WaterWired

I've Died and Gone to Heaven: CSIS/Water Advocates WASH Universities Initiative

The Global Water Futures project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Water Advocates have joined forces to create the WASH Universities Initiative.

Wash universities? Are they dirty? Read more about it from this email I received:

The Global Water Futures Project and Water Advocates have gathered representatives from U.S. universities and colleges, NGOs, and the U.S. State Department to brainstorm how to raise the profile of WASH [WAter, Sanitation, and Hygiene] in universities and opportunities for interested students. To continue the discussion of this initiative and to determine the next steps in this initiative, we invite you to a meeting/teleconference this Friday [6 November].   

As part of this initiative, Colorado State University and Emory University are tabulating names and email addresses of USA university people involved with WASH issues in developing countries.  An online questionnaire will be distributed to them with the results available by Thanksgiving.

Have I died and gone to heaven?

I pose that rhetorical question because for a number of years, myself and some of my colleagues, notably Dave Kreamer of UNLV, Dave Sabatini at the University of Oklahoma, and Steve Silliman at the University of Notre Dame, have been trying to do this same thing on a shoestring without much support. Now, someone is actually doing this, well-organized and (presumably) reasonably well-funded (at least better than we were).

I don't think I've ever had a better time on a two-hour concall.

Erik Peterson (CSIS) and David Douglas (Water Advocates) and their staffs deserve kudos for spearheading this project.

The group is planning some kind of event in DC, likely on or about 3 March 2010. I will keep you posted here.

At some point, the survey may be extended to non-academics, foreign organizations, professional societies, etc., but for now it is limited to USA academics.

I'm looking forward to working on this effort.

"Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again." -- Anonymous (thanks to Stephen Carlton)

My WaTER Conference Presentation in Absentia

I am supposed to be in Norman, OK, at the OU International WaTER Conference but was sidelined by the H1N1 flu. It is the first time I can recall ever missing attending a conference due to illness.

Fortunately, good friend and conference guru Dave Sabatini offered to give my Power Point presentation yesterday, and another good friend, Steve Silliman, helped out by answering questions. I am grateful to both of them!

Here is a pdf of the presentation:

Download Campana_WaTER_Conference_26_Oct_2009

"Half an orange tastes just as sweet as a whole one." -- Panamanian proverb

Abby Brown Update: Kids and Songs for Safe Water and Good Hygiene in Tamil Nadu

Abby Brown has been in southern India for almost two months. Here is her latest update about safe water and hygiene in Tamil Nadu. 

About 6,000 children die EACH DAY from water- and sanitation-related illnesses. But, did you know, songs can save lives. One NGO in rural Tamil Nadu is teaching songs to children about the importance of safe water and good hygiene practices to help them and their families lead longer and healthier lives.

Around 2.6 billion people worldwide lack access to proper sanitation facilities. Poor water and sanitation conditions lead to illnesses such as diarrhea, parasites, and malaria. Young children have weaker immune systems unable to protect them from these sicknesses. Simple actions like washing hands with soap, using a toilet instead of defecating in the open, proper food preparation and storage, or keeping rivers, lakes and streams clean could help save 2.2 million lives each year.

Over the past two weeks, I visited Gramalaya. They work on a variety of water and sanitation projects across the state of Tamil Nadu (more to come in a later post). A highlight of the trip was hearing kids from rural villages sing songs about the importance of healthy water and sanitation practices. These songs were written by S. Damodaran, founding-director of Gramalaya, now working for organization called Water.org that focuses on funding water and sanitation programs in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

In her post Abby has some songs about toilets, gardens, unsafe water, and more. Give it a read.

"At one level the world's water is like the world's wealth. Globally, there is more than enough to go round. The problem is that some countries get a lot more than others." -- Times of India

U of OK WaTER Conference Schedule: Hydrophilanthropy Runs Amok!

Here is the schedule for the University of Oklahoma's WaTER Center International WaTER Conference, 26-27 October, in Norman, OK:

Download WaTERConferenceSchedule

The conference will bring together participants from multiple groups responding to the UN Millenium Development Goals focused on bringing water and sanitation to remote villages in developing countries. Water and sanitation experts from academia, industry, NGOs, government, and foundations are invited to participate.

I'll be there, and you should, too.

Rumors that Sam Bradford will be keynoting are unfounded.

"But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." -- 1st Corinthians 14:40

Two Reports: 1) Marketing POU Water Systems; 2) MIT Arsenic Biosand Filter

Colleague Robert Adamski sent me these two reports. For those of you who work in developing countries they should be especially helpful.

The MIT report is not new - 2003 - but I was unaware of it.

Download Marketing Safe Water POU Systems

Download MIT Arsenic Biosand Filter

Enjoy!

"International donors and nongovernmental organizations, as well as national governments and charities, have often acted, under the banner of environmental conservation, in a way that has unwittingly destroyed the very social capital — shared relationship, norms, knowledge and understanding — that has been used by resource users to sustain the productivity of natural capital over the ages." -- Elinor Ostrom, 2009 Nobel laureate in economics

New Hydrophilanthropy: SafeWater4Kids

I just learned of a new organization, SafeWater4Kids (SW4Ks). Its mission is to provide sustainable safe drinking water to children and families in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

Read more here.

Laura R. Brunson, whom I met a few years ago at the University of Oklahoma's WaTER Center, is the Director of Marketing and Development. She is an impressive, bright, and motivated young woman with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a Master's in Environmental Science. She is now studying for her PhD in Environmental Science (with a National Science Foundation fellowship!) at OU.

Christopher Cope is the International Field Director who was also affiliated with OU's WaTER Center. He is an engineer (BS in petroleum and MS in civil) who is putting his skills to work by doing field implementation work and research in the South and Central American region of the world and helping  to improve the health and quality of life for those most in need of it.

Here is the Board. Rudy J. Alvarado and Robert Barcum are the co-founders; Clark Wigley and Bob Burke round out the Board.

You can follow SW4Ks onTwitter and Facebook.

Looks like an extraordinary organization. Laura, Christopher, and SW4Ks will do remarkable things.

Visit the site now!

"We have the ability to provide clean water for every man, woman and child on the Earth. What has been lacking is the collective will to accomplish this. What are we waiting for? This is the commitment we need to make to the world, now." -- Jean-Michel Cousteau

Honduras Hydrophilanthropy

My Honduran friend Rolando López took these photos in the village of Monte Vista in the Sierra de Omoa in northwest Honduras. The villagers are finishing a gravity-flow potable water system, funded (I believe) by two Rotary Clubs (one in the USA, the other in Honduras).

These are the kinds of systems my students and I helped build in the Sierra de Omoa from 2001 through 2005. The Ann Campana Judge Foundation is supporting a similar project in Brisas de Cuyamel, at the foot of the mountains, just off the road from Omoa to the Guatemala border.

Nothing like the rainy season!

Oh, yeah!

