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[Oct. 21st, 2007|12:12 pm] |
Water, Sanitation, and Development Engineering
Introduction
I'd heard that access to clean water was one of the biggest problems on camp. This, added to an interest in housing issues and infrustructural sustainability, gives me reason to examine engineering in general on camp in order to better understand some of the residents' physical needs.
Description of the Water and Sanitation Department of Children Better Way
The WATSAN department is appreciated by most people on camp and generally well liked. WATSAN local volunteers are in charge of four main project areas
-the maintenance and regular dislodging of community trash bins
-outreach to the community in the area of personal trash and littering habits
-spraying houses with insecticides for a fee
-and the twice weekly clean up (or shoveling out) of the sewage drains in camp.
MY ROLE WITH WATSAN
became severely limited after my first month on camp, as I became more involved in other project areas more schoolwork-related. However, I continued to participate in cleaning the sewage drains.
Cleaning the Sewage Drains:
consisted of putting on boots and a WATSAN bib and collecting tools by eight o clock in the morning. Then, with rakes, shovels, and a wheelbarrow, we set to work, pulling trash from the uncovered drains that riddle the camp. Sometimes days were spent digging out drains that had had too much sediment settle in them. You could see when water started to flow again and where sediment was blocking water flow. Trash would be taken to the dump rings around the camp edge.
THE WATSAN TEAM
BENEDICT
OTASKO
SONNY BOY
MARK
STEPHEN
FRIDAY
Throughout the course of my three months, I also saw the implementation of Dave's outreach program, another international volunteer. It was a success.
HAVING CAMP GROUNDWATER TESTED
I wanted to have the groundwater of camp tested. This proved harder than I originally thought. I tried contacting the following agencies:
Environmental Engineering Limited
Cleanearth
Water and Energy Systems Limited
Water Aid
Water and Sanitation Division of Ghana Water and Sanitation Council
Water Health Care
Water Resources Research Institute
Water Tech Consulting Engineering
Water Tech Limited
I also tried several other agencies I found online and through the Ghana Telecom Yellow Pages.
I wanted to have the groundwater tested because while it seemed as though people were aware of biological impurities, that could be eliminated through boiling or filtering, chemical impurities were generally ignored as a possibility.
Most of the numbers I tried either failed to connect or were agencies that didnt actually conduct water testing. After following a few empty leads, I found the concrete price quote of 70 ghana cedis(approx 70 dollars) per sample, negotiable to an extent(but not a large extent). However, in a camp of 35,000 inhabitants, even ten samples wouldnt be enough, and would cost close to 700 dollars.
I decided to pursue other leads. I did a little research and found that:
Chemical impurities can be transmitted to groundwater through several channels. here are a few common agents
oils
paints
solvents
battery acids
crop pesticides
glue
gasolines
photograph processing chemicals
fertilizers
kerosene
insecticides
and, according to http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/WhpGuide/table3-2.htm,:
"In general, groundwater contamination stems from the misuse and improper disposal of liquid and solid wastes; the illegal dumping or abandonment of household, commercial, or industrial chemicals; the accidental spilling of chemicals from trucks, railways, aircraft, handling facilities, and storage tanks; or the improper siting, design, construction, operation, or maintenance of agricultural, residential, municipal, commercial, and industrial drinking water wells and liquid and solid waste disposal facilities"
I decided to go to where I knew trash was dumped close to wells, and engage farmers in a discussion to see if they used pesticides or not.
FINDINGS
The wells at the edge of camp (there are 4) are intersperesed, but not directly connected to, relatively small piles of trash. They also lie at the border of several small fields that seperate camp from the ghanaian estates. the trash is mainly composed of plastics and composts, such as toys, condoms, orange peels, and cans, but substances such as oils and paints (possible contaminants) were either not present or unobservable.
I talked to the United Refugee Gardeners Association, a group that organizes the farmers who work the small spaces of land. They comprise of 77 farmers, who reportedly all use the same farming methods, in three areas around camp (there, across the road, and in area U). They grow crops such as potato greens and palava. Inregards to chemical use, i recieved the following information
They do use a fertilizer, that has an agent called urea (presumably from animal urine)
they also spray the area with three inseciticides
detrin
pefetion
dusban
which cost 90,000 a litre. They use an estimated 2-3 litres a month.
Conclusions:
WATER MANIPULATION
An overview of problems, methods, and solutions
Presently, 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water supply and 2.4 billion to improved sanitation (1). Unless action is stepped up, the number of people who lack access to improved water supply could increase to 2.3 billion by 2025 (13).
Part 1. Getting water
I started doing research on water purification before I left for Africa. As a student
interested in economics, or the science of meeting unlimited needs with limited
resources, water has been a need that has interested me in this aspect for some time now.
