmas events filling me with dominicanized Christmas cheer! The reason I am not home this year is due to my current promotion in the DR. Now I will a volunteer leader in charge of a group of 20 or so volunteers in the northeast region of the Dominican Republic. Pray tell what does this mean? Well, to my knowledge I will be helping the administration find and develop sites for new volunteers. Thus, I will be doing interviews in prospective communities and help evaluate if the projects seem suitable for a volunteer. I will also be visiting host families, to make sure that they have decent living situations for the volunteers when they first arrive in site, i.e. a door on their room, a private place to shower and go to the bathroom, and most importantly that the family has an upstanding reputation in the community. I’m also now in charge of doing security housing checks, for volunteers whom will be moving into their own houses. But, the most fun part of my new job is volunteer support. Basically, setting up workshops to give extra training for certain projects, planning fun events so volunteers can get together within the region, and visiting volunteers to help motivate people within their projects and just providing general support. Also, I am in charge of contacting and coordinating volunteers in the case of emergencies i.e. hurricanes, strikes, cholera, etc. I have been shadowing a current volunteer leader (my new position), and I have been learning more about what my job entails. Most likely, I will not really start too much work until the New Year, because the Dominican Republic basically shuts down the month of December. I did have a small Christmas brunch for volunteers in my region, with food and some glee Christmas cds that I gave out.

Moving on to Christmas! I have been participating in many Dominican festivities. I just came from a small potluck party with my artisan group. Here they call these parties, fiesta de traje (Party of bringing), since everyone brings something. We sat around drinking and eating, and then we all went in a circle saying what we are thankful for and declaring our plans for the New Year. The drinking and eating is very methodical with drinks brindar (given out) first. Then apples (a Christmas treat), grapes, and raisins. Later cheese and crackers. With the main course being a big traditional soup called Sancocho. This consists of starchy veggies and chicken in a salty chicken broth. Usually, the main course is not served to the near end of the party, in the thought that everyone might leave after the good food is served. The party was a great bonding time for the artisans, and some of the older ladies got pretty tipsy, which was pretty hilarious. One really exciting part of the night is that one of the artisans was going crazy taking pictures with the new camera I brought back from the states, which was funded by you guys! The artisans just had a blast taking pictures, and it was so much fun seeing how excited they were. I was really touched near the end, when one of the artisans said she was thankful for all the help I have given them since I’ve been here and that was one of the best Christmas presents I could ask for.

Moving on to more Christmas festivities. Soon, I will be awaking about 4:30 A.M. to take part in the early morning Christmas parade called the mañanita (little morning) or the Aguinaldo (Christmas bonus or Caroling). The last 10 days of Christmas, our community has Christmas Caroling very early in the morning throughout the town. We sing and play drums and the guida (basically a metal cheese grater and a stick). Then the Caroling ends at one house and there is a mass followed by ginger tea and crackers. The ginger tea is amazingly delicious, and almost worth the lack of sleep. The whole thing last about an hour and a half, and since I do not have a 9 to 5 job (gracias a Dios), I fall back to sleep afterwards. Tomorrow may be the last early morning caroling for me because I will be moving on Wednesday!

I am moving to a city called Nagua on the north coast to be more central to the region I will be in charge of. I will be literally running distance from the ocean… so everyone needs to come and visit before I come home for good in July! I will also be upgrading in amenities, aka 24-hour electricity! So you will not have to rough it too much if you decided to come and vacation.

Lastly, what does a volunteer want for Christmas? This year all I ask is that you consider donating to my boyfriend’s community library project in the Dominican Republic.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=517-403

Countless development studies demonstrate that investment in education results in drastic development improvements. As you all know, I have helped start a community library in my old town, but it is a long process to build a library, get people interested, and train community members to run the daily use of the library. Thus, please help my boyfriend quickly fund his library so he can get cracking!

I hope everyone is with their loved ones this Christmas! Play in the snow for me and I will be with ya’ll to celebrate next year, promise!