Digging the foundation for the ferroconcrete water tank. Looks like it'll be about 5,000 US gallons. A professional mason will construct it. 
 

Nice shot of the dam. That is the sedimentation trap in front, just above the pipe.

 
Looks like there's an algal bloom.

The pipe that runs from the dam to the water tank. Each house in the village will have its own tap.

"Grief shared is half grief; joy shared is double joy." -- Honduran proverb

EWB-OSU Report: Water Accessibility and Potability Project, Las Mercedes and El Naranjito, El Salvador

The Oregon State University chapter of Engineers Without Borders just submitted its final report for a project funded by the Ann Campana Judge Foundation.

Download El_Salvador_Water_Project_EWB_OSU

This work is part of EWB-OSU's overall El Salvador Water Project.

Excellent work!

"But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" -- Amos 5:24

 

OU International WaTER Conference: Great Program, Early Registration Closes 8 September

From Dr. Dave Sabatini:

The OU International WaTER Conference is shaping up to be a very exciting event!  We have over 70 oral and poster presentations with first authors from at least 14 countries presenting on work in 25 nations covering a range of topics (technical, anthropological, sociological, cultural and legal) relevant to water and sanitation in remote villages.  The highlight of the conference will be the plenary lecture by and presentation of the first OU International WaTER Prize to Dr. Steve Luby, as well as the keynote lectures by invited speakers.  Plus all the contributed presentations from universities and NGOs from across the US and abroad.  You can see why we are so excited! This post serves as a reminder of the upcoming deadline for early regitration.

Prior to 8 September conference registration is $190, which includes entrance to all poster and oral presentations, plenary lectures, two breakfasts, four breaks, two lunches, a social, and one dinner banquet. After 8 September the registration fee is $290.

Register now! We look forward to seeing you in Norman, OK, 26-27 October 2009! And don't forget the half-day post-conference workshop on 28 October!

Download WaTER_Conference

Water Advocates Seeks Director of Global Water, Health and Schools

I don't normally post positions available announcements but make exceptions for certain hydrophilanthropic organizations with which I'm familiar. Water Advocates is just such an organization. It seeks a Director for Global Water, Health and Schools at its Washington, DC, headquarters.

Download Position Description - Director of Global Water, Health and Schools

Water Advocates is a small but influential group that seeks to raise awareness of and funding for global water and sanitation issues. It neither implements programs nor raises funds for itself.

Great organization, run by true believers.

"Clean water and health care and school and food and tin roofs and cement floors, all of these things should constitute a set of basics that people must have as birthrights." -- Paul Farmer, M.D.

A Human Right to Sanitation: The Time Has Come

Much has been made of the human right to water; it's a concept I wholeheartedly support. But what about a human right to sanitation? Clean water and sanitation are virtually inseparable in my mind.

I have posted on the human right to health but not specifically on sanitation.

When considering the right to sanitation it is worth noting that there are more than twice as many people in the world without access to sanitation (c. 2.5 B) than there are who lack access to clean water (c. 1.1 B) .

What prompted me to think about this was a post I read on Susan L. Smith's Environmental Law Prof Blog (which I recommend):

The UN Independent Expert on human rights obligations and water and sanitation, Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque, has submitted her report on sanitation to the UN Human Rights Council for its next session in September.

 

In her report, the Independent Expert reviews the inextricable links between sanitation and a range of human rights, such as the rights to an adequate standard of living, to health, and to education. She outlines a definition of sanitation in human rights terms, and elaborates the content of human rights obligations related to sanitation.

 

Here is a copy of her report: Download A.HRC.12.24.AEV

 

She makes a number of recommendations. The first two:

·       States are encouraged to support legal and political developments at all levels towards broader recognition of sanitation as a distinct human right

·       States must abide by their human rights obligations related to sanitation at all times, including in emergency situations, in disaster response and during conflict

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) has some information on this issue. The legal basis, according to WSSCC:

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a multilateral treaty, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and in force since January 1976. The articles 11 (Right to adequate standard of living) and 12 (Right to health) in the Covenant relate to water and sanitation. The Covenant is monitored by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The General Comment 15, adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2003 clarifies the content of the right to water and sanitation and outlines states' obligations in relation to this right.

Several treaties touch upon the issues of water and sanitation, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), however, there is no explicit reference to an internationally recognized, universal right to water.

I obtained this flyer from the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE):

Download RWP_sanitation_eng_webA4_220508a 

It's very informative, summarizes the legal basis, and also defines governments' obligations. My free-market friends will be pleased to learn that the human right to sanitation does not require governments to provide such service free of charge.

I believe there should be a human right to sanitation. Eight countries already recognize this right: Uruguay, South Africa, Honduras, Bolivia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, some of these countries don't strike me as good role models.

Will the recognition of such a right make things better overnight? Of course not. What will it do? Here is a list (borrowing some words that Peter Gleick used for a human right to water):

1. encourage individual countries/NGOs to renew/increase their efforts in this area;
2. more likely lead to pressure to transform this right into legal obligations and responsibilities to provide access to sanitation;
3. focus attention on the desperate need for sanitation; and 
4. help establish priorities for meeting sanitation needs.  

Like the human right to water, the human right to sanitation is a principle whose time is nigh.

"The inextricable links between sanitation and so many human rights mean that international human rights law requires States to ensure access to sanitation that is safe, hygienic, secure, affordable, socially and culturally acceptable, provides privacy and ensures dignity in a non discriminatory manner. However, only looking at sanitation through the lens of other human rights does not do justice to its special nature, and its importance for living a dignified life.” -- Catarina de Albuquerque, from her report.

Saving Lives to Honor One That Was Lost

Forgive me for a this little bit of self-promotion.

Theresa Hogue of LIFE@OSU wrote this wonderful article about my sister and the foundation I began in her name, the Ann Campana Judge Foundation.  

You can even hear me interviewed.

"A little bit of irreverence is good. A lot is better." --Ann Campana Judge

Clean, Sexy Water

Nick Kristof, NY Times columnist and native Oregonian, has a wonderful piece in the NYT profiling Scott Harrison, the former hard-living nightclub promoter who transformed himself into a hydrophilanthopist and founder of the highly-successful charity:water in just three years.

His secret? Harrison is an unparelleled fund-raiser, promoter, and marketer.

Kristof writes:

Armed with nothing but a natural gift for promotion, and for wheedling donations from people, Mr. Harrison started his group, called charity: water — and it has been stunningly successful. In three years, he says, his group has raised $10 million (most of that last year alone) from 50,000 individual donors, providing clean water to nearly one million people in Africa and Asia.

The organization now has 11 full-time employees, almost twice as many unpaid interns, and more than half a million followers on Twitter (the United Nations has 3,000). New York City buses were plastered with free banners promoting his message, and Saks Fifth Avenue gave up its store windows to spread Mr. Harrison’s gospel about the need for clean water in Africa. American schools are signing up to raise money to build wells for schools in poor countries.