Anyone concerned for the economics of a developing countries population can see how access to clean water is a huge risk factor in amplifying the future needs of a population, considering water-borne diseases, crop irrigation failures, population explosions, etc. I?ve heard people prone to exaggeration claim that the next ?world? war will be over water, which, to a comfortably hydrated American, may sound far fetched, but, to a population in desperation, seems a lot more
tangible than war over petroleum.
Lets start with getting water: Water collection, unfortunately, to many people means bringing containers to bodies of water and drawing from it as they need.
More than 200 million hours are spent each day by women and female children to collect water from distant, often polluted sources (8).
Due to a lack of education, or oftentimes resources, people collecting water from natural formations may not be aware of or may not be capable of avoiding excess amounts of iron, sulfur, alkalinity, hardness, pathogenic organisms (giardia, parasites, viruses) too much organic material, or heavy metals in their drinking-and bathing, washing, latrine, and livestock-water supplies. Bacteria inhabiting unpurified water range from e coli, salmonella, shigella, leptospira, brucellosa, and other strange sounding diarrehal infection causing agents, and protozoa such as giardia, cryptosporidium, and a host of others. These develop such familiar diseases as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid fever. Or, as the Congolese villagers of Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible simply knew it, “the kakaka”.
“…the babies here in Kilanga. They are dying. Dying from kakaka, the disease that turns the body to a small black pitcher, pitches it over, and pours out all its liquid insides…The women beat out their sisal mats and replant their fields while grieving for lost children. Anatole goes to our neighbors’ houses, one by one, offering his condolences for our village’s lost schoolboys.”
For some, even finding water is a challenge. Water cycles take H2O in cycles from evaporation to precipitation, often with wide geographic areas in between bodies of water. Precipitation is channeled underground towards a water table, becoming what is known as ground water. If enough groundwater pools together in a water table, it may become a stable store of water called an aquastat, or even move, in an underground body of water, known as an aquifer.
Precipitation that remains on the surface of the ground is termed surface water, but
this disappears soon in arid, hot countries, and in large expanses of dry land, there
will be less evaporation to begin with, leading to less precipitation. (Oppositely, too much rainfall can cause easier contamination of water sources, such as rivers moving sewage farther distances, and lead to increased sicknesses from water borne pathogens.)
Finding where water is underground is another task in itself, and the origin of the popular image of old fashioned “dowsing” –looking for water by wandering around with a forked stick, hoping the water underground will “pull” the end of the stick towards it when directly above water. The EPA calls dowsers “water witches”. Other methods for figuring on where to look for water involve looking for clues in land contours and rock structures, or wet spots, bogs, and erratic erosion patterns. The magnometer, a magnetic reader, can also give clues as to where fracture lines(likely water sources) are located, based on magnetic materials clinging to the walls of bedrock cracks. Of course, springs, ponds, and bodies of water also usually mean the ground around them are rich in groundwater.
Once having an idea of where water is, there are a variety of ways to extract it from its source. What has been contrived since biblical times to draw water in areas of sparse precipitation has been the well. The well punctures the surface of the earth, drilling through topsoil, clay, a (hopefully) permeable material, and hits the water table, at a point where there is (hopefully) actual water as opposed to damp soil. The biblical image we know and are familiar with is the dug well. Dug wells usually don’t reach further deeper than 50 feet, and are 3 to 20 feet in diameter. They cannot be placed in dense rock landscapes and are easily contaminated due to their large openings. However, they are often the only option for those lacking powerful, heavy equipment. You can also drive wells, that are also fairly shallow in depth and quite small in diameter, or bore them, up to 100 feet in depth and with a medium diameter. Deeper and more sophisticated wells are usually constructed with drilling, using cable tools, rotaries, or jets. The structure of each type of well is different, but all usually have some kind of inside casing(sealed or grouted, reaching eight to twenty-four inches above ground level), a piping system to move the water (or a bucket on a rope), and a roof to keep out surface contamination. Modern wells have elaborate systems of pipes, pumps, and holding tanks, that combine to create water pressure that is forceful enough to propel water out of delivery systems within a household. Moving water is a science of itself, and pumps have a variety of designs that move water along defined spaces to create pressure, including plungers, valves, suckers, and spinners.
Another way to collect water is manmade ponds. If you have a body of water(probably contaminated), you can collect relatively clean water by digging your own pond relatively close, and water will fill this through seepage. The distance between the body of water and your own is considered filtering material. A pipe laid in this new pond (with a cutoff valve), creates a channel of water that can be purified and directed to different locations. You can also dig a trench parallel to a stream, called an “infiltration gallery”, and lay a pipe through that, covered with other filtering material. If you have a reliable spring water source, you can build what’s called a “spring box”, an open-on-one-side storage container that, placed underground, will collect any abundant groundwater, and be piped out through intake lines to your house or central water system. You can increase the spring box’s water collection by putting a few perforated pipes underground in the same area and connecting them to the spring box. Keep in mind, though, even the most sophisticated of designs requires a certain extent of maintenance. Water systems fail at a rate of 50% or higher (10,11,14,15,16,17).