Miss you all dearly!

A little development journalism... UNEDITED!

Broken filter piece, which shows the charcoal, which is produced in the inside of the filter during firing.

Agua Pure facility in Higüerito, Moca

Radhames Carela in the factory with drying filters

Current Agua Pure Filter

Saludos! (Heeeyyy!)

Here is another little diddy I wrote, in one of the most recent volunteer social justice publications. This is the version, before its been edited, so excuse typos. Enjoy!

Water, Water, Everywhere… The Story of a Small Sustainable Water Sanitation Project

Written by Kelly Connors

CED, Higüerito, Moca

Kelly studied business at the University Virginia and has no background in art, but was placed in the mecca for ceramic pottery in the country, and lived for 6 months at the below ceramic filter factory. She now has a vast knowledge of pottery and faceless dolls and aspires to be a starving artist or Secretary of State.

Potable water, such a gift that many people take for granted. In the first world countries, practically all water supplied to households, commerce, and industries is potable, meaning of high enough quality to consume with out any risk of long term harm. Only a very small percentage of this water is used for drinking and food preparation, and we take its availability for granted. On average the typical nonconserving single family home uses 69.3 gallons of water per capita per day. Now, for those of you that do not having running water or very sparing water like myself, you can see that this is quite a large number, and represents a lot of wasted drinking water. This is a sad story when large parts of the world have inadequate access to potable water and our forced to use water sources contaminated with diseases, pathogens, or unacceptable levels of dissolved chemicals or suspended solids. Throughout most of the world, the most common contamination of water sources is human sewage in particular human fecal pathogens and parasites. In 2006, waterborne diseases were estimated to cause 1.8 million deaths each year, while 1.1 billion people lacked proper drinking water. Over 90% of deaths from diarrheal diseases in the world today incur in children under 5 years old. In 2000-2003 769,000 children under 5 years old in Sub-Saharan Africa died each year from diarrheal disease. As a result of only 36% of the population in the Sub-Saharan region having access to proper means of sanitation, more than 2,000 children’s’ lives are lost every day. During the same period in developed countries, 700 children under the age of 5 died of diarrheal disease. Improved water supply reduces diarrhea morbidity by 25% and improvements in drinking water through proper storage in the home and chlorination reduces diarrhea episodes by 39% percent.

This daunting data of the access to clean water and its resulting affects on the health of a population has been recently brought to the attention of the international political arena. Under Goal 7 of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) signed in September 2000, is Target 7C: Halve the proportion of people without safe access to drinking water between 1990 and 2015. More recently, an historic vote was cast in the UN General Assembly on July 28, 2010 that clean drinking water and sanitation are fundamental rights. 122 countries supported the resolution and over 40 countries abstained from voting including the United States, Canada, and several of the European Union and other industrialized countries. No countries voted against the motion. Bolivia’s representative to the United Nations introduced the resolution to the UN General Assembly on July 28^th. There had been no previous declarations of clean water as a fundamental right to all humans in the past.

The vote represents a changing attitude towards water a right we must cherish and fight for. Water is a something that many industrialized countries take for granted but in reality right now, we are a world running out of water. The World Bank has declared that demand will exceed supply of clean water by 40% in 20 years. This past June has been declared the hottest June in history. Global warming caused by green house gases is melting glaciers and ice patches, such as in the Great Lakes, which is causing more rapid evaporation, water is eroding and evaporating way too quickly and decreasing our water supply.

Conversely, the idea that water is a resource for our convenience and profit, leads us to act like there is no tomorrow with water. We move it all over the place. We take big pipes and move it from watersheds, which is maintaining a healthy rain cycle and hydrating vegetation, which retains water in our soil. We move water to grow crops where we shouldn’t in desserts. We move massive amounts of water to cities where they dump it after its used as trash into the ocean. We move trillions and trillions of water from land-based systems to the ocean every year. The UN declaration declares that the international community will not let large parts of the population fall behind as this crisis unfolds. The new priority will be given to these populations without clean water and sanitation.