“Scott is an important marketing machine, lifting one of the most critical issues of our time in a way that is sexy and incredibly compelling — that’s his gift,” said Jacqueline Novogratz, head of the Acumen Fund, which invests in poor countries to overcome poverty.

It is a remarkable story about an even more remarkable man. More power to Scott Harrison and his ilk.

“Guilt has never been part of it. It’s excitement instead, presenting people with an opportunity — ‘You have an amazing chance to build a well!' " - Scott Harrison

More Nicaragua Water Projects: El Porvenir and Agua Para La Vida

I am just getting around to finishing posts about my recent trip to Central America.

Evan Miles and I spent 13 June with El Porvenir's Rob Bell and intern Erik Zucker in the Matagalpa area (see my previous post about the first part of our visit with them).

Previous days were spent looking primarily at rope-pump systems and the like. On this visit we visited a gravity-flow system EP has done in the beautiful hills above Matagalpa.

We saw some systems that we had not seen before: a large sand and gravel-filled tank was used to filter the water before it flowed into the storage tank.

Here is Evan examining such a filter. Rob Bell is in the white shirt and the man next to him is from a local engineering firm. The filter is contained within the concrete tank on which the men are standing. The smaller photo shows what Evan saw.

I have seen gravity flow systems before, in Honduras - those are the only water systems I have worked on in that country - but we never used a sand filter, much less a mammoth one like the one shown here.

Here is the huge storage tank; the smaller photo shows the tank's interior.

After this, Rob and Erik left us in Matagalpa, where we were picked up by Amélie Morgaut, a young French engineer working with Agua Para La Vida in Rio Blanco. She was kind enough to fetch us, as Rio Blanco is a rough, 3-hour drive east of Matagalpa. It is a city of about 20,000, one of the gateways to Nicaragua's remote Atlantic region.

Here is a map showing APLV's projects.

The ACJF had funded the Los Placeres project and I was anxious to see it. Esteban Cantillano and Jaime Alonzo Rodriguez served as our guides on 14 June, surrendering their Sunday.

Here is Evan getting some information on the Los Placeres tank from Esteban.

Here is the valve leading from the filter tank (below the men):

Below, Evan and friends enjoy some clean water.

Jaime and Esteban showed us some other potential projects, including one in the community of La Isla.

We were very impressed with APLV. They are doing excellent work with gravity-flow systems. We enjoyed meeting with Jaime, Esteban and Carmen González, APLV's national coordinator, and the entire staff in Rio Blanco.

Amélie also showed me the school she directs. It's called Escuela Técnica de Agua Potable (ETAP; no WWW site unfortunately). The school has a rigorous two-year curriculum in gravity-flow systems and sanitation. She has 8 students, all Nicaraguans, who live at the school.

She mentioned that she was interested in developing a course in wells and pumps, because there are some areas where gravity flow systems won't do. I told her about the LS-100 drilling rig and she seemed quite interested.

My friend Alan McKay at DRI says that they are interested in giving their LS-100 rig away and I would like to try to get it to Amelie.

This concluded our visit to Nicaragua with El Porvenir and Agua Para La Vida. Evan and I were impressed with both organizations, and I discussed potential projects with each. I am looking forward to receiving some proposals.

“You make the road by walking on it” -- Nicaraguan proverb

Potential Honduras Water Projects for the ACJF

One of the reasons Evan Miles and I visited Honduras last month was to evaluate potential water projects for the Ann Campana Judge Foundation (ACJF). That was also the reason we visited Nicaragua, except that there we were looking to fund others, not conduct projects ourselves.

Here are some photos from our 19 June trip along the coast highway west of Omoa, towards the Guatemala border. This one to the left shows an unhappy camper in a 'ecological park' at which we stopped. The one to the right - well, an interloper.

Above right is amigo Rolando López, on the hike down from the village of Brisas de Cuyamel. We visited that impoverished village of 20 families, none of whom has clean drinking water.

Alex del Cid, shown here by a tank for a large gravity-flow system that serves three villages, conducted a study on the water supply potential for Brisas de Cuyamel and recently provided a brief survey report to me:

Download Brisas de Cuyamel Proyecto 

The total cost is about 102,000 Lempiras or about $5,700. The system is a straightforward gravity-flow system.

One issue before the project can proceed is the land ownership one; the water source (la fuente) is on someone else's land. We told the villagers they would have to secure written permission from the landowner before a study/project could begin.

Here are Alex, Evan, and Rolando are shown discussing water issues with a member of the junta de agua for the aformentioned three-village water system. The system was damaged in the recent earthquake and the locals are seeking help to rebuild parts of it. Since the three villlages are considerably better off than Brisas de Cuyamel, I'm inclined not to support their request. They have a large enough base (a few hundred families) and are better off financially to generate enough funds to effect repairs.

Rolando also has a potential water project in La Mosquitia, the remote northeastern part of Honduras. It is for the village of Pimienta on the Rio Patuca, the longest river in Honduras and second longest in Central America. Pimienta is in the department of Gracias a Dios, the easternmost one of Honduras.

Here are some pictures of the Rio Patuca and Pimienta (bottom picture), taken by Rolando López.

 

We plan to visit Pimienta next March in the middle of the dry season; it's far too wet this time of year. It will be a good time to assess the project feasibility.

Such a project will be logistically daunting, involving plane, trucks, and boats, and perhaps quadrupeds. It will be a real challenge.

I'm looking forward to the trip as I've long had a desire to see La Mosquitia in Honduras, and the analogous region in eastern Nicaragua.

"Es mejor tostón asegurado que dime apostado." - Honduran proverb [Translation: "Secured 10 cents is better than 20 cents in the betting pot."]  

Water Supply Well Standards for Developing Countries: Comments Sought

Steve Schneider is an engineer, water well contractor, vice president of Schneider Equipment, Inc., and chair of NGWA's Developing Countries Interest Group.

He also drills wells and help less fortunate people in Mexico satisfy their need for clean water. Yeah, he's one of the real good guys.

At last year's NGWA Ground Water Expo in Las Vegas, the DCIG decided to initiate a project to develop standards for water supply wells in developing countries. Steve has taken it upon himself to initiate the development of water well standards for developing countries, a daunting and important task. Here is a pdf of the PowerPoint presentation he recently gave at NGWA's Groundwater for the Americas conference:

Download GW Americas - Dev Countries well stds NGWA 2009

Steve then distributed copies of a draft document and requested that comments be sent to him. Here are Word and pdf versions of the document:

Download WATER_SUPPLY_WELL_STANDARDS     (Word)

Download WATER_SUPPLY_WELL_STANDARDS     (PDF)

If you wish to comment on this document, please email your comments to Steve (SteveS@seidc.com). The best way to comment would be to use 'Track Changes' on the Word document and email it to Steve.

And yes, Steve really wants your comments - this is not a hollow request. Feel free to direct others to this site.

NOTE: If you want to post your comments and suggestions to this blog, that is fine, but your comments on the document will not likely be seen by Steve. The only sure way to get your comments to Steve is to send them directly to him. Please do so by 31 October 2009.