You can also collect (or harvest) rainwater from areas like roofs or paved surfaces called catchments. Harvested rainwater is collected in containers, termed cisterns, and is often little compared to the needs of a family. However, it is generally considered free of contamination(of more important quality is the surface it is collected on) and “soft” in quality, and is sometimes helpful in supplementing the water needs of a household. The needs of household may vary, however.
The average American individual uses 100 to 176 gallons of water at home each day (6, 7). The average African family uses about 5 gallons of water each day (7).
If someone is interested in independently gathering enough water for their household, a series of calculations will need to be made to assess what measure to take. Water pressure(determined by pumping mechanisms) needs to be a certain level to provide water out of several outlets at once, and should be as high as needed to put out a fire in case of emergency. Stu Campbell estimates that the minimum needs of an average American family is “at least 10 gallons a minute at 30 to 40 psi (pounds per square inch), for at least a two hour time period, even during the driest weeks of the year” -fire officials estimate higher needs. People need to figure on their own personal water needs, as well as their livestock’s water needs, and luxury needs. You can figure these based on your water pressure and plumbing usage. You also need to figure on some water loss due to runoff, seepage, evaporation, and transpiration. People living in arid regions may need to rely on a combination of water systems to provide enough for their water needs.
Of course, water collected through our systems so far discussed is rarely ready to be poured straight into the drinking glass, despite the seemingly built in filtration aspects of most groundwater systems. We know surface water is often polluted with silt, algae, decaying leaves, and our disease causing agents, bacteria and protozoa. But groundwater’s constant contact with soil and rock can mean that it has traces of minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, gypsum, anhydrite, fluoride, and sometimes even arsenic. Human waste, cleaning solvents, pesticides, and other human related toxins can also seep underground and contaminate groundwater through septic tanks, landfills, or the lack of such measures. The EPA tends to judge water quality based on four characteristics:
1. Physical characteristics (taste, color, turbidity, temperature, and odor)
2. chemical content (hardness, softness)
3. biological organisms (microorganisms)
4. Radiological substances ([rare] radioactive materials)
The purity of water can be determined through sample collecting and laboratory testing, but several problems are easily detectable. “Hardness” in water leaves rings in bathtubs and streaks on glassware, and requires more soap to form suds than soft water. Hard water is usually caused by calcium and magnesium, and is sometimes contributed to by iron. “Red” water corrodes steel pipes, gives water a metallic taste, stains laundry and plumbing red, leaves a slime on toilet tanks, and is caused by iron that the water has come into contact with. Brownish-black water is blamed on manganese; acid water, corroding copper, brass, and steel fixtures, could be caused by carbon dioxide picked up from the air, decaying vegetable material, or mineral acid. “Rotten Egg odor” and corrosive water is caused by hydrogen-sulfide gas, sulfate reducing bacteria, or sulfur bacteria, and other “off flavors” could be caused by other mineral deposits. High turbidity water, with a dirty or muddy appearance, simply has a high amount of sedimentary or organic materials.
All of these conditions have solutions, often easily shared. Hard water can be softened, through a recharging process that flushes, salts, and rinses impurities out of hard water. Turbidity can be filtered by a variety of methods, from simple settling, sand traps to complex chemical and mechanical filters. Microorganisms are usually disinfected with chlorination, using either a simple process, or a more complex one called superchlorination-dechlorination. PH can be adjusted with chemicals as well, solving acidity problems. Reverse osmosis units can mimic osmosis, backwards, and force saltwater back into fresh water. And taste and odor impurities can be absorbed with pulverized, charcoal carbon filters.
Electric pasteurization works similarly to the pasteurization processes used on milk. As long as water temperature is raised above 140 degrees farenheit and held at that temperature, all pathogenic organisms will be destroyed. Machines can do this, however, boiling water is a somewhat weaker imitation of this process that is also often used by those of limitations. UV radiation is another treatment method that kills bacteria, and uses a lamp tube that emits electrical relays to water passed through. UV units will become ineffective as they age and are blocked from killing microorganisms by any sediment particles in the water. Other water treatment possibilities include ozonization, a treatment that actually breakdowns the oxygen in water; silver treatment, a reactionary but effective disinfectant, and iodination, a costly alternative to chlorinization.
These, at least, are some of the recourses available to those of us in the developed world. In the developing, however, water treatment processes are limited to financial resources already severely lacking in other areas.