And what about those countries that abstained from voting for the UN resolution, (cough) the U.S., excuse me I think I have gripe. The different countries have their different reasons. “We do not want to pay for the toilets in Arica,” was a direct quote from a Senior Diplomat from the U.K., which was published in a Canadian paper. Canada states that it does not want to share its water with the U.S., which is a non-issue since NAFTA declares water a commodity. New Zealand and Australia are privatizing water, and a large U.S. firm is buying much of the water rights in Australia. The U.S. also does not want to support water as a public right because they have also privatized it. The divide between supporters and abstainers seems to lie on the thought of water as a public or private item. The supporters view water as a public trust for the use of all and many abstainers are moving towards a market model, viewing water as a commodity with a price.

By declaring clean water as a human right, the UN is saying that no one should die from lack of water, and no one should watch their children die because of lack of clean water because they cannot pay. No matter where your views lie that water should be provided free as a public service or be managed through a market model, one idea is unanimous. We need to increase the world population’s access to clean water, to avoid billions of needless deaths.

During my service in the DR, I have been lucky enough to be exposed to one of the most innovative organizations working towards this goal of increasing the poor’s access to clean water. And here is the story of one of the most sustainable development projects I have seen first hand, in my short work in development. The organization’s name is Filter Pure and they are U.S. non–profit 501(c)3 and they work in developing countries to facilitate production of a ceramic water filter that eliminates turbidity and micro bacteria at a rate of 99.9%. The subsidiary in the Dominican Republic, works under the name Agua Pure. The facility in the Dominican Republic was begun in August 2006, with my host dad, Radhames Carela, as the head manager of production. In 6 months they were able to design their ceramic filter with almost perfect filtration (99.9%). There is also a Filter Pure facility that was started in Tanzania in 2007 and a project was begun in Haiti in 2010 after the horrible earthquake. Currently there are many proposals to start filter facilities in many developing countries, and Filter Pure is evaluating each proposal to decide where the next facility should be.

A BACKGROUND IN WATER FILTERS

Appropriate technology options in water treatment include both community-scale and household-scale point-of-use (POU) designs. Because of the high initial investments, many less wealthy nations cannot afford to develop or sustain appropriate infrastructure for community water purification systems and as a consequence people in these areas may pay a much higher percentage of their income on water. 2003 statistics from El Salvador, for example, indicate that the poorest 20% of households spend more than 10% of their total income on water. In the United Kingdom authorities define spending of more than 3% of one's income on water as a hardship.

The ceramic water filter by Agua Pure, is a point-of-use system (POU), meaning there is a filter in each house. The ability of POU options to reduce disease is a function of both their ability to remove microbial pathogens if properly applied and such social factors as ease of use and cultural appropriateness. The priority of the POU system is to reach large numbers of low-income households on a sustainable basis. Many may have not heard of these systems because they are a recent development in the last few years and no one organization has reached a grand scale of production, but that is the hope for Agua Pure. Some other POU systems are a similar ceramic filter made by Potters for Peace, which is mainly working in Central America. Also, sand-bio filters are a popular system in the Dominican Republic, but they require more permanent installation. The Agua Pure ceramic filter is placed in an easy to carry 5 gallon bucket, which requires no installation and weighing only 8 lbs. it can be easily moved from place to place.

