WASH Practices and Skills

eMi Communities of Practice

Yammer response from Kevin Hale, eMi WASH disaster response volunteer:

Skills for WASH work that come to mind:

1. Calculate:
1. The dosage of chlorine to add to a well or other supply to disinfect it.
2. The amount of chlorine required to provide a safe but effective level or residual chlorine for drinking water.
3. How much water is required for drinking for a given population
4. The amount of available chlorine in whatever source is available
5. The TDH required to pump a given flow of water from a well of specific depth.
6. The required kWh of portable generators to run such pumps efficiently.
7. The amount of appropriate fuel required to run the generators.
8. The probable amount of wastewater flows for a given population
2. Use & Do:
1. Use and understand the results of, and the differences between, water test kits.
2. On-site percolation tests to determine the size of leaching basins/leaching fields required to serve a given population
3. Understand:
1. Cultural norms with respect to latrine use in the area being served
2. Level of disinfection required for water uses, that is drinking/bathing/washing and the ability to communicate this to the population being served.
4. Different water filter technologies and the physical sizes of viruses, bacteria and helminths with respect to the filer sizes.
4. Principles:
1. High tech solutions are rarely appropriate in the undeveloped world and certainly not in disaster response work.
2. Whatever solutions WASH teams recommend must be easy to understand and easy to maintain, and that local population must be instructed in how to maintain them with locally available skills and where any necessary resources for maintaining them will come from,
3. As in any consulting situation, teams must understand that the 'client' had not had years of engineering education and experience and likely will not fully comprehend what is recommended without teaching them the basics.

4 Corners Quest - The Route

For posterity:

 

Powder Springs, GA -- Albuquerque, NM -- Santa Fe -- Durango (via Pagosa Springs), CO -- 

Moab, UT -- Page, AZ -- Tusayan -- Holbrook -- Ruidoso, NM -- 

Dallas, TX -- Opelousas, LA -- Powder Springs, GA

4,400 miles

4 Corners Quest - Top 12 Parks

On the long ride home, Emily conducted an opinion poll to judge the 12 'parks' we visited on the #4CornersQuest. It was a highly scientific, double-blind survey. We used the same survey techniques followed by The Coca Cola Company in the 1980's when comparing themselves with Pepsi. It worked for them, right?

The break point of 'worth it' 'would do it again' (Mendoza line, so to speak) lies between Tent Rocks and Petroglyphs.
The two clear winners were Arches, where we spent 2 great days, and Lincoln, which was a complete surprise. "Murdertown" was the phrase of the day while learning about Billy the Kid. Didn't take any photos in Lincoln, as we were afraid for our lives.

4 Corners Quest - Photos - Tent Rocks NM

Tent Rocks National Monument

We like to call these photos "Proof of Life"

End of the Hike

4 Corners Quest - Photos - ABQ

Albuquerque, NM

Bottom of Sandia Peak

75-degrees

Top of Sandia Peak

35-degrees

Waiting patiently for dinner in Old Town

or,

more accurately,

Pausing during a game of parking-lot tag, while waiting patiently for dinner in Old Town

Louise's Birthday loot

In the only donut shop not named "Dunkin"

It was a terrible disappointment.

ABQ is a donut desert, in a food heaven. 

4 Corners Quest - Photos - Amarillo

Amarillo, Texas

The Big Texan
72 oz of 'Merica

Cadillac Ranch
The wettest spring in recent memory
Spent 10 minutes scraping glue-mud off their sandals before heading off...







And a #NoFilter beauty, 
My suburban cowgirl
Completely responsible for said getup

4 Corners Quest - Day 16: Jornado del Muerto

Jornado del Muerto, loosely translated from Spanglish as ‘you’ve got one day to be found before you are dead’, is a topographic bowl in southern New Mexico where rain does not leave the area. We learned how the area formed skimming through the National Park museum while scamming another round of Junior Ranger badges:

Gypsum... yada yada yada... and then you’ve got White Sands National Monument, 

275 square miles (about the area inside I-285 in the ATL) of 20’-30’ dunes

What isn’t published for the masses, but you can find through the chat-rooms of abovetopsecret.com and thetruthseeker.co.uk, is that the lower elevation gypsum crystal sand is highly unique in that it absorbs O₂ from the air and kCal through osmosis. Those in the know call it 'Gypsum Geriatitus', as it causes involuntary naps. It’s all very scientific, and above the reach of this publication. 
The Spanglish believed that people would lay down to nap after a day’s journey due to the heat and lack of water; Gypsum Geriatitus was not yet understood by the Conquistadors.