Approximately 60 to 70% of the rural population in the developing world have neither access to a safe and convenient source of water nor a satisfactory means of waste disposal (9).
Budburam refugee camp has had no access to running water since 1999, when it was removed from the national water network of Ghana. Residents must pay 6 cents for a bucket of water, unreasonable for the unemployed. Children Better Way has a number of wells being built by volunteers as one of their area foci, but a large number of residents, however, are resorting to gathering water from a “stagnant green pond”, as well as a “dug hole” in “zone 10”.
“According to the co-chairman of zone-10, Mr. Benjamin E. Witherspoon, prior to the digging of the hole, residents made several attempts to locate the water table but to no avail.”
The Church of Jesus Christ has also donated three pumps towards the edge of the camp, and residents say the water is salty. Author Stu Campbell states that salty water probably means your aquifer’s fresh water is being used up, and sea water is encroaching from the nearest ocean. Budburam is near the coast, but from the sound of it, Buduburam doesn’t have enough wells to have used up their groundwater yet. Perhaps the test of time and population demands, however, have made as deep an effect. If so this could indicate a serious, permanent problem for the future of the camp.
As far as water purification options go for residents who gather their own water, saying that they are limited is an understatement. I will be interested to see what methods are being used, what methods could be cost effectively implemented, and what toll the current situation is having on buduburam’s families, children, and neighbors. Doubtless, my gut reaction will be that more money is required to upgrade the entire camp’s water infrastructure, a need that will most likely never be fully met. And, I will be shocked by the number of preventable problems stemming from it. But really, what can one person do?
Every $1 invested in children, including money to improve access to clean water and sanitation, saved $7 in the cost of long-term public services (18).
INSERT: WATER ON CAMP
Water is actually fairly available on camp, contrary to what my (most likely out of date) background research told me. Besides the 17(now 18!) wells CBW has built for residents, there are a variety of other wells, as well as polytanks, reservoirs, and purewater sold in trucks. granted, any purified water still costs residents money, but the wells are for the most part(and cbw wells are always) free to use. Some zones of course have more wells than others, but this is due more to differences in the water table than economic inequality. People do drink polytank water(even though it is unpurified), and so in all buduburam might be said to have better water services than some areas of the world even more integrated.
Part 2. Sewage
Sewage Treatment on Camp
Mind Your Business bags are notorious on camp. They are the black plastic bags that litter the gulf and other peripheral areas of camp, filled with human excrement.
When camp originally formed the UNHCR built several latrines scattered throughout the location, charging maintenance fees to users. According to the UNHCR’s map of camp, there are 141 public toilets recorded (since the creation of the map(). However, in an area host to 35,000 inhabitants, this is a relatively small number. According to Anthony, remittances also support families enough to provide roughly 2% (Anthony’s figure) with their own private latrine/western toilet. Culture dictates that these be shared with neighbors, so proportionally more(probably rings of people around this 2%) people are affected.
The western toilets are attached to septic tanks kept at the back of houses. Tanks are removed periodically by trucks coming from Accra. The procedure is prohibitively costly, approximately USD 60.
What remains the option for the majority of camp residents is therefore either using the UNHCR latrines or plastic bags. Apparently the peripheral areas of camp are also deemed acceptable areas to relieve oneself, albeit unsafe. Several trash dumps fall into this area, as well as an area known as “the gulf”, a large expanse of tall grass and several pathways.
Urinals, however, are free of charge, and also serve as bathhouses. They are scattered liberally throughout camp, and usually (the private ones) consist of three (or three and a half) short, concrete walls a few feet apart with a makeshift wooden or cloth door. There are also public bathhouses with several stalls put together that are for community use. Concrete floors dip towards a hole or pipe in the corner of these urinals, which lead to either a periphery area of camp or all the way to a drain. Some people also have a room inside of their house with a partition and a pipe that serves the same purpose.
Concrete drains were built by the UNHCR and remain uncovered, connecting the pipes from urinals and bath stalls into a small stream of grey water that runs throughout camp.The drains run downhill into some gardens at the edge of camp or simply into a field. Some urinals too far away from drains to be connected use a pit filled with stones that are periodically overturned instead.
Whether this system is based on surrounding locations' habits or has been uniquely improvised for the temporal solution to the liberian crisis yields an interesting blend- In my observation, similar drain systems are used all throughout ghana, and pit toilets in most of rural ghana. However, my better judgement would predict that the system in place to deal with sewage treament has become and remains woefully inadequate to sustain the overpopulaiton of camp.
