Aqua Clara

Last weekend Shawn and I traveled to good old Holland, Michigan to learn how to build biosand water purifiers with Aqua Clara International. 

"What?"

Well, I'm glad you asked.  Aqua Clara is an organization created to give away water purifier technology in the developing world.  The purifiers are designed in such a way that they are built out of locally acquired materials.  Aqua Clara also sends teams to train locals in how to build the filters on their own and how to set up a unique business and training model that will work best for the local community.  In short, it is ultra sustainable and helps empower locals to take control of their sanitation issue.  I could talk about this for hours though.  I absolutely love the way the organization is structured!

The filters are quite simple.  Just plastic drums with some PVC pipe, a few layers of sand, and a brass disinfectant.  The way the filter works is that the water someone puts in today, she drinks tomorrow.  During that standing time, the bacteria and parasites in the water become food for each other and utilize all of the oxygen in the filter.  After that takes place, the water is clean once it comes out the spout.  There's a lot of biology going on in there that I can't claim to completely understand.  I think the most impressive part of the technology is the man who created it is a retired physicist from Dow and taught himself all of the biology and chemistry he needed to know.  He then patened the technology so he could give it away.

Anyway, I digress.  Here are some photos of the purifier building process.

First you measure and drill a hole in the front of the plastic drum for the out-spout.  Our team opted to use the hand drill.  Mostly because the power drills were all in use.  However, if (when) we travel overseas to train communities how to build these, a hand drill will be the only thing that is available.

Now we measured and cut the PVC pipe to fit our drum's dimensions.  There is actually quite a bit of exactness that is required to making sure the PVC fits properly and where the out-spout should be located.

Next, our leaders demonstrated how to drill the holes in the PVC pipe using a hand drill they brought back from Kenya.  Again, in the US we would simply use a power drill, however, that is not available in most locations overseas due to lack of electricity.

 Our teammates drilling the holes in the intake pipe for our filter.

And there you have it!  Our filter.  The men who were teamed with Shawn and me were actually learning to build these filters in hopes to travel to Haiti.  After the earthquake, it seems that these purifiers are needed now more than ever.

Each purifier is affixed with a sticker that states when the filter was built and who the owner can contact to ask questions about maintenance, etc.  This is typically a local expert who has been trained by an Aqua Clara team in how these filters need to be constructed and maintained.  It typically is not an American.  I think that's pretty awesome.

Now add the sand.  At this point our leaders simply filled their purifier.  It would have been a lot of unnecessary sand for all 10 teams to built complete purifiers.

Now adding the water to the purifier.

It works!

As I am sure you can tell from this post, I'm pretty excited about what Aqua Clara is doing around the world.  Clean water is one of the most needed things in the developing world.  Drinking unsafe water leads to numerous unnecessary and preventable illnesses that contribute to the extreme poverty in many areas of the world.  Think about it- how well do you work, learn, or parent when you are feeling ill?  Imagine that for every day of your life and the water you drink is causing it.  Honestly, it completely breaks my heart.

"Richness"

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of speaking at Calvin College about an internship I did with Engineering Ministries International (eMi) the summer after I graduated college. eMi is a missions organization set up to mobilize architecture and engineering professionals to use their skills for design projects in developing countries. When I discovered this organization I was thrilled because it really combines my heart for the poor and my education. I've always felt very blessed to live the life I live and to have the opportunity to receive an excellent education. Out of gratitude, I really feel pulled to share those blessings to others.

My internship was in Colorado Springs for most of the summer with a 2 week trip to Kenya to assist in the design of a girls' secondary school. When I usually think of my time with eMi I remember all of the fun times I had in Colorado with all of the other interns. However, while reflecting on my whole internship in preparation for my presentation, I was really reminded of how life changing my trip to Kenya was.

The school was to be part of a ministry that was established to take care of orphans and widows. They even had a group of widows from the community who were their local "prayer warriors". They'd pray day and night for all kinds of things. We got a late start on our travels from Niarobi to the village where our ministry was located and didn't arrive until well after dark. However, several hundred feet outside the compound we were greeted with what had to be every member of the church and all of their family. There were so many that our van stopped and we eventually got out and walked with them into the village as they sang praising God for our safe arrival. That evening we were each paired with one of the orphans who sacrificed their bed for us to sleep in, waited for us to get up each morning so they could sweep the bedroom and make the our beds- they even washed our dirty laundry. Daily.

Lillian, the orphan who took care of me

While I can't say I was always thrilled to see my underwear hanging on the fence post, it was completely mind boggling and at times made me feel uncomfortable. Not just because of the underwear situation. I had come to serve them and bless them and they were serving me even more. The Sunday after we arrived we attended the church service on the compound. The service was several hours long and a large portion of it was spent just praising God. One of the most moving parts is when the pastor read a list of items that were donated to accomodate us. It seems to go on and on with items like goats, eggs, pop, produce, money, and sugar. Lots of sugar. And then after he finished, as if they hadn't given enough already, he took a final offering where a couple dozen more people came and donated money or food for us. I think the most moving part was when a woman who I can only assume was one of the praying widows came up to the front of the line and from a piece of fabric gave one egg.

One of the widows during the offering

It was truly beautiful. It reminded me in the Gospels where a window gave two copper pennys and Jesus had noted that she had given more than anyone else because she had given all that she had. These stories are still amazing and moving to me because they helped me realize that having a lot of money or material possessions doesn't make you "rich". Seeing this community serve us made me reconsider that what made you rich was the depth of your heart and your williness to serve and love those around you. A spiritual richness that I had never seen before shined throughout our week there.

In addition to being able to speak about a great time in my life, I also had a lot of down time in the car during the 2+ hour drive each way. This was a great time to work on this long forgotten quilt. Way back when I first started quilting I decided to take up hand quilting. Since then I have discovered the joys of instant gratification from machine quilting. Unfortuantely for this quilt it means the quilting is quite neglected. Fortunately, I have another big road trip coming up. For Thanksgiving when Shawn and I make the 6.5 hour drive to the UP to spend it with his parents.

Kenya

In June of 2006 I went to Kenya with Engineering Ministries International as an intern to assist in the design of a girls secondary school just outside the city Kisumu. We worked with a ministry who had an incredible mission to serve the orphans by giving them love, food, and shelter. It was really a great trip. I was able to meet some really awesome people and help make it possible for teenage girls to receive an education.

Pastor Joshua and his wife, Abigail

If you haven't heard, there is currently tremendous political unrest in Kenya causing riots and has left most Kenyans fearing for their lives. Read more about it here. It seems that most of the violence is located in Western Kenya- particularly near Kisumu. I also received an email from someone at the organization I went to Kenya with saying he heard word that the brother of the pastor we worked with has had to flee for his life. It really makes it more real to hear that the area I traveled to and people I worked with there are being so deeply effected by this situation. Please keep them in your prayers.

Myself and two other volunteers with
a group of children after church