WATER PURIFICATION

The technology is simple, appropriate, and, therefore, sustainable. A round-bottom ceramic pot is made from a mixture of clay, a combustible material, and colloidal silver that enables bacteriostasis (aka bacteria killing). Any agricultural waste such as sawdust, rice husks, and/or coffee husks can serve as a combustible material. After the clay and combustible have both been refined through a fine mesh, they are mixed together with a measured amount of silver and water until a homogeneous mixture is formed. The mixture is then made into a filter using a filter press. Afterwards it is fired to about 900 degrees Celsius to burn out the combustible material and leave behind micro pores coated with the silver to filter the water. The micro pore size has been measured at less than 1.3 microns, and this size allows the pores to filter out turbidity by trapping bacteria and parasites which will then come in contact with the silver coating the pores that will kills the bacteria as the water passes through the ceramic membrane. A ½ inch of charcoal is inserted in the membrane during the firing process, to add an extra element of filtration for removing things like taste and odor. The filter eliminates 99.9% of micro-bacteria at a flow rate of 1 drop per 1-4 minutes, or 1 to 2 liters of water per hour, depending on the amount of water in the filter.

*A new filter has been developed by Radhames that flows four times faster because of increased surface area for the water to filter through. This model is not currently being commercially sold.

CULTURAL SUSTAINIBILITY ENSURES SUCCESS

The filter is a successful product, not only because of its effectiveness of filtration but because of how the technology can be easily used in an appropriate cultural manner. The filter can be placed and moved anywhere. To use the filter one, just needs to pour water from any source (river, tap, rain water, etc.), into the filter, and the water flows through the filter into the bucket. Then the water can be just simply used through the tap at the bottom of the bucket.

To clean the filter, one just needs to lightly scrub the filter with clean water every week or two, if the water is flowing at a slower rate. Once every month or two, the ceramic membrane, should be submerged in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes. And that’s it. The directions are both written and drawn on the filter bucket in the case of an illiterate user. If the filter is cleaned properly, it is recommended to last for 5 years, but in reality, should be good for life.

SUSTAINIBILITY OF PRODUCTION

One of the most sustainable aspects of the project is that the producers of these filters are not based in the U.S., but instead in the country where they are distributed. Lisa Ballantine, the president and founder of Filter Pure, spent two years in the Dominican Republic, searching for a ceramic artisan to help her start her first filter facility. She was directed to my host father Radhames because of his reputation for innovation in ceramics. Radhames Carela is a master ceramics artisan and has won many awards. He has traveled abroad to Europe for his expertise in ceramics and most recently his work has been displayed in Centro de Leon in Santiago, during the International Tile Exhibit. Together, Lisa and Radhames worked for six months with the prime materials to create the perfect formula and design for their water filter. Radhames is the lead engineer behind all production in the Dominican Republic. He has hired 5 employees from my community to help in all filter production. Over the last few years, production capacity has quadrupled. In 2006, the facility could produce 20 to 25 filters per day. Now, they can produce at an astonishing rate of 80 filters a day, partially due to the creation of a second filter press. Agua Pure has not only created the opportunity for Dominicans to have cheap access to clean water. Agua Pure has created a great opportunity for Radhames and his employees, to both increase their annual income, and work in a rewarding project, which is improving the health of their family and friends.

A RECIPE FOR A SUSTAINABLE PROJECT

Agua Pure has been a very successful project in the Dominican Republic, but one common misconception with development projects, is that one sustainable project can be multiplied anywhere. As Agua Pure and other POU systems develop in other countries, a few factors need to be taken into account to implement successful systems.

For 3 months, I had another Americana in my community, Clara, whom interned with Agua Pure and created a very wonderful manual of “How to Create A Filter Factory,” to be used for future filter factories for Filter Pure. While creating the manual we discussed certain aspects, which are essential when replicating a successful filter project.

First, is an ample and cost efficient supply of prime materials and equipment. There is a specific type of clay that needs to be used to make an effective filter. A filter facility needs to be placed adequately close to a clay mine of the correct type of clay. There also needs to be sufficient infrastructure, aka roads, and means of transportation to obtain the clay. For instance, the clay for Agua Pure’s filters is delivered by truck from the clay mine in Bonoa, about 1 hour away from the filter facility. Combustible materials are easier to come by, but their ease of supply should also be investigated. To my knowledge, colloidal silver is usually processed in industrialized nations, so the cost of importing should be taken into account. Lastly, the supply for adequate fuel for firing the stove should be analyzed. For example, in a country that is suffering from deforestation, you would not want to use wood as the primary fuel source, or electricity in a country with out a good power grid.