Comparisons: Sewage Treatment Elsewhere
One of the ofen undernoticed aspects of a devleoped country is a developed sewage treatment system. In the majority of developed sewage treatment systems, a set order of procceses happen. They can be described as the following:
Primary or mechanical Treatment: removes the large objects from grey and blackwater, such as fats, oils, and greases, and rubbish, and disposes of easily gleaned excesses
Influent wastewater is first raked with a mechanically operated screen in order ot remove large debris such as rags, sticks, condoms, tampons, etc.
In a second stage of the primary or mechanical treatment, sand, grit, and stones are seperated from wastewater by putting water at a certain velocity through detritors or sand catchers, so that stones and sediments can settle while water passes.
Most developed sewage treatment facilities also employ a third stage of mechinical treatment, called sedimention. This is usually achieved by passing wastewater through large tanks, called primary classifiers, at such a speed so that fecal matters can settle while oils and greases can float to the top and be removed by skimming.
Secondary treatment, or biological treatment, involves the breakup of chemical and organic structures that are mixed into the wastewater. There are a variety of methods and apparatuses used to make this proces occur, either using bacteria to consume some contaminants and bind others, or simply mechanically seperating biomass. Some examples of aparati/techniques that can be used for this process include:
roughing filters: similar to sediment traps, and pass water through synthetic filter traps
activited sludge plants: promotes the incubation of bacteria that remove organic materials
some types of activated sludge plants:
surface aerated basins: basins of wastewater with air mechanically propelled into it, mixing and oxidizing organic materials
fluidized bed reactors: beds that seperate particles through propelling subtances through at high velocity
trickling filter beds: large filter-like beds that trap particles on a seperate level
biological aerated filters: a reactor filled with a filter media, that uses biological processes to reduce carbon or nitrogen
membrane biological reactors: combine basic activated sludge treatment with a membrane tpye filter that seperates liquids from solids.
Sometimes, rotating biological contactors are used in a further sedimentation process to seperate organic materials from wastewater.
Tertiary treatment is the third and final stage of wastewater treatment, and throughly cleans water in a preparation to finally discharge it to its end location. Filtration, lagooning, and constructed wetlands are all techniques of using man-made(or planted, when using reedbeds) filters to remove final particulate matters from wastewater.
Different treatment processes can also remove high build ups of nitrogen and phosporus.
These are different than disinfection techniques, sometimes used in conjunction with, or instead of, the biological proceses that remove nitrogen and phsporus.
Chlorination
ultraviolet light
and Ozone
all prove effective biological disinfectants. Now, take all of the above processes explained above, and chose one of each, and you have a batch reactor setup, or a package plant. The excess sludge that comes from processing wastewater? It need to be discharged of responsibly, of course, nd this usually involves further particulate breakdown, to be sure of a lesser potency. Proceses like anearobic and aerobic digestion ferment and compost sludges (or convert them to carbon dioxide), while more high tech proceses are available still. Eventually, sludges are usually compressed further by a process that dries out excess wate, before being disposed of. Some sludges can be converted to fertilizers.
No such Thing as a Free Lunch
How to get water from the groundn
In buduburam refugee settlement, water services come with a price. Wandering around camp, four water-related utilities are notably observable- concrete well platforms, latched with rusting zinc or painted wooden covers; black polytanks, large cylindrical plastic drums with brass spouts near the ground; and slowly circling lifewater trucks, rocking blue-tinged sacks of plastic water bags against lifewater men clinging to the truck railings. There are also concrete reservoirs, filled similarly to the polytanks, with tin latched tops.
"What do people who can't afford lifewater drink?" I asked stephen of the Water and Sanitation department, during my first week on camp. "Oh, you know, they sometimes just boil the well water". In subsequent weeks, however, i was offered raw polytank water, a source i believe a lot of residents use.
Costwise, however, even boiling free water involves the cost of coal or charcoal, as well as a functioning coal pot and a fire source. Lifewater costs approximately 4 cents for a half liter bag, and the polytanks (filled with unpurified water) costs its users 6 cents a bucket. Wells often charge fees for water drawn too, sometimes for profit, sometimes in relation to the maintenance of the well. The 17 CBW wells are one of the few providers of free water on camp. However, funds to build the wells to begin with still need to be donated, in the area of $500.
Fortunately, I happened to volunteer with CBW during the time when this kind of donation was made. Janet Ruiz, a third year student at UCLA, decided to fundraise with her sorority in order to see the construction of a well on camp happen during her time there. Before the last week of her one month position she made the final deposit in the CBW financial office. Excitement and confusion surrounded the actual starting date of the well and it's interruption of normal WATSAN activities, but eventually we set off one morning through a maze of houses in a direction I had never walked before.