Manifestations are found below, taken within moments of the 2-hour, out-of-the-way drive and purchase of sleds:

 

Ironically, Gypsum Geriatitus does not seem to have the same effect upon adults. While this has yet to be fully studied, early hypotheses are considering the Oxygen-depletion training inherent in a 3,700 mile roadtrip immersed in the continual chatter of others. As well, the Rents partook in generous snacking to counter gypsum caloric absorption. 

 

4 Corners Quest - Day 16: Lessons Learned, Part Last

The 3rd of 3 installments of road trip wisdom, if the below said can be considered such:

Sunscreen:

Put on enough to prevent blisters, and then chill out. American children spend 47 minutes a day putting on sunscreen, more than they spend bathing, brushing their teeth, combing their hair, and all other chores combined. Surely a 30 minute maximum screen-application timeframe is a reasonable compromise. Besides, if they get burnt, throw them in dark room for the day while you hang out on the porch relaxing. It's about time they learn a lesson or two. 

Prioritize your Activities:

Kill them before they die. 
Less is more. 
Leave them wanting more. 
Two events are only 50% better than one event. 
Three events are 15% better than two events
Four events incur negative outcomes. 
Diminishing returns.

Your kids will enjoy the vista for 4-37 seconds, depending on their age and gender. 
They run in parks, even National ones. Let them; Teddy would approve.

Parental Expectations:
When in crap souvenir shops, kids touch everything. What else are they supposed to do when surrounded by tchotchke? 
Leave your perfect planning eggs in the at-home basket. You have cannot control which kid will like which activity, regardless of how much you want them to do so. 
There is no correlation between money spent and intrinsic kid-joy. Actually, there is some promising University research that suggests that kids enjoy an activity in an inverse proportion to how much you paid for them to partake in it. 
There is hope in the long-term, as kids are revisionists; things that barely register to them mid-event become the stories of legend when they get home to tell their friends.

Kids wear out quicker than you (unless you are the grands; grands are ideal for taking kids on road trips, as they both need naps); build in down times, even down days. It is *not* a waste to take a breather; it is a waste to force another event/stop/activity when everyone would rather just swim. 

Et cetera: 

You're an adult, making a series of rational decisions, who will find yourself at wits end being surrounded by your irrational offspring. What did you expect would happen?
Don't take it personally; grab a coffee, Diet Coke, Keystone Light (w/ Lime), whatever works. Take a walk, or a run, or a nap. 

As a parent and road trip official, you are a shepherd, not a programmer. You guide, not coerce. 
Finally, and most importantly, Mom is in charge of checking all luggage before leaving; dads are incapable of successfully handling this administration. Better leave us to gas up and pack the back. 

4 Corners Quest - Day 15: Lessons Learned, Part 2

Hotels Smotels:

KOA's are worth every (saved) penny.

Kids and hotel rooms are like oil in water, and its no fun with your spouse continually ytelling the 9yo to stop stomping. 

It is stressful, crowded, and filled with the bacterial-ghosts of those who came before you. 

You dampen and drug the situation with bad cable TV, a poor substitute for life and the antithesis of why you've driven 2,000 miles to be here (except for ANW, see above).

Yes, Kamper Kabins require your own bedding and a walk to the bathrooms. But there's space, breathing room. KOA's have playgrounds and pools and fire rings. They have cheap pancake breakfasts and great people watching. If you dare, you might even strike up a conversation and find the random reasons others from all over the world have found themselves sharing the property for the night.

You are a picky sleeper. I get it. At home, we sleep in $1,000 beds with noise machines and ideal temperatures. But after a few nights, your body adjusts, and you sleep just fine.

The money you save on the night's stay and cheap breakfast pays for a great meal the next day.

Daily Bread:

One good meal a day is perfect. I love love love food; am a sucker for local-owned, local-style. Am so grateful for TripAdvisor to help me find gems. Each day enjoy a good solid meal, not rushed, not drive-thru. 

With the promise of a good meal to come, find contentment with granola, greek yogurt, fruit, GORP, hummus, veggie chips, etc (suburban white-people food). 

Overeating catches up with you; you can do it for a 3-day man-trip, but a road trip requires pacing.

Watch for Stools:

People react differently to changes in eating and life schedules. Take a bottle of Stool Softener pills. Better queasy about packing the pills than on Day 5 finding your offspring balled up in the back of the car cramped and crying with no memory of passing their daily bread. 