We'd like to get this published by the end of 2010.

"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands.  You need to be able to throw something back."  ~Maya Angelou

Presentations: 1) Transnational North American Groundwater; 2) Embera Indians Well Drilling Training

I've been traveling around so much I forgot to pst the presentations I made at the recent NGWA Groundwater for the Americas Conference.

Download Campana_Transnational Groundwater_GW for Americas_10_June_2009

Download Campana_ Embera_ Indians_GW for the Americas 1400_ 8_June_ 2009

Enjoy!

"The wise man affirms little and doubts much." -- Panamanian proverb

Nicaragua: El Porvenir, Bombas Mecate y Mas

Evan Miles and I are in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, after a 14-hour, 620-km bus trip from Managua to San Pedro Sula. We were fortunate enough to take the 'express' bus.

Evan and I spent several days (11-14 June) traveling about with Rob Bell, Executive Director of El Porvenir and his new summer intern, Michigan State University civil engineering student Erik Zucker, shown above with El Porvenir's Suzuki 4WD. Rob gave us all a grand tour of some El Porvenir projects in the El Sauce - Dario area of Nicaragua. Some were funded by the Ann Campana Judge Foundaton, which I founded.

In this picture we are looking at a bomba de mecate or simply bomba mecate (aka rope pump) being modified to pump the water up to a tank for delivery to a nearby school.

A German group installed this particular pump.

These rope pumps are all over Nicaragua. I don't recall ever seeing one in Honduras, although I've worked mostly on gravity-flow projects there. They are easy to work on and locally made. They are normally used in hand-dug wells. Below is a close-up photo, and to the left, a little guy gets into the act.

Below, Rob inspects one that has seen its better days. Although it still pumps water, it is on its last legs.

El Porvenir also supports sanitation and reforestation projects. They also sell locally-made efficient cooking stoves. These support forest preservation because they use 60% less wood. They also lead to less watershed degradation, better water quality, and more consistent streamflow.

Here are the folks who work out of the Dario and Terrabona offices. Evan Miles is on the left, then Marlon, David, Jose Mercedes, and Lester.

 Some gorgeous scenery outside Matagalpa.

Oh, yeah - the rainy season had started. Rob did a great job keeping us on the road in our little Suzuki 4WD.

 

More coming later. Have to report on our wonderful trip to Rio Blanco, NI, with Agua Para La Vida, and a trip to Cuyamel near Guatemala border with amigos Rolando Lopez and Alex del Cid.

"Eyes that see do not grow old." -- Nicaraguan proverb

WaterWired Heads Way Down South

So did I drive to Sacramento or someplace?

No, I'm writing this from a Holiday Inn just a stone's throw from the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal.

My graduate student Evan Miles and I arrived yesterday after a trip through Houston on Continental Airlines.

We're both here to present papers at NGWA's Groundwater for the Americas conference. Here is a PDF of the program.

Evan and I are here until 10 June, when we will head to Managua to check on some water projects  by El Porvenir and Agua Para La Vida that were funded by the Ann Campana Judge Foundation (ACJF). We will also assess some potential projects.

After Nicaragua we will travel to Honduras to visit friends and explore some potential projects there as well. We'll fly home from San Pedro Sula on 20 June.

Below is a photo I took of Lago Alajuela (I'm pretty sure), the artificial lake that supplies fresh water for the locks of the Panama Canal. Madden Dam is visible.  

I am sure I don't need to tell you what an amazing feat the construction of the Panama Canal was. The engineering feat alone was remarkable, as was the health feat (yellow fever, malaria). Now consider all that was done 100 years ago! The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 by David McCullough is an exceptional book about all the difficulties faced by the Americans and the earlier French attempt. Something like 27,500 people died in the two efforts. I highly recommend the book.

I'll try to keep you updated as best I can.

Sleep now!

"I don't want to go into history; I want to go into the Canal Zone." -- Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera, former Panamanian president who got the canal from the USA

Potable Water System for Quisayá, Guatemala: Report from PAVA Foundation

On 13 May 2009 I posted a report from Living Water International describing LWI's well rehabiltiation project in Honduras. The work was funded by the foundation I head, the Ann Campana Judge Foundation (ACJF) and the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation.

Today I'm posting a report from the PAVA Foundation on the construction of a potable water system for the village of Quisayá in Guatemala. The project was funded by the ACJF.

Download Quisaya_Guatemala_Final_Report_PAVA_Dec_2008

Enjoy!

“Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.”  -- Life’s Little Instruction Book

Water Political Action Committee Formed

Most of us in the USA are familiar with Political Action Committees or PACs. If you're like me, you tend to think of of these groups as promoting 'one-issue politics' and not necessarily having a good effect on our democracy. But I'm not here to argue their merits, as I'm sure there are beneficent ones we don't hear about.

So how about a PAC devoted to hydrophilanthropic issues - such as lobbying for passage of, or promoting the election of candidates who support, the 2009 Water for the World Act? A good thing, right? Read on.

Averill Strasser, COO of  Water Charity, has started just such a Water Political Action Committee (Water PAC).

From Water PAC's WWW site:

We are a citizens’ Political Action Committee with a single major issue:

We seek to advance the premise that water and sanitation are basic human rights that should be made available to the entire world.

We are a nonconnected committee, operating under the rules of the FEC, and are not tied to any corporation or labor union.

We are run by a Board of qualified, experienced and concerned citizens. We receive donations from individuals (up to $5,000 per person), and use the funds to elect or re-elect political candidates who will advance our agenda.

Water PAC is in formation, with its Advisory Board being constituted. FEC requires the designation of one officer, and Averill Strasser is presently serving as Treasurer for that purpose.

The Organizing Committee is presently composed of Averill Strasser and Jim Thebaut.

All participants in Water PAC are volunteers.

Water PAC is not presently seeking or accepting donations.

We are accepting nominations, including self-nominations, for the Advisory Board.

Inquiries may be directed to Averill Strasser at mail@strasser.com.

There you have it - Water PAC. I can vouch for both Averill and Jim - good guys.

Have any candidates for the Advisory Board? Let Averill know.   

"Never try to teach a pig to talk; it will only waste your time and besides, it will annoy the pig." -- Unknown

Ann Campana Judge Foundation: 2008 990-EZ and Schedule A

For the second year in a row, the Ann Campana Judge Foundation has filed its Form 990-EZ and Schedule A. These forms are available for public viewing; they are on the ACJF's WWW site and are posted below.

Download 2008 990 EZ_and_Schedule_A

Despite the economic downturn, we took in $41,400 in donations and had income of over $42,000. We incurred more expenses because of legal fees to switch our registration from New Mexico and align our bylaws to Oregon's requirements.

We distributed just under $60,000 in grants.

I'll be visiting Nicaragua and Honduras next month to check out some projects we previously funded and scout some new ones.