We walked over a narrow wooden plank and through short palm tree looking plants, past a well to a spot not twenty feet away. There was some discussion with an elderly man standing on his porch, and then Otasko from WATSAN began hacking at a patch of grass with his machete. Confusion rang out among the volunteers. "Why are they building a well here when there's one right over there?" Janet demanded. Apparently the other well was in poor condition. "Why don't you use Janet's donation to repair the other well?" I asked. apparently the other well was privately owned and charged people for the water to cover maintenance costs, and repairing the well wouldn't stop the owner from charging for the water. I asked why we weren't building a well in a zone that had fewer wells, and they replied that there was no way for them to determine where the water table was, but they knew there would be one here since it was so close to an existing well. Dave walked around to some neighbouring houses to verify that people really wanted a well right there, and came back with an affirmative. Meanwhile, the men had cleared the ground, and were beginning to shovel.
Once a pit the depth of a soccer ball had been created, murky water was already beginning to puddle. Janet and I abandoned watching the process and emptied the bins instead. Feeling sick in the next few days, I stayed home except to visit the digging every once in a while. The hole grew in depth and width, getting narrower at the bottom. They unexpectedly hit bedrock a few feet below the soil, and from that point on the digging became a painful, arduous process of hacking at gravely rock as water seeped in from all sides of the whole. Apparently this also would send chips of rock flying right back at whoever was digging, grazing and bloodying Sonnyboy on more than one occasion. Every morning the men would arrive, find the hole filled to the top with water, and lower bucket after bucket (a tin can and a yellow kerosene jug) tied on plastic strips knotted together, and dump the water to the side of the well, letting it trickle off in the direction of the palm trees. lowering bucket after bucket, cutting hands from the string, someone would have to eventually jump in the hole to fill the buckets for the people dropping them. By the end of the day, when digging was abandoned, large branches were dropped in to serve as a warning to passserby's that the hole was not a puddle to be walked through. Digging days seemed to be characterized by one person in the hole hacking at the sides, while the others stood around at the top of the hole,drinking plastic bags of whiskey and talking in liberian english. Several days of misty rain, as well as the quickly pooling water inside the hole, meant working meant invariably getting soaked.
At the end of the week, digging had reached its end due to the impossibility of the bedrock, Janet flew back to california, and Dave and I waited to see the exciting part of the construction: the drums being put in. Before she left, Janet made sure that I would follow up on checking that the budget of the well had been allocated only as budgeted for. I offered to go to Kasoa to buy the construction materials with Benedict, but there was a timing problem with taking out the cash in itself that delayed the buying for several days. After what seemed like ages, we finally returned to the well site for the actual well construction.
The house behind us allowed us to borrow their coal pot, a fan shaped charcoal burner used for cooking, and the infamous drums were rolled out from wherever they had been stashed: large, blue, plastic barrels for the storage of hydrogen peroxide, flimsy and neon colored. Stephen gripped the first one between his knees and started sawing off the top lid of the barrel, while the other guys gripped the body. The volunteers and other guys started bucketing out the water from the hole as usual, while an axe heated in the coal pot.
Mike took the axe to the bottom drum first, letting the hot blade puncture the plastic with a pop and then rubbing the blade up and down in the cut to widen it. Lots of laughter accompanied this repeated action, as well as when it switched to the heated machete blade. The cylinder became a sieve quickly enough, and was positioned on the ground as the other converted barrel/cylinder was balanced on top of it. A broken car tire was stretched to hold the two cylinders together and pulled till it almost snapped, but extended to both sucessfully. The structure was placed gently into the hole, but the tire slipped off one barrel and they had to be removed and reconnected. Stephen slipped into the space between the wall of the hole and the drums first. we passed the cement bricks to him and he began laying them in a circle, supporting the sides of the cylinders and stacking them into a neat trap to hold the structure in place. Cementing the blocks together as he went, Stephen worked his way upwards, balancing on the bricks and not loosing his footing even as some toppled. Others began dumping dirt in the remaining space in the hole. work finished for the day when the bricks reached ground level and the hole had been completely filled in except for the drums. The water in the drums looked a greenish gray.
We returned the next day to build up the top of the well. The bricks continued being stacked in a circle, but with no supporting plastic shape extending inside of them. Cement glued each brick to the one underneath it, and then lots of cement filled in the cracks between the bricks. A foundation was laid for the platform of the well, filled in with cement and soil, and work was abandoned for the day.
The next day benedict and I trekked out to do the carpentry for the well. We hacked out four corners in the cement circle and laid a square wooden and tin structure to cover the top of the well. The next day I missed, but apparently the body of the well was painted and Janet's sorority's name was posted as donor. I visited near the end and painted for a few minutes. Finally, the well was finished and the project completed. Hounding down the budget appropriations became another project in its own. But there is now free water provided to the zone we built the well in, for as long as it holds its shape and the water table remains the same; which is something, albeit not a panacea.
