CAPDCalgary.org BLOG

El programa de Agua Sana en Montería, Colombia, avanza con altibajos. El invierno ha hecho más lento el proceso debido a las inundaciones y la falta de acceso a las aldeas. La temporada de verano terminará en Semana Santa y las lluvias volverán a comenzar.

Parece que la producción de la caja del filtro en concreto es la parte fácil. Lo más difícil es tamizar la arena porque se requiere que esté seca para pasarla por el fino tamiz de la máquina. Estamos investigando la viabilidad de tener un sistema que tamice arena húmeda para que la sequedad de la arena no sea un problema.

Hay más de 300 filtros con su arena filtrada listos para ser instalados pero el cuello de botella actual es su transporte e instalación. Hasta ahora se han instalado cerca de 200 filtros. En este momento estoy en Montería tratando de mejorar el proceso.

La señora que está parada cerca del filtro está feliz con él. Está acompañada por Enadis, la coordinadora comunitaria.

Generalmente, las familias aprecian los filtros, aunque el agua dulce es muy limitada durante el verano y muchas compran el agua que viene en camiones. En noviembre pasado había agua por todas partes con bastantes pantanos y un acceso vehicular limitado. Ahora, por el contrario, la tierra está muy seca. Es cierto que la vida aquí es difícil.

Bob

The Water Filter project in Monteria Colombia advances in fits and starts. The “winter” or rainy season really slowed things down because of flooding and poor access to villages.  The first of two summer periods is coming to an end at Easter and the rains will begin again.

 It seems like producing the filter box is the easy part.  However, sifting the filter media is a different story as it requires dry sand to pass through the very fine sieve installed in the machine.  We are investigating the feasibility of a wet sieving system so the dryness of the sand is not an issue.

 More than 300 filters and filter media are ready for installation and transporting filters to the village and organizing the installations seem to be the bottleneck right now.  About 200 have been installed to date.  I am in Monteria right now to see if the process can be improved.

 

 The lady standing by the filter is happy with it.  She works on the farm where the filters are produced and I suppose the local powers that be decided that paint was a luxury.  A painted filter would have really stood out in a house with no furniture – there is not one painted item and only a couple hammocks.

 

Families generally are appreciative of the filters although access to sweet water during the dry season is very difficult and many are buying water that is being trucked in.  In November there was water everywhere with lots of marshes and limited vehicular access.  Now we are driving through the same areas on baked earth.  It is a challenging country to be sure.

 

Bob  

 

 

Cada año CAPD organiza una gran fiesta para recaudar fondos. Nuestra fiesta de este año fue la mejor de todas debido a la excelente música, el entretenimiento y la cena. Agradecemos al patrocinador principal del evento, Azabache Energy, a los demás patrocinadores y a las personas que colaboraron con sus donaciones por ayudarnos a superar nuestra meta y recaudar $ 40.000. Queremos dar un especial agradecimiento a nuestros voluntarios por su trabajo en la preparación del evento. Por favor visite a nuestra página web www.capdcalgary.org para conocer a nuestros patrocinadores y el nuevo video mostrado durante la gala.

Haga click acá para ver el video del evento hecho por Fela la fotógrafa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2S2UABoyDQ

CAPD has one major fundraiser a year, a Gala dinner and dance. This year’s Gala on March 3rd was the best ever due to excellent music, entertainment and dinner. We thank our event sponsor, Azabache Energy, our other sponsors and our donors for helping us exceed our fundraising goal of $40,000. A big bouquet goes to our volunteers for putting in countless hours of preparation. Please go to our web page www.capdcalgary.org to view our sponsors and the new video shown during the gala.

Click here to see Fela the Photographer’s video of the event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2S2UABoyDQ

In November of last year, ASODISPIE was still in their rented facilities. Twelve months later they have their own brand-new centre on a plot of land provided for their use by the municipality of Piedecuesta. They have done a tremendous job and deserve a lot of credit. They are grateful to those who helped them realize a 14 year-old dream: the mayor of Piedecuesta who made it possible for them to have the land on which to build, Carlos the engineer and construction manager, CAPD and the Ruitoque Rotary club for their financial assistance. The pictures below will give you a quick tour of the Centre followed by a few pictures of other activities. I hope you agree with me that they deserve a pat on the back and a hearty “CONGRATULATIONS”. Marlene

Their first priority is to renew their accreditation as a university practicum site. They hope to achieve this objective by the end of this year. Next year, they plan to become accredited as a health centre, which will allow them to sub-contract to various health insurers.

Their second priority is to put the bakery on a business footing. Mothers in charge of the bakery have begun taking baking courses at SENA, the technical institute, a first step to be followed by training in business management in the following year.

Below you will see pictures of the bakery and of physical therapy sessions with children, moms and a part-time therapist called Clara. You will also see pictures of a Sunday outing to The Chicamoacha Park, one of the newest parks built to celebrate the beauty of the river gorge and the history of Santander. This outing was a treat for all of us, but especially for our visitor from Pereira, Gilma, the coordinator of the new Green Light program there.

Wishing you best regards as we draw near to Christmas,

Marlene

The Green Light Education Assistance program is currently active in rural and urban areas of Santander.  Rocio, the Green Light Coordinator, and I have traveled to the rural area with some frequency to meet with parents and students. It takes about 1.5 hours of travel on the highway, after which  we bump along unpaved roads eroded by heavy rains, to reach various schools. The pictures below will provide a glimpse of student activities as well as rural life.

My 2 months in Monteria passed quickly and I’m grateful to the local Rotarians for all their efforts to get the project up and running properly.  They worked very hard to go through all the various phases while I was there to give them feedback.

Something that is becoming clearer every day is the importance of the preliminary hygiene and sensitization phase towards a successful project.   Sometimes it takes a few meetings for the people to capture the concepts and learn how to solve some of the issues.  Not everyone is interested.