"Water is our world. We are water." -- Laura Parrett (age 8)  

Rehabilitating Wells in Honduras: Report from Living Water International

The foundation I started, the Ann Campana Judge Foundation, just received a report from a project it funded in Honduras and I thought I would post it. The work was performed by Living Water International, an excellent hydrophilanthropic group based in the Houston, TX, area. [Disclosure notice: I used to be a hand pump repair trainer for LWI.] 

The ACJF awarded $12,000 to LWI; $5,000 of that amount was donated by the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation (NGWREF), the charitable arm of the National Ground Water Association (NGWA).

Download LWI_Honduras_well_rehabilitation_report-_ACJF

Take a look.

I'll be traveling to Central America this June to visit some projects the ACJF previously funded in Nicaragua and Honduras, and assess some potential projects as the ACJF has some money to award. I'm looking forward to the trip; it has been four years snce my last visit and I miss the place.

Water Resources Program graduate student Evan Miles will accompany me. Both of us will first present papers at the Groundwater for the Americas conference in Panama City. 

“What we obtain too cheaply we esteem too lightly.” – Unknown

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Donald Payne (D-NJ) Introduce Water For The World Act

Here is the press release (22 April 2009) from Representative Blumenauer's office. You can download the press release and a one-pager below.

Washington, DC– Today, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Donald Payne (D-NJ) introduced the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009.  This legislation will empower the U.S. Government to address global environmental, poverty, and security threats presented by inadequately managed freshwater supplies.  Sustainable global water and access to sanitation is vital to long-term diplomatic and development efforts.  The Water for the World Act would both expand  US foreign assistance capacity and prioritize policy coordination within the US Government.

Today, one-fifth of the world’s population relies on freshwater that is either polluted or significantly overdrawn.  Building upon the landmark Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005, this bill sets an ambitious, but achievable, goal of providing 100 million of the world’s poorest with sustainable drinking water and sanitation by 2015.

“Right now, a lack of safe water and sanitation accounts for 2 million needless deaths a year and half the illness in the developing world.  Safe water and sanitation is a security issue, a health issue, an environmental issue, and a human rights issue.  It cuts to the heart of our international work and investment here yields staggering results,” said Rep. Blumenauer.  “Innovative partnerships between governments, NGOs, businesses, and local partners have accomplished a great deal with scarce resources, but nearly 900 million people worldwide still lack access to safe drinking water and two out of five people still lack basic sanitation services.  The Water for the World Act answers the call to act and helps build a healthier, safer, and more equitable future.  As we mark the 39^th Annual Earth Day, I am proud to once again join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in an ambitious and critical effort to alleviate poverty and increase global health and security.”

 

“The US must be serious about the role that sanitation and safe water plays in the development of countries around the world,” Congressman Payne exhorted.  “As the US charts a new foreign policy course, it is vital to make decisions that take sanitation and safe water into consideration.  In 2000, the  U.S.committed to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals which would make great strides towards combating such global ills as poverty, hunger and disease.  Yet, without providing access to the billions of people who live without potable water and/or basic sanitation facilities, these goals will not be actualized.  The Water for the World Act strengthens the mandate outlined in the 2005 landmark Water for the Poor Act.  Water for the World Act builds upon its predecessor by institutionalizing the role of safe water and sanitation in our foreign policy and by expanding its reach to an additional 100 million people.  Due to the multiplier effect of investment in safe water and sanitation, the upshot of this bill will be monumental for billions of people around the world.”

Specifically, The Water for the World Act would establish an Office of Water within USAID to implement country-specific water strategies.  It would also create a Special Coordinator for International Water within the State Department to coordinate the diplomatic policy of the US with respect to global freshwater issues, and establish programs in countries of greatest need that build local capacity, collaboration across borders and disciplines and promotes full utilization of low-cost technologies, such as hand washing stations and latrines.

The Water for the World Act is endorsed by a number of global health and environment advocates, including Water Advocates, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and CARE.  Lead sponsors of the bill include Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Donald Payne (D-N.J.), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), George Miller (D-Calif.), John  Boozman (R-Ariz.), Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), and Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Durbin (D-IL), Corker (R-TN), and Murray (D-WA). 

Download PR 042209 Water for the World

Download Water for the World one pager

"Traveler, there is no path. Paths are made by walking." -- Antonio Machado

Ground Water Summit Presentation: Teaching Well Drilling to Panama's Embera Indians

I am enjoying NGWA's excellent Ground Water Summit meeting in Tucson, AZ. Lots of good stuff going on.

The audience was impressed with my quote in Elle. And my post the other day was tongue-in-cheek. 

I am filling in for a colleague in a session today and here is my presentation, Groundwater Development and Empowerment for the Embera Indians, Southern Darien Province, Panama:

Download Campana NGWA Summit 2009 Tuesday 

Enjoy!

"Application of economic principles is blunt and clumsy unless it accounts for the underlying aquifer hydrology and geology." -- Henry Vaux, Jr., Economist, discussing economics and groundwater management, 2009 Ground Water Summit  

WaterWired's Southern Illinois University Presentations

Had a great visit to Southern Illinois University-Carbondale on 16 April 2009. Amazing, friendly, engaged people who treated me like royalty.

Colleagues Mae Davenport and Karl Williard, of SIUC's Department of Forestry, were wonderful hosts. Thanks!

And no attacks by the killer deer in Thompson Woods!

Here are my presentations.

Prof. Karl Williard's Advanced Watershed Hydrology class seminar, Hydrophilanthropy 101: Small-Scale Water Supply Projects in Central America:

Download Campana Adv_Hyd_Class_SIUC_16April2009

My Center for Ecology seminar, World Fresh Water Resources and the 4C's: Climate, Conflict, Cooperation, and Compassion:

Download Campana_SIUC_16April2009

Enjoy!

"What we are trying to do may just be a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." -- Mother Teresa 

Peter Boddie's Kasiki Project - Water For Those Who Need It

Hydrologist Peter Boddie and I met close to 30 years ago. It was at one of those wonderful Rocky Mountain Ground-Water (or was it 'Groundwater' - I can't remember which) Conferences that annually migrated from Laramie to Salt Lake City to Reno to Missoula to...Albuquerque. But I digress.

I ran into Peter again at the 2007 AWRA conference in Albuquerque at the session Dave Sabatini and I moderated on Hydrophilanthropy.

Peter told me about The Kasiki Project, which he had just started. 'Kasiki' is a Kiswahili (East African) word for earthen water container, or communion cup. He's now got the WWW site up.

Here's how The Kasiki Project works:

In America, safe tap water is available to almost everyone--yet we spend billions on bottled water, consuming energy and creating plastic waste.

In East Africa, and elsewhere, lack of access to clean water is a major health problem and an impediment to overcoming poverty. There is a great need for small, community water projects; they prevent water-borne diseases and bring access to water near to where people live, thus improving public health and eliminating the burden for women and children of carrying water long distances.