Budget of the Well:
Hunting down the budget of the well became an expenditure of effort that illustrated themes from corporate accountability to record keeping to truth and reputation.
Here is the breakdwon of the first budget that was given to us:
Materials/Quantity/Unit Cost/Actual Cost
Plastic Drums/3/325,000/975,000
cement bags/4/90,000/360,000
crushed rock/5/100,000/500,000
cement blocks/80/5,000/400,000
zinc/1/45,000/45,000
paint cup/1/50,000/50,000
printing paint/1 quart/15,000/15,000
plank 2x4/1/35,000/35,000
plank 2x2/1/12,000/12,000
inner tube/2/5000/10,000
nails 4"/1 lbs/9000/9000
nails 3"/1 lbs/9,000/9,000
nails 2"/1 lbs/10,000/10,000
catch/1 set/5,000/5,000
lock/1 set/5,000/5,000
hinges/1 set/5,000/5,000
sand/15 wheel/5,000/75,000
transportation/1 trip/100,000/100,000
workers/5 days, 4 workers/420,000/420,000
Total: 3,040,000
Janet demanded to see the budget appropriations for the well since it was her donation, and became upset when shown the above. Her donation had been 5 million, and the budget showed a considerably lower amount. CBW staff then claimed that only a specific amount of funds had been available at the time that the initial budget had been written, meaning that Benedict had adjusted all the appropriations and reflected an inaccurate total.
They then made up a second budget, to be added to the first:
Materials/Quantity/Unit Cost/Actual Cost
Plastic Drums/1/325,000/325,000
Cement Bags/2/90,000/180,000
Crush Rocks/2/100,000/200,000
Smooth Sand/25 wheel/10,000/250,000
Water Cement/2/100,000/200,000
Sand to Plaster/20 wheel/5,000/100,000
Workmenship/2 days/220,000/220,000
Drinking Water/4 sack/5500/22,000
Bucket and Rope/2/20,000/40,000
Total= 1,537,000
Grand Total (1st budget plus 2nd budget)= 4,537,000
Janet became incensed on the grounds that she felt CBW was inflating the costs in order to keep the balance of the money. The well didnt reach completion before Janet had to fly out, however, and she had me promise to keep an eye on spending.
Several days after finishing the digging, Benedict finally went to Kasoa to buy the materials. I offered to go with him but he declined. I asked to see receipts.
The well was completed and I checked the budget. The following items hadn't actually been purchased or used.
Materials/Quantity/Unit Cost/Actual Cost
Plastic drums/2/325,000/650,000
Cement Bags/4/90,000/360,000
Crush Rock/2/100,000/200,000
As well as a 100,000 trip to Kasoa and back for the materials. This meant that there was a balance due Janet of around 1.31 million old cedis, as well as any other thing I hadnt caught. And that is a WATSAN worker's salary for 9 months.
What followed became an issue of inertia verging on corruption in order to get CBW give us the balance for the well. Janet threatened to tell Global Volunteer Network that she was getting upset with how long it had taken. I was asked to smooth things over with Janet. I maintained that the solution to the problem would be to give us back the balance. They claimed excuses from a banking time lapse to a computer virus to transportation difficulties.
I don't really think that CBW was intentionally inflating costs in order to keep a profit, although Janet certainly did. What struck me about the situation was that it took two months of knocking on doors and begging CBW staff to pay attention to the issue to finally have the balance issued. Finally, 1.07 million cedis was issued to me, which Janet and I split between a WATSAN worker and a CBW student's family.
Conclusions and relevance:
Getting Janet and I the balance of the well budget was not CBW's finest hour. It also illustrates the flaws of a bureaucratic system operating with limited information technology. This also indicates the level of resources available at CBW staff disposal, providing another idea of the level of development in camp.
Disparity and Development in Camp Infrastructure
Buduburam Refugee Settlement may appear to the comfortable american as an impoverished slum, and indeed it would be by developed countries standards. However, by ghanaian and african standards, buduburam refugee settlement is actually far better developed than many impoverished slums in its region of the world. This is due largely to international aid cooperation, remittances, and the cultural tendencies of the liberians on camp themselves. Unfortunately, many indications of development in camp are less sustainable than they appear, and buduburam will most likely face large problems in the future due to an overreliance on their(quickly fading from international importance) refugee status.
Most houses on camp are constructed with cement, plywood, and more modern plasters, as opposed to neighboring villages where houses are constructed with mud and straw bricks. Roofs are usually corrugated zinc sheets or actual wood, Electricity, provided by the Ghana Electrical Company, provides the settlement with fairly regular lighting and refrigeration services. Of course, not everyone's house is wired, but those whose houses are are affixed with a meter, which is read and billed by GEC servicement regularly. Battery operated radios, flashlights, and other electrical gadgets are available, if not widely affordable. Small TV's with staticky reception are found littered throughout camp, as well as a heavy presence of cellphones. This is not to say that everyone can afford electric gadgets, but to make the point that they are more noticeable in Buduburam than in many surrounding areas.