Less is More:

You've got your bedding, and your stool softener. You don't need much else. 

Pack less than you think you may need. You don't. 

Everything you bring has to be towed, packed, carried in/out and re packed.

You have to carry it or climb over it and it's not worth it.

Want to read? Paperbacks; or better yet, Kindle.

Need clothes? Take 3 changes (including what you are wearing) and do laundry. No one wants to travel in the car with piles of dirty ones.

Shoes? Two pairs: sneakers plus sandals.

4 Corners Quest - Day 14: Lessons Learned, Part 1

TheBowling6 has done a few of these roadtrip thingies; while we continue making mistakes, we've learned a bit as well. Some wisdom, if it may be deemed so:

Be flexible:

Do not plan every day, book every night, schedule every moment. 

You will waste something by making late-in-the-game decisions. 

You will waste more by forcing your family to drive to, attend, or participate in an activity no one actually wants to do now that you are on the road.

Remember:

Why are you spending your tax return, burning vacation, and stressing out the Mrs' van?

As simple as this sounds, decide the purpose before the trip, and keep it in mind. It helps make midstream decisions under changing conditions. 

For TheBowling6, we want to soak in and absorb the West, the Mountain Time Zone. Want to share it with the kids and hope they love it. The events of a given day are secondary to just being here, for slowly swerving out of my lane and off the road as I watch the sunset over the Sierra Blanca range. 

Life Continues:

I get why folks pay extra for inclusive resorts, places designed to be un-lifelike. To block out daily challenges, and to rest.

Road trips are different. 

Some days, some legs, something you've paid for, will be a waste. 

Bad weather, bad attitudes, bad planning, or bad luck. Maybe even someone nicking $700 worth of essential items off the back of your van while on Day 4 of your trip. 

End that day, lay your and your children's' heads down, pray for tomorrow, for forgiveness of whatever is harbored in your heart (and may have crept out of your mouth), your impatience and vain and misguided wishes that everyone else was the way you want them to be. Lay your head down, put your ear plugs in, and let tomorrow be a new day.

 

Monday Nights:

American Ninja Warrior starts at 8pm EST. Make sure you check your local listings and find a spot to watch it. 

4 Corners Quest - Day 14: Jammies

TheBowling6 jammies range from a full outfit to skibbies.

Garrett 
Packed none.
He actually packed very little of anything, so it should not surprise that he didn't haul clothing specifically to sleep in. Less is more.
To accommodate bunking with his female-dominated family, he puts on the next day's outfit the night before.
Two points for creativity.

Emily 
Has one outfit she's worn.
Upon further review it has been discovered that she's been wearing that same outfit for weeks, maybe months, before #4CornerQuest started.
There is no living memory of when these articles were last washed.

I used to think as Emily does: jammies don't get dirty; you're not doing anything in them.
I was corrected upon marriage however, with the Mrs. using questionable logic that you spend 8 hours a day in something, it gets dirty whether you're active or not.
Marriage is a compromise.

Louise
Finds the softest things she owns and wears them.
Doesn't matter what they look like.
Doesn't matter if they are clean or dirty.
Doesn't matter, as long as they are soft.
In reality, she's in the same boat as Garrett - didn't pack any jammies. She just is more subtle and doesn't announce it to the world.

Elizabeth
Only packed three outfits, one of which was on her body when we left home, and another which she pulled out of the dirty clothes basket just before pulling out of the driveway.
Can you see the theme here for Bowling children jammies?

Maggie & Alan

4 Corners Quest - Day 13: Nothink

NOTHINK | verb | \noh thingk\ | origin: Nick @ Night | Acting without considerations anticipated or typically found with a person of certain age and/or maturity.
Nothink is most clearly noticed when it follows somewhat mature actions, which, on their own, lead others to believe NOTHINK is a thing of the past. It has a sneaky nature.

Examples:
Louise, Elizabeth, and Garrett were climbing up and down boulders along the side of the Grand Canyon. Upon being called back to the trail by their father, Louise NOTHINKED a 10 pound rock over the ledge just traversed by Garrett and called out "AVALANCHE", missing Garrett's head by inches. 

While walking along the main road of Tusayan, AZ, a gust of wind took Elizabeth's hat off and caused it to roll into the roadway. In a moment of NOTHINK,  she put her head down and barreled out into the incoming traffic. 

For people over the age of discretion, NOTHINK is often termed DUMASSERY.