The Kasiki Project offers a simple way to help. Just drink tap water instead of bottled water, and donate the money you save to the Kasiki Project.

We'll use the money through Church World Service, and other organizations, to fund community water projects that are environmentally sustainable. Also, we'll provide you with a cool Kasiki Water Jar label to put on your own water bottle.

You can save money, save lives, help save the planet, and make a fashion statement at the same time. Please join us in this effort.

This is a great idea - you quit buying bottled water and help some people out at the same time!

Give Peter's site a visit and consider making a donation. You'll be helping to make the world a better place.

Read Gayle Leonard's post on this.

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." -- Helen Keller

Jim Thebaut Receives Water Charity Humanitarian Award

Filmmaker and water activist Jim Thebaut will be awarded the Water Charity Humanitarian Award for his films that have addressed serious water issues facing the world and his related hydrohumanitarian work. The award will be made at a banquet on 3 April 2009 during the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival (LAFF). The presentation will be made by Averill Strasser, COO of Water Charity.

Jim is president of The Chronicles Group, a nonprofit based in Southern California. As far as water is concerned, Jim and his organization are best-known for the films Running Dry and The American Southwest: Are We Running Dry? 

Jim is currently at work on a film about the relationship between the global water crisis and international security. But he is more than a filmmaker. He has launched a new agenda for the Running Dry Project, to raise awareness and encourage a national discussion on the dire water conditions in South Africa, the United States, and beyond, and hopes to raise $5 million for the cause (download the pdf below for more information).

Download Chronicles Group Running Dry Agenda 2009

Jim is a good friend, but more importantly, he is one of the world's good guys, working to make the world a better place in which to live.

Congratulations, Jim, on a well-deserved accolade!

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. " -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Good Man Dies Far Too Soon: Mickey Sampson, 43

Friend and colleague Dave Sabatini of the University of Oklahoma's WaTER Center sent me a notice about Michael "Mickey" Sampson's recent death from a heart attack in Thailand, where he was being treated for heart problems. 

Dave was a good friend of Sampson's. I did not know Mickey, but had learned of his work through Dave.

Sampson, 43, was founder and director of Resources Development International-Cambodia (RDIC). He is survived by his wife Wendi and their five children.

I had posted on Sampson's work just a few months ago.

Here is the RDIC memorial announcement and press release:

Resource Development International-Cambodia is grieved to report the death of Michael Lynn (“Mickey”) Sampson, RDIC Founder and Country Director.

Sampson, 43, had been experiencing health problems. He flew March 18 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to Bangkok, Thailand, for evaluation by a specialist.  His untimely death occurred in the early morning of March 19.  His body was found at the Bangkok house where he was staying.  An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a heart attack.

Arrangements are being made for returning Dr. Sampson’s body to Cambodia for funeral services. He is survived by parents Jimmy and Diane Sampson, one brother James Sampson, his wife, Wendi, and their children, Michal, Madelyn, Isaiah, Zach, and Datelyn, their Khmai daughter. 

Resource Development International-Cambodia would not exist without Mickey Sampson’s vision, dedication, and devotion. He lived and worked in Cambodia with his family since 1998, concentrating most of his efforts on improving drinking water and sanitation for the Cambodian people. One in twelve Cambodian children dies before age 5, primarily from diarrheal disease due to contaminated water.

A native of Louisville, KY, Sampson received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Louisville and taught as an assistant professor of chemistry with the University of Kentucky college system.

He first saw the struggle of Cambodians for clean water in the 1990s while teaching chemistry in Cambodia during a sabbatical year from the University of Kentucky.

One day his wife called Mickey into their bathroom in Cambodia while she was giving their children a bath. The water was only three inches deep, but it was so murky she couldn't see the bottom of the bathtub.

“She said, ‘You know, you're a chemist. Can't you do something about this?’”   He told a reporter years later, "It was a turning point in my life."  Many others also told Mickey that he should use his skills for helping with the water needs of the poor.

The Sampsons moved to Cambodia permanently in 1998. He worked with other non-governmental organizations to improve water quality. Eventually, however, he started Resource Development International-Cambodia to address Cambodia’s health and development problems in holistic ways. The organization provides education, water testing, water filtration systems, and construction, among other community-development initiatives.

Under Sampson’s leadership, RDIC established a ceramic water filter manufacture and distribution system (manufacturing 25,000 filters in 2008), produced a Cambodian television series for children to promote literacy and healthy living, and worked extensively to alert Cambodians to the risks of drinking arsenic-laden groundwater. RDIC also has developed and implemented agricultural, water, health and educational programs in villages throughout Cambodia.

Mickey believed Cambodian communities would not be transformed for the better without behavioral changes on all levels. The results have shown his methods worked. After two years of using RDIC’s water filtration pots, participating Cambodians were 49 percent less likely to have diarrheal disease than their neighbors without the filters.

Sampson co-authored a number of publications and supported research in partnership with international universities through RDIC's water research laboratory. He also was a member of the technical working group for the Cambodian government concerning how to address the UN’s “Millennium Target” to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

Mickey was widely known and respected in the international development and academic communities. His work with RDIC has been highlighted by a number of news and media outlets. National Public Radio (NPR) featured his creative campaign to educate Cambodians about unsafe drinking water via karaoke videos in a Jan. 27 profile: Karaoke Videos Teach Safe Water Techniques : NPR.

Friends say "Mickey's faith made him compassionate for the peoples he loved and deeply cared. Countless lives have been touched by this expression of love in their lives."

Mickey Sampson will be mourned and deeply missed by his many friends and colleagues, his family – and the thousands of Cambodians who now live healthy lives because of his work.

I have a pretty good idea where Mickey is right now. I have an even better idea of what he is doing: providing a glass of clean drinking water to someone far less fortunate than he.

"Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me.
The Carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality"
-- Emily Dickinson

5WWF Report 7: Heading Home; World Water Week Events at CSIS

As you read this I will probably be heading west back across the pond to SFO. or waiting in the Frankfurt airport to do so. I write this about 2030 Istanbul time on 22 March, waiting to head to the airport in six or seven hours for a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. At least the traffic won't be bad.

I'll post at least once more on 5WWF. I need some reflection time. But I can safely say that I got far more out of this Forum than the one in Kyoto in 2003. That is not a comment on the quality of 3WWF; I was just far more plugged in here than I was there, thanks to Ken Reid of AWRA. I was also less self-conscious and unwilling to take a low profile. As I said earlier, it's about making connections - seeing old friends and meeting new ones, comparing notes, learning, listening.

I enjoyed Saturday night at the Hilton Istanbul, where South Africa hosted a wonderful dinner party. Durban, on South Africa's east coast, is one of two contenders for the 2012 6WWF (Marseilles is the other one). My vote (which I don't have) is for Durban, even before the free food. It would send a wonderful message to the world; southern Africa has never hosted one of these, and Europe hosted 2WWF. The decision will be made in June.

Rumor has it that the Marseilles application was submitted incorrectly. Coincidentally, that city is the home of the World Water Council.