Other indicators of development are lacking. Mosquito nets are noticeably rare, as are resident's willingness to pay fees to have their rooms and bathrooms sprayed with insecticide. Time saving machines, such as for laundry or water pumping, are practically non-existent, and coal pots are more common than gas stoves. Trash bins are more commonly loose trash bags, taken to UNHCR tractors, and plumbing fixtures are makeshift. Market stalls sell a variety of vegetables and spices, as well as toilet rolls, deodorants, and hair products.
Overall a general trend can be seen in that goods that are readily available and sold are oftentimes plastics and electronics, while those more related to health and safety, or long terms investments, are rarely advertised. While the latter point may be related to a lack of affordability, the first point contradicts this. Analogously, while housing structures may appear of more developed quality, usually indicative of successful productivity, many residents actually suffer from hunger or lack of neccesary resources.
Some possible explanations of this phenomenon include the unique structure of the camp and situation itself: The actual materials used to construct the settlement were mostly donations. For instance, the UNHCR built the concrete sewage drains, which run through the center of camp and empty into gardens on the outskirts of camp, and Children Better Way, an internationally funded NGO, takes responsibility for cleaning them of litter. Children Better Way also installed the trash bins along the main road in camp and is responsible for emptying them, and pay their workers wages from international volunteers' fees. Similarly, a lot of projects are funded by international donations, making the fairly developed appearance of the camp an appearance based not on the gainful employment of the settlement's citizens, but on the expression (mainly from past years) of international concern over the refugee situation.
The overabundance of electronic gadgets and scarcity of medical/hygenic items could be attributed to a combination of elements, but mainly on a unique economic relationship where some on camp have much(due to remittances from abroad) and some have little. Again, due to international concern over the refugee situation, many liberians on camp enjoy an advantaged position of having a relative abroad who can be better employed than themselves. Some also lean heavily on their refugee status to solicit help from foreigners through the internet, through overseas church organizations, chatrooms, and other internet servers. Of course, there remain those who cannot afford the internet, and those who need even more than most yet remain oftentimes invisible to the visitor. Meanwhile, those who do recieve remittances from abroad are accused of spending without saving, creating a mock americo-liberian culture of ostentatious fashion trends, and a self-pitying crowd of those who have more difficulty than their peers, due to having "nobody in america".
It would be arguable that the camp from this point forward may manage to be sustainable, even without UNHCR and other international funding, based on the comparatively solid foundation of housing and the cash cow of relatives abroad. However, a weak comittment to investment for the future points to other possibilities. For instance, wells are built using cheaper methods than would be advised if funding were infinite, with plastic barrel linings that typically cave in from soil pressure in a matter of a few years. The attitude that one is a refugee and therefore transient in location may affect decisions such as how much to invest in a well's construction, or decreased access to funding may necesitate such shortcomings in projects, or both. A lack of job-related machinery on camp, however, shows a similar unwillingness to invest in the future. This points to not only limited resources, but resources that have been spread out too much, over too long of a time period. Of course, a woman who only washes laundry for work will not be able to afford or even repay a loan for a laundry machine, but if every well that CBW constructed costs $500, surely in the course of building 17 wells a water pump could have been invested in. Questions such as whether first world commodities like gas stoves and laundry machines are really needed when african equivalents have been working for centuries, or how much labour really deserves to be paid, become skewed in standards by the obvious disparities of those aided heavily by family abroad, and widely disseminated information and mimicry of western culture.
There is no easy solution. As the liberian civil war fades from international importance, residents will most likely be seeing even less investment in their interests from foreign donors, and resources will become even more spread out. Whether or not the settlement should have ever recieved so much aid in the first place is a debate the UNHCR needs to decide for use in future refugee situations, but based on the ability of a 35,000 person, "temporary" settlement, to withhold and expand for 17 years, it seems clear that the material foundation of the camp was sufficiently, if not over, invested in. Liberians and charitable foreigners abroad may eventually remove their committments to camp members, however, rocking the lifestyles of many of the wealthiest on camp. What appears to need to happen, now that international refugee status is being denied to those seeking ressettlement, is either the developement of an internal economy in the camp sufficient to provide employment to the majority of employable residents, the developement of Ghana's economy to allow for the hiring of more camp residents in neighboring localities, or, eventually, the stabilization of Liberia's economy to increase the attraction of repatriation. These issues, as well as the current internal economy of the camp itself, will be further discussed in following pages. |
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bronxcheer's journal
