Productivity and frustration! These are the two best ways to
finalize a project decision on an assessment trip and happened just the other
day.
We began the day surveying the sites that were proposed for
the water distribution systems in order to map the grades. These hours were
some of the most riveting that I have ever experienced. Processes involved
taking a tape measure to the other end of the site then using a leveled scope
to view a stadia rod (large ruler) at the other end which would tell us the
elevation change between the two points. Exciting for sure. Then we would have
the person with the rod walk five feet in and take the reading again, repeating
this until the stadia rod was back at the scope. Walk, view, record.
But wait, it gets better. After doing one line of some
unforgivable distance, we would re-dispense the tape measure for another
angle! Walk, view, record, walk view, record. This done for multiple angles at
the site; we’re building a topographical map. Then off to the next site. Walk,
view, record. As we progressed, we accumulated a large horde of children all
intrigued by the fancy equipment and it was adorable to see them get some
string and mimic us in our surveying techniques. Walk, view, record.
After surveying a few sites - walk, view, record - we received
a call informing us that EWSA was on their way to meet us for a second meeting
so we needed to send some people back to meet them. Because surveying does take
a good number of people - walk, view, record - we sent two people back to the
meet. Kara wanted to be one of these but she said she was uncomfortable with
finding her way back direction wise so of course I volunteered that I knew the
way. Now, a note on my directional abilities; I would consider myself generally
good at finding my way and recognizing places I have been before however going
in the opposite direction changes things a little. Because of this we made it
most of the way back just fine… There was just one little fork that I didn’t
recognize. Lost! No phone. Uh-oh.
Now we had a meeting to get to and we couldn't just turn
around so we did the next logical thing; turn to the group of children
following us who knew almost no English. We showered them with words that they
might understand such as town, road, chief, bus, and government until we
stumbled upon one they recognized – police station! As they took us down some
paths we had not seen before they whispered and laughed around us causing
suspicion that they were just leading us somewhere remote to trick us or kill
us further arousing suspicion when they all dashed ahead and grabbed large
stalks of sugar can – the perfect weapon to beat someone with. Eventually we
made it back safely and found out the next day that if we had just chosen the
other path at the fork, an easily recognizable area was just around the corner.
By the time the meeting with EWSA happened the rest of the
group had joined us again. From this meeting we were expecting some charts
about the water infrastructure near the community as well as some answers to
the tricky system that we could not figure out on our own. This ended up not
happening and the conversation turned into almost an identical copy of the
first meeting with them plying towards a partnership where we would fund the
project while they were in charge - design and assessment somewhere unclear. As
we walked out to view one of the parts of the system we were unclear of, some
of the workings of the system became secrets and there was a heated exchange
between one of our colleagues heavily invested in the community and the technician
ending the day with some frustration however confirming our choice of project
to that of catchment systems.
In the end the day was enormously productive and solidified
our opinion as well as that of the executive that rainwater catchment is the
best option until we can work out the EWSA situation in the future.
Until later,
Michael Swartz
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