Bari, Italy, was promoting itself as the host for the 2015 WWF. It is on the Adriatic Sea, just above the "heel" of the boot. I sense that is a long shot.

Whoever gets the next WWF needs to work on the bags. I don't expect a Pierre Cardin leather piece that I got at a 2002 conference in Dubai, but the bag I got in Istanbul failed in two days - ultra-cheap zippers. And the water bottle that came with it could have knocked out a camel with the 'fragrance" wafting from it.

I neglected to mention that I attended a great session - SRO in a small room - on climate change and water resources in the Caucasus and Central Asia. I asked a question to which I knew the answer: are you studying and considering ground water resources? I missed the response from one of the panelists because I had to doff my earphones and talk to a succession of five people who shook my hand and thanked me for asking the question and told me that the answer is "No!" I later learned that one of the panelists answered by saying (in Russian): "We can't even agree on things we see!" Well said.

Heard by a colleague after he watched the movie,The Water Front, about Highland Park, MI: "My God! It was like the Third World!"

Rachel Posner of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) sent me the following information a few days ago. Since it deals with things about which I feel strongly - that of bringing clean water and sanitation to the world's less fortunate and increasing the USA's role on the world water stage - I thought her information was defiinitely worth posting.

On Tuesday, 17 March 2009, the CSIS hosted an event on Capitol Hill where Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) announced the introduction of his Water for the World Act, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). The bill aims to provide 100 million people around the world with sustainable access to clean water and sanitation by 2015 by helping to implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005. Further information about the event (including a copy of Durbin’s prepared remarks) is available here.

Last week the Center launched a Declaration on U.S. Policy and the Global Challenge of Water, which is co-chaired by former Senator Bill Frist and Neville Isdell (Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company). The Declaration—which is endorsed by 37 major figures from across the public and private sector—calls for the United States to play a stronger role in addressing water as one of the most important, "strategic" challenges of our time. Here is more information about the event.

"It is not disgraceful to ask, it is disgraceful not to ask." -- Turkish proverb

5WWF Report 3: Two Worthy Causes - Fill the Glass and One Drop

World Water Day is 22 March 2009 - the day the 5WWF ends.

In honor of that day, I am publicizing two causes I believe are worthy. The descriptions below were provided to me.

1)  Fill The Glass is a campaign to quench the thirst of thousands in need of water for drinking, bathing, and growing food. Whether it is providing clean water to Sudanese refugees and families in Gaza, building water pumps in Philippines, or providing rain storage tanks to rural communities in Oaxaza, Mexico, there are water-related projects around the world that could benefit from public support. The campaign specifically hopes to raise funds for 10 grass-roots water projects that you can view on our website. Those projects that raise over $10,000 between March 9 and 30 March will receive additional funding from GlobalGiving.

2) ONE DROP is an NGO launched by Cirque du Soleil founder (Guy Laliberté) to realize his dream of fighting poverty by providing access to clean water to the world's population. To get one step closer to this remarkably ambitious goal from 16 March to 22 March ONE DROP will be raising awareness for the Global Water Crisis and World Water Day (22 March) across blogs, Digg, Tweeter, Facebook and many other social networks in an upcoming social media effort called Ripple. This Friday, 20 March, an unprecedented rally event will be held on Digg: DIGG FOR WATER asking as many supporters as possible to dig our cause. This effort will hopefully allow us to collectively take the front page on Digg and to make Web audiences sensitive to the urgency of action to tackle Global Water Crisis.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Kind words will unlock an iron door." -- Turkish proverb

2009 DC Water Report 3: Serendipity, Global Water, and Hydrophilanthropy

'Serendipity' is one of my favorite English words. I love its sound, but more importantly, I love what it signifies. I certainly am indebted to the Three Princes of Serendip. 

On Tuesday 24 February I made the rounds of the Oregon Congressional delegations on behalf of my institute and NIWR. I did not have appointments for all offices – only two out of seven, actually. Since I had some free time, I dropped in on a few offices to see if anyone had a spare minute or two to see an OWG.

I decided to visit OSU’s new Congressman, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR). It turned out that was a fortuitous decision, because a delightful young man, Ethan Pittleman, whose specialized in energy, had a few minutes available. We chatted, and discovered that we both shared a fascination with Central Asia. I then mentioned my work in Kazakhstan and the South Caucasus.

He asked me if had received a recent email on global water from Stephanie Cappa, a staffer in Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s (D-OR) office. I replied that I had not. He advised me to give her a call or email. I thanked him and followed his advice, explaining in an email to Stephanie my interest in global water issues.

Rep. Blumenauer is not my Congressman, but one of his interests is water and he was the main House member behind the Water for the Poor Act. His heart and head are in the right place. Stephanie answered my email at 11 PM that night, and told me to call Wednesday morning. I did, and by 10:30 AM I was over in the Rayburn House Office Building.

She wanted to advise me that the Congressman was on the verge of reintroducing the Sen. Paul Simon Water for the Poor Enhancement Act, something he had done last session (H.R. 7180), only to have it languish. His rationale for the act was simple: the original act, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, has not been implemented as Congress intended. The new act would provide the tools and structures necessary to fully implement the original act.

Here is what the new act would do:

1) Establish aUSAID Office of Water that focuses on providing safe, affordable, and sustainable drinking water and sanitation in developing nations.

2) Establish a State Department Bureau of International Water, to ensure that international freshwater issues are represented in US international policies and diplomatic relations with other nations and multilateral organizations.

3) Enhance the Safe Water and Sanitation Strategy to strengthen the US commitment to achieving the Clean Water Millennium Development Goal.

4) Provide innovative funding mechanisms and local training programs to help developing nations create the capacity to deliver affordable, equitable, and sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation on their own.

5) Require an updated report on international water programs, to account for the expected impacts of global warming.

Rep. Blumenauer also has written to Peter Orszag, Director of OMB, requesting that he include $500M in President Obama’s FY2010 budget to implement the original act. He and 40 of his House colleagues also sent a letter to President Obama urging him to reestablish US global leadership in ths area and offering Congressional commitment.

I will try you keep you informed about this.
                                                                                      

Indeed, serendipity strikes again!

Let me add a final note, at the risk of sounding fawning or patronizing. Until I started making these Congressional visits about eight years ago, I had no idea how young most of the Congressional staffers were: 20- and 30-somethings – like Ethan and Stephanie. And these folks, possessed of boundless energy, passion, and brains, aren’t gofers, but are crafting legislation, building coalitions, solving problems, etc. After seeing these young people in action I don’t worry much about the “younger generation”.

I just hope my generation does not saddle them with boundless debt. I fear we will.

"Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome. " -- Samuel Johnson 

University of OK: International WaTER Conference, 26-27 October 2009

Friend, colleague, scholar, and one of the world's really good guys Dave Sabatini just sent me the long awaited announcement for the International WaTER Conference, to be held at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 26-27 October 2009.