The cost and supply of other materials, such as those to make the equipment and stove, and the proper safety equipment, should be taken into account. These materials are just a one time cost, and are thus part of the initial investment, so their costs are less important to the overall sustainability.

After looking at supply of materials, there needs to be an analyzation of management and employees in the location. It is essential for the manager of the facility to have a good knowledge of ceramics, a strong work ethic, and a shared belief in the cause to offer clean water to the poor. Without a strong manager to run the facility and train able employees, the facility could be less successful because of lack of efficiency due to work ethic and motivation or general knowledge of ceramics. This is why there should be a thorough interview process, when examining filter facility locations.

Thirdly, there should be an adequate analysis of the market. Obviously, filter facilities should be put in countries where there is the most need for clean water. Also, there should be a substantial presence in the country of NGOs or non-profits, whom would act as buyers and distributers of the water filters to poor communities. Also, government support should be analyzed for clean water and sanitation efforts. The national or local government could be potential buyer, but if for instance the government is focused on creating the infrastructure for a community-based filtration system, then a POU system might not be needed in the near future. Other competition should be analyzed in the form of other POU systems or community-based filtration projects.

Lastly, the culture of the country must be taken into account. A plan for education of the importance of clean water and how to use the filter is essential. Also, the average income of the locals may want to be taken into account, if the filter will be sold directly to them.

Here, in the Dominican Republic, Agua Pure’s filters are sold around RD$700-RD$1,000 (around US $20-30). They are mainly sold to in-country non-profit’s or NGO’s such as Plan International, Save the Children, and Rotary International. In a few cases, filters have been given to poor families for free in a poor village in Jarabacoa called Bayacane, in-turn these families have been monitoring their health improvements and the condition of their filters over time.

CLEAN WATER FOR ALL: THE FUTURE FOR AGUA PURE

Currently, Agua Pure is creating an International School of Ceramic Water Filters, which will be located at the current DR Filter Facility, aka my host family’s house. They have already had a couple of groups of Americans come work during spring break to both volunteer and learn about Agua Pure’s water filter. One group of engineers from Texas A&M came over spring break 2010, and now have created their own ceramic filter facility in Texas to help serve the poor on the Texas/Mexico border. Yes, even in the U.S. there are people without clean water!

The vision for the school is to have the managers of future filter facilities trained at the school on both how to create a perfect water filter and how to build all the equipment and the stove for their facilities. The school will also be open to host many students and groups whom want to come to learn about water sanitation and ceramic filters. My host aunt has even been developing a micro-business of a large bed and breakfast to house incoming groups.

Agua Pure and other POU systems are right now just in their development stage. But the number of facilities and distribution will increase. I hope that the recent UN declaration of clean water and sanitation as a basic human right will influence world leaders to promote the cause of clean water. POU systems are developing the adequate technology but it is up to US to promote the necessity of clean water for the poor. It was noted that there was very few members of the press at the UN General Assembly to announce the declaration to the public. So many Americans have no knowledge of how the rest of the world lives. Educate your fellow Americans and help promote clean water for all!

More information about Agua Pure can be found by contacting Radhames Carela, Manager of Agua Pure Facility, at radhamescarela@hotmail.com, radhamescarela@gmail.com or Lisa Ballantine, President and Founder of Agua Pure, at lisaballantine@aol.com, info@filterpurefilters.org or you may go to the website at http://www.filterpurefilters.org/.

***Editorial note: Agua Pure sent 2,500 filters to Haiti after the horrible earthquake in 2010. They will continue servicing Haiti until the filter facility is up and running in northern Haiti.

Thanks for all whom donated to my artisan project! We filled the grant, and got the money so now I am going to work my butt off and try to get home on time. My official day to leave is Oct. 29!