November 2010

Dear Friends,

It is now less than 20 days before Chris's departure.  His co-worker and friend, Sal Torres, also a civil engineer at the State of California Dept of Transportation, will travel with him and assist with this project.  I missed the opportunity to take photos of them testing solar panels and the Grundfos pump in our backyard, but managed to photograph the boxes last night. 

Did I mention that Chris, with some prodding from his friend, Carol Klingl, who served in Peace Corps with Chris and now lives in Bern, applied for a small grant for work in developing nations offered by FAWCO (the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas).  His application was rewarded, thanks to Carol's support, with a stipend for completion of "Phase 2" of his work.  (Thank you, FAWCO!) The supplies purchased via internet and packed carefully into boxes for air travel, include a Grundfos pump and 8 solar panels.

In December 2008, Chris completed Phase 1, which involved deepening an existing hand-dug well, which supplies water for approximately 60 families.  This well was prone to contamination by seasonal runoff (people and animal traffic) and hazardous in terms of someone drawing water potentially falling into the well.  The well was deepened, cased with concrete casing which was perforated at the lower end to allow groundwater entry, backfilled with gravel pack to remove sediment, cement sealed along the top 10 feet, "shocked" with chlorine to sterilize the water in the well, and equipped with a hand-pump. 

If you have read the older posts on this blogsite, you may also have noticed Phase 1 work included the initiatation of two block-making businesses to address watershed management issues as a whole.  These "brick- presses" allow usage of local clays mixed with a small amount of cement, to create interlocking bricks, with a modified "H" shape to minimize, or even eliminate the need fr cement mortar between bricks.  These bricks then are dried in the sun rather than "fired" in an oven (requiring wood harvesting and resulting in deforestation of the watershed, a huge problem across many regions in Africa).

Phase 2 involves deepening a second, much larger well, which supplies approximately 220 families.  This well will also be deepened, cased with concrete pipe perforated at the bottom, backfilled with gravel pack, cement-sealed at the top, and equipped with an electric pump powered by solar energy.  Oh, and did I mention that these wells are selected by first checking their water chemistry to make sure the water is potable?  That's important too!

Yes, I am extremely proud of my husband and was really hoping to be part of his work-party this time, but 3 factors are keeping me home: 1) children's needs, 2) my parents' availability for staying with the children, and 3) our family travel budget.  Chris dreams of taking the whole family next time, but I remind him he won't get very much work done!  We are so excited that Sal is able to join Chris and assist him with Phase 2.  Here is a photo of Sal and his family studying a map of Kenya and their itinerary.  Sal's family includes (from left to right) his daughter Nina, wife Vivian, and son Sal Jr. 

Thank you, friends, family, and community members who care about clean water supply projects in Kenya.  We appreciate your love, support, and prayers!

Sincerely,

Monique