The entire traveling team
Traveling between locations
Checking up on the latrines that were constructed one year prior
Hanging with the children!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Hello All! So just to keep you updated, our group had a successful assessment/post implementation trip this past summer break back in Kukra River. Below you will find a series of photos taken from that trip. Further details from the trip will be posted shortly.
The entire traveling team
Traveling between locations
Checking up on the latrines that were constructed one year prior
Hanging with the children!
The entire traveling team
Traveling between locations
Checking up on the latrines that were constructed one year prior
Hanging with the children!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Project updates !
hello everyone !
Our School-house project in kukra river region of Nicaragua is very much underway. here are some project updates :
1. In terms of grant, Lawrence foundation offered to help our project with $5,000 !
2. Our 521 form has been approved which approves our site assessment trip.Thus It is official that site assessment trip is taking place from June 13th to June 21st.
3. We are almost done making a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU). The purpose of MOU is to establish an agreement between us and the community about the project.
4. We have compiled many interview questions to ask the community members during our trip.
5. We used the Engineering Alumni Association funding to purchase necessary tools (GPS,medical kits,water purifier etc) for the site assessment trip.
here is the agenda for our site assessment :
Day 0 (June 13th)
Travel LAX to Atlanta
Atlanta to Managua
Day 1 (June 14th)
Arrive Managua
Meet up at hostel
Exchange $
Meet up with everyone
Day 2 (June 15th)
Wake up early
Go to Bus station. Take the bus to Rama.
Check hard-ware stores at Rama
Go to Bluefields
Stay at the hostel
Check hardware stores
Get supplies/food
Buy boots
Day 3 (June 16th)
Wake up early. Meet Marvin
Talk to Marvin: construction for projects, contact with ministry of education, travel plans, get level/ tools.
Take the boat to San Sebastian
· Check on the latrines.
· Ask them interview question
Day 4 (June 17th)
Meet other families
Interview questions
Meet Cipriano
Check problems with the latrines
Leave for Las Brenas
Possibly meet with the community
Debrief
Day 5 (June 18th)
Site survey
Interviews surrounding community
Soil tests
Pictures of people’s homes
Coordinates
Meet with the community
MOU Signed
Debrief
Day 6 (June 19th)
Possibly work ½ day.
Travel back
Debrief
Day 7 (June 20th)
Travel
Day 8 (June 21st)
Leave
Email Oren (personal debrief)
Problems
Things accomplished
Best and worst part of the trip
What to do differently next time
Pictures (zip file)
Health problems
Post assessment (Henry, Warren, Eugene and Eric)
After our site assessment, I will update you with pictures and a summary of tasks accomplished. That's all for now.
Our School-house project in kukra river region of Nicaragua is very much underway. here are some project updates :
1. In terms of grant, Lawrence foundation offered to help our project with $5,000 !
2. Our 521 form has been approved which approves our site assessment trip.Thus It is official that site assessment trip is taking place from June 13th to June 21st.
3. We are almost done making a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU). The purpose of MOU is to establish an agreement between us and the community about the project.
4. We have compiled many interview questions to ask the community members during our trip.
5. We used the Engineering Alumni Association funding to purchase necessary tools (GPS,medical kits,water purifier etc) for the site assessment trip.
here is the agenda for our site assessment :
Day 0 (June 13th)
Travel LAX to Atlanta
Atlanta to Managua
Day 1 (June 14th)
Arrive Managua
Meet up at hostel
Exchange $
Meet up with everyone
Day 2 (June 15th)
Wake up early
Go to Bus station. Take the bus to Rama.
Check hard-ware stores at Rama
Go to Bluefields
Stay at the hostel
Check hardware stores
Get supplies/food
Buy boots
Day 3 (June 16th)
Wake up early. Meet Marvin
Talk to Marvin: construction for projects, contact with ministry of education, travel plans, get level/ tools.
Take the boat to San Sebastian
· Check on the latrines.
· Ask them interview question
Day 4 (June 17th)
Meet other families
Interview questions
Meet Cipriano
Check problems with the latrines
Leave for Las Brenas
Possibly meet with the community
Debrief
Day 5 (June 18th)
Site survey
Interviews surrounding community
Soil tests
Pictures of people’s homes
Coordinates
Meet with the community
MOU Signed
Debrief
Day 6 (June 19th)
Possibly work ½ day.