Download WaTER_Conference_FIRST_ANNOUNCEMENT_v3

University of Oklahoma International WaTER Conference
and
International Water Prize Award Ceremony
October 26-27, 2009
Norman, OK, USA

The Water Technologies for Emerging Regions (WaTER) Center at the University of Oklahoma will host the Inaugural OU International WaTER Conference and International Water Prize Award Ceremony on October 26-27, 2009 in Norman, Oklahoma. The conference will bring together participants from multiple groups responding to the UN Millennium Development Goals focused on bringing water and sanitation to remote villages in developing countries. Water and sanitation experts from academia, industry, NGOs, government, and foundations are invited to participate. Participants from developing countries are especially encouraged to attend; a limited number of travel assistance scholarships will be available for international participants.

The two-day conference will include poster and paper sessions devoted to all technical and non-technical topics and sectors (technical, anthropological, sociological, cultural or legal aspects) relevant to water and sanitation in remote regions of developing countries.

The highlight of the conference will be a plenary lecture by and presentation of the first OU International Water Prize to Dr. Steve Luby.  In addition, keynote lectures will be given by:

·         Dr. Jamie Bartram, WHO-Geneva

·         Dr. George Greene, Water Missions Intl.

·         Dr. Rob Quick, CDC

·         Dr. Steve Silliman, Notre Dame

Dr. Stephen P. Luby
2009 OU International Water Prize Winner

Dr. Luby has worked for the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh since 2004. He is head of the Program on Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Sciences and also functions as the head of Agency for the Centers for Disease Control in Bangladesh. He earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy from Creighton University in 1981 and a medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas in 1986. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital. Dr. Luby studied epidemiology and public health in the Epidemic Intelligence Service and the Preventive Medicine Residency of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Luby has authored over 120 scientific articles, the majority concerning communicable disease epidemiology in low-income countries. [Disclosure notice: I was on the prize jury.]

University of Oklahoma International WaTER Conference

Call for Abstracts

The OU WaTER Center is soliciting abstracts for papers and oral presentations for the University of Oklahoma International WaTER Conference to be held in Norman, Oklahoma on October 26-27, 2009. Papers dealing with any technical, anthropological, sociological, cultural or legal aspects of water and sanitation in developing countries are invited.

Conference registration is $190, which includes entrance to all poster and paper sessions, plenary lectures, two continental breakfasts, four breaks, two lunches, a social, and one dinner banquet that are part of the conference agenda.  Participants from developing countries are especially encouraged to attend; a limited number of travel assistance scholarships will be available for international participants.

Interested participants should submit an abstract of no more than 500-words to the Conference Selection Committee by May 1, 2009. The abstract should include a succinct but descriptive title of the proposed paper or poster, and name, affiliation, and contact information (including email) of the authors. The abstract should identify the topic of the proposed paper or poster and should include a brief description of the actual project or innovation. The abstract should also discuss the significant results of the efforts and conclusions or recommendations drawn from the study.  Abstracts submittal and registration information may be found here.

The Conference Selection Committee will review the abstracts and make decisions regarding acceptance by July 15, 2009. Authors will be informed of the acceptance by August 1, 2009. Suggested topical areas include the following:

APPROPRIATE WATER/ SANITATION TECHNOLOGIES

·         Water supply technologies

·         Sustainable water/sanitation technologies

·         Implementation projects and case studies

·         Household water treatment

·         Assessment/outcomes procedures

·         Failures – what doesn’t work and why

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND BUSINESS

·         Sustainable change

·         Micro-financing and social entrepreneurship

·         In-country capacity building

·         Small-scale programming by decentralized organizations

·         Case studies

HEALTH SCIENCES

·         Community health assessment

·         Disease prevention

·         Case studies

EDUCATIONAL INNOVATIONS

·         Service learning and EWB projects

·         Interdisciplinary courses/programs

·         K-20 Outreach

·         Field methods

This will be a great conference! See you there!

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” – Samuel Johnson

Water for People CEO: Position Available; Co-Founder Mannion Dies

Water for People, one of the best organizations when it comes to helping those in developing countries meet their clean water sanitation, and health/hygiene needs, is searching for a CEO.

Download WFP-CEO-Position

From WFP's WWW site:

Water For People helps people in developing countries improve their quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene education programs.

Around the world, 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion are without adequate sanitation facilities. Every day, nearly 6,000 people who share our planet die from water-related illnesses, and the vast majority are children.

Our vision is a world where all people have access to safe drinking water and sanitation; a world where no one suffers or dies from a water- or sanitation-related disease.

Here is some more information on the position:

This is an exciting opportunity for the right seasoned executive who is looking for challenge and travel on a mission to make a difference in the lives of thousands upon thousands of people. Water for People is a not-for-profit organization that has an 18-year history of developing highly successful and sustained water and sanitation projects throughout eleven countries in Central America, South America, Africa and India. The organization's success at designing and implementing sustainable projects is unprecedented.

A sad note: WFP co-founder Jack Mannion died on 4 February 2009.

“He never had a good idea; he always passed them off to the volunteer leaders.” -- Fred Elwell, current WFP President, referring to Jack Mannion.

Rethinking Hydrophilanthropy: ESPN, Fly Fishing, and Healing Wounds

Sometimes ESPN gets it right. Amid the roiling sea of self-deprecating or snarky anchors, narcissistic athletes, bloviating analysts, interminable slam dunks, and sports shills masquerading as journalists, there sometimes appears an island of thoughtfulness and compassion.

One such island was spotted on SportsCenter yesterday morning. There was piece on a philanthropic organization, Project Healing Waters, that takes injured vets and teaches them the joys of fly fishing. Its mission:

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.

The story's reporter spoke with a number of disabled vets, who had found a lifeline through the organization and its fly fishing approach. I could not find the story on ESPN's WWW site - probably have to join and log in.

There is also a similar program, Rivers of Recovery. I suspect there are others, too.

Here is a video clip about ROR from MSNBC. From ROR's WWW site:

Rivers of Recovery (ROR) represents a pro-active intervention. Our goal is to achieve lasting, positive changes in the lives of disabled veterans. This is done by helping our participants:

• Forge a re-connection with a life’s purpose.
• Re-connect with themselves, their families, fellow veterans and nature.
• Re-build a sense of empowerment; self-esteem and self-confidence.
• Demonstrate competence and capability.
• Achieve success through learning and accomplishment.

Both these organizations deserve your support.

 

And thanks to ESPN, I had to rethink my definition of hydrophilanthropy. What those fly fishing folks were doing was HP, pure and simple. So to my definition of hydrophilanthropy I added number 2 below.

 

Ooops...gotta go...almost time for Hannah Storm on SportsCenter!

 

Hydrophilanthropy: 1) Altruistic concern for the water, sanitation, and related needs of humankind, as manifested by donations of work, money, or resources. 2) Use of water to express kindness or benevolence, such as the healing of psychological, spiritual, and other wounds.