Travel back
Debrief
Day 7 (June 20th)
Travel
Day 8 (June 21st)
Leave
Email Oren (personal debrief)
Problems
Things accomplished
Best and worst part of the trip
What to do differently next time
Pictures (zip file)
Health problems
Post assessment (Henry, Warren, Eugene and Eric)
After our site assessment, I will update you with pictures and a summary of tasks accomplished. That's all for now.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Hello everyone !
i'm very excited to share with you that we are beginning a new project in Nicaragua. We are planning to build a schoolhouse with a water-catchment system in the Kukra river region to serve the agrarian community of Las Breñas. People in this community do not have access to potable water and must drink from the same murky water in which they bathe. There is also a great need for a schoolhouse in Las Breñas, as there is a large number of children that currently do not attend school simply because the only schoolhouse within the area is located over an hour away by foot.
Here are some project updates:
1. We are planning to do our site assessment right after spring quarter ends. The estimated dates are from June 12th to June 20th.
2. There will be 2 groups for the site assessment : Latrine group, and Schoolhouse group. Latrine group will go to San Sebastian to check the status on our compost latrines and evaluate them. And the schoolhouse group will go to Las Breñas to evaluate the site for schoolhouse construction.
3. We have two professional engineers that will be going with us on the site assessment to guide us.
4. We managed to get pocket penetrometer and vane shear tools for field testing purposes.
5. We are looking to buy a GPS Unit for the upcoming trip.
6. In terms of grants, we are still waiting to hear back from all the grants that we submitted.
More updates to come soon !
i'm very excited to share with you that we are beginning a new project in Nicaragua. We are planning to build a schoolhouse with a water-catchment system in the Kukra river region to serve the agrarian community of Las Breñas. People in this community do not have access to potable water and must drink from the same murky water in which they bathe. There is also a great need for a schoolhouse in Las Breñas, as there is a large number of children that currently do not attend school simply because the only schoolhouse within the area is located over an hour away by foot.
Here are some project updates:
1. We are planning to do our site assessment right after spring quarter ends. The estimated dates are from June 12th to June 20th.
2. There will be 2 groups for the site assessment : Latrine group, and Schoolhouse group. Latrine group will go to San Sebastian to check the status on our compost latrines and evaluate them. And the schoolhouse group will go to Las Breñas to evaluate the site for schoolhouse construction.
3. We have two professional engineers that will be going with us on the site assessment to guide us.
4. We managed to get pocket penetrometer and vane shear tools for field testing purposes.
5. We are looking to buy a GPS Unit for the upcoming trip.
6. In terms of grants, we are still waiting to hear back from all the grants that we submitted.
More updates to come soon !
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Hi everyone!
First off, more pictures of the completion of our latrine project will be posted shortly. Also, our group is excited to announce that we have a new phase for our program within Kukra River. We are now going ahead with a schoolhouse construction project in the community of Las Brenas. This schoolhouse will have with it a water catchment system (and possibly another composting latrine if resources permit it). Further details will be developed in the weeks to come.
-Julia P.
First off, more pictures of the completion of our latrine project will be posted shortly. Also, our group is excited to announce that we have a new phase for our program within Kukra River. We are now going ahead with a schoolhouse construction project in the community of Las Brenas. This schoolhouse will have with it a water catchment system (and possibly another composting latrine if resources permit it). Further details will be developed in the weeks to come.
-Julia P.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Step-by-step construction process for Composting Latrines in the San Sebastian of Kukra River in Nicaragua:
1) Leveling the ground for our foundation
2) Cutting rebar for reinforcements on top and base slabs as well as vertical corner reinforcement for vaults. Wood was also cut for base slab's form at this stage of the process.
3) Arranging rebar and tying with wire to measured dimensions
4) Hammering together the form for the bottom slab, filling it with rocks to approximately half the height, then placing the rebar frame on top
5) Using the volcanoe method for mixing concrete (aggregate was added after water, cement, and sand were mixed)
6) Layering on concrete for bottom slab
7) Once dry enough (approximately a day), prefabricated blocks shipped in from Bluefields were stacked layer by layer while being cemented together. Rebar propped up at the corners. Note how two gaps were left in the back. These will provide access into the vaults. Separate concrete slabs with handle bars on them will be cemented into place with a 1" clearance that is to be filled in by paper or plastic bags and is chissled out at the time of removal.
8) Wooden planks were hammered into concrete to cover the tops of both chambers in order to provide a backing for the top slab's concrete form. Toilet holes made from sheets of zinc and nailed in around the outside into the planks. Rebar reinforcement was also used for this slab.
9) Top slab being filled in with concrete
10) Once base is completed, a wooden superstructure was built. This process took longer than expected so beware! We started out with a frame made of 2x4's and used planks placed in the horizontal direction. The corrugated Zinc was attached using roofing nails
11) The steps were (unfortunately) made after the concrete vault was created, as we were unsure at the time on how much concrete would be left over. In the future, the concrete steps would be taken into account when designing the base slab.
12) Fly ventilation was placed on the side. We had initially designed for the vent to be placed along the backwall which would have been designed to have access into both chambers, however lack of communication led to a modified design by the mason, where the top row of blocks in the divider is spaced approximately 1/2" between each block to allow for ventilation and fly passage from the vault that is not directly connected to the vent. We will see the effectiveness when we return to the area. Another issue we had was the fact that gray vent pipes were provided for us instead of white. This may end up having an effect on the number of flies able to be effectively removed from the latrine.
The end result. Due to a scarcity in toilet casts, the toilets for these latrines were unable to come in time. In addition to this, we also ran out of time for the assembly of the door. We anticipate receiving photos and updates from our onsite NGO affiliates, FUNCOS, who will inform us whether or not all has been completed. In the mean time, here is a photo of us and all those who helped (including the entire family):
1) Leveling the ground for our foundation
2) Cutting rebar for reinforcements on top and base slabs as well as vertical corner reinforcement for vaults. Wood was also cut for base slab's form at this stage of the process.
3) Arranging rebar and tying with wire to measured dimensions
4) Hammering together the form for the bottom slab, filling it with rocks to approximately half the height, then placing the rebar frame on top
5) Using the volcanoe method for mixing concrete (aggregate was added after water, cement, and sand were mixed)
6) Layering on concrete for bottom slab
7) Once dry enough (approximately a day), prefabricated blocks shipped in from Bluefields were stacked layer by layer while being cemented together. Rebar propped up at the corners. Note how two gaps were left in the back. These will provide access into the vaults. Separate concrete slabs with handle bars on them will be cemented into place with a 1" clearance that is to be filled in by paper or plastic bags and is chissled out at the time of removal.
8) Wooden planks were hammered into concrete to cover the tops of both chambers in order to provide a backing for the top slab's concrete form. Toilet holes made from sheets of zinc and nailed in around the outside into the planks. Rebar reinforcement was also used for this slab.
9) Top slab being filled in with concrete
10) Once base is completed, a wooden superstructure was built. This process took longer than expected so beware! We started out with a frame made of 2x4's and used planks placed in the horizontal direction. The corrugated Zinc was attached using roofing nails
11) The steps were (unfortunately) made after the concrete vault was created, as we were unsure at the time on how much concrete would be left over. In the future, the concrete steps would be taken into account when designing the base slab.
12) Fly ventilation was placed on the side. We had initially designed for the vent to be placed along the backwall which would have been designed to have access into both chambers, however lack of communication led to a modified design by the mason, where the top row of blocks in the divider is spaced approximately 1/2" between each block to allow for ventilation and fly passage from the vault that is not directly connected to the vent. We will see the effectiveness when we return to the area. Another issue we had was the fact that gray vent pipes were provided for us instead of white. This may end up having an effect on the number of flies able to be effectively removed from the latrine.
The end result. Due to a scarcity in toilet casts, the toilets for these latrines were unable to come in time. In addition to this, we also ran out of time for the assembly of the door. We anticipate receiving photos and updates from our onsite NGO affiliates, FUNCOS, who will inform us whether or not all has been completed. In the mean time, here is a photo of us and all those who helped (including the entire family):
Monday, September 7, 2009
Hello from Bluefields!
We have finally received approval from the Technical Advisory Committee and tomorrow, September 9th, we shall venture in to the kukra river region to begin the implementation phase of our project. Designs have changed dramatically over the months but we have finally sorted out a lot of the confusion. we will be using a ´T´pvc piece for the top part of the ventilation (as that was what was available at the hardware store) and there will be no separated urinal diverter. All three of the latrines will be quite similar in structure, except for one which will include a pvc ventilation system. Additionally, one or two of the latrines´staircases will be made of wood so as to cut down on costs (and because wood is quite abundant within the area).
Materials have already been gathered and a mason has also been hired so as to ensure the success of this project. Also, as a side note, the toilets are being purchased ahead of time as opposed to being made from a cast. this will cut down on time and cost. Pictures of the construction and final results will be posted in a few weeks!
We have finally received approval from the Technical Advisory Committee and tomorrow, September 9th, we shall venture in to the kukra river region to begin the implementation phase of our project. Designs have changed dramatically over the months but we have finally sorted out a lot of the confusion. we will be using a ´T´pvc piece for the top part of the ventilation (as that was what was available at the hardware store) and there will be no separated urinal diverter. All three of the latrines will be quite similar in structure, except for one which will include a pvc ventilation system. Additionally, one or two of the latrines´staircases will be made of wood so as to cut down on costs (and because wood is quite abundant within the area).
Materials have already been gathered and a mason has also been hired so as to ensure the success of this project. Also, as a side note, the toilets are being purchased ahead of time as opposed to being made from a cast. this will cut down on time and cost. Pictures of the construction and final results will be posted in a few weeks!
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