Engineers Without Borders - San Francisco Professionals Chapter: Fiji Water Treatment Project

Week 2

2011-08-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Matt Here,

Big science w/ fine results: over 95% removal on all BSF's built in 2010.

Tons of beautiful people, happy to have us,

heavy food, (yes, some) black virus, kava, 5pm lemon tea with 10lbs of bread, marriage questions, heavy rain, giant indoor wasps, boils. It's great.

Hello Buca Bay 2011!

2011-08-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

Bula!

EWB is back and we are ready to rock in Buca Bay! Shakeel and I (Kristen) arrived last Monday after 33 hours of traveling from the time we left SFO until we arrived in Savusavu still two hours away from the villages of Buca, Loa, and Vunikura. We got a flat tire on our drive from Labasa to Savusavu but luckily it was right in front of a mechanical academy and a bunch of students came out and changed the tire for us :)

We had meetings in all of three of the villages this week, and everyone is excited and pumped to start construction next week.

We'll try and post some pictures soon!

Moce,
Kristen

Americans (plus one Dutchman) to the Rescue

2010-08-25T20:15:00.001-07:00

The Fiji Times had a little blurb about our work in Vunikura. We did not choose the headline!

"Americans to the Rescue"

Success in Buca

2010-08-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

August 25, 2010

Success!!! We turned the water on in Buca last night and it all works! Even the furthest connections in the distribution system had good pressure and flow. Our design was solid, but we were certainly sweating initially placing the system into service - the most nervous time for an engineer is before you hit the ON button. It felt like a ton of bricks were lifted off our shoulders as we drove through the village and saw people using their new taps as usual.

Now it's time for a weary victory lap. Buca is planning a six-hour party for us tonight, and we're hoping we make it through the festivities without falling asleep!

The final push

2010-08-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

August 21, 2010

We are in Savusavu right now making our final (yes, we really mean it this time) trip to Gulabdas Hardware Store. I think we have gotten the final truckload of supplies to finish the projects. Things are going great - the bridge crossing in Vunikura is finished, the new pipeline has been installed, and all we have to finish up are some pipeline fixes inside the village and backfill the new pipe. In Loa, we finished all of the pipeline repairs needed inside the village as well as upstream near their source (the source is basically in the middle of the jungle - the Fijian guys make it look so easy to climb up steep embankments through heavy foliage, but that is definitely misleading as I almost took a header off the side of the cliff while climbing up there). We have also installed one of the biosand filters in Loa and will construct the remaining two next week. In Buca Village, we are approximately 3/4 complete with the pipeline installation - all of the new 4" and 2" pipelines are in the ground. We plan to install the remaining 1" and 1/2" laterals by Tuesday and turn on the water by Wednesday (crossing our fingers).

It is hard to believe that we are in our final week here - the time has flown! Despite a few mishaps - a few of us have gotten what we have termed the 'black virus' (basically a pretty nasty stomach flu) - we are all hanging in there. We are taking a well-deserved rest day for the rest of today to prepare for the final push next week - it will be very busy but great to see everything get finished. The villagers have already started planning our going away parties and we have been told to get our dancing shoes on (the villagers LOVE to dance) so that should be good fun, though I think we have all sworn off the kava (famous last words).

That's all for now. See you all next week!

Pictures of the implementation trip!

2010-08-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Arrived safely in San Francisco this evening so I'm finally uploading some pictures of the trip! See below for all the activity in Buca Bay...

	Thomas, Maggie and Adrienne on the way to Savusavu in a tiny plane (see the captain behind them)...
	Beautiful morning in Buca Bay
Construction Prep Work:
	Hiking in Vunikura with Williame and Arone
	Jesoni showing us major distribution line leaks in Loa
	Trenching in Buca
Construction (!):
	Tying up the galvenized steel pipe in Vunikura for the bridge crossing
	Constructing pipe in Buca
	Sifting sand in Loa
Water Quality Work:
	Checking out the Slow Sand Filter at the Mission at Natuvu Creek
	Taking Water Quality Samples with Adrienne
Group Photos:
	Travel team with workers in Loa
	Team with Vunikura workers
	With Buca Water Committee at the farewell party for the two of us leaving early (didn’t get a group shot yet)…
Having some fun!
	Volleyball on Sunday night...
	Dancing at farewell party in Buca
	Work it!
	Adrienne, Kim, and Shakeel with the lovely garlands the Buca ladies made for us
Moce Fiji!

Design for a year and then Improvise for a week...

2010-08-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

Bula! This is Kelly (i.e. keli keli) posting... and the title is a bit of an exaggeration- but pretty close to our experience! We are learning firsthand that we can design a perfect project in the U.S. but when you actually get on-site, you have to adjust a bit. Luckily we have been able to add to our project scopes, rather than downsize them! All the villagers are working so hard that we are working faster and more effectively then we imagined. In Vunikura, 400 more meters of pipe will be installed then we planned; in Loa, all the leaks from the tank to the village and in the village will be fixed. In Buca, the entire in-village distribution system has been dug up by the extremely strong and capable Buca villagers- so instead of just replacing the main 4-inch pipeline, we are replacing the entire system! However, this has meant some late night and early morning design sessions to try to route the new system in a effective and clean way. This week was a big week in Buca- after a wonderful pipe cleaning and gluing workshop by Shakeel on Thursday, we actually started putting some pipes (and tees- angled correctly!) into the ground on Friday morning. It was incredibly gratifying to see how much the villagers appreciated the pipes and the workshop, and how they were all working together on Friday to put the pipe in the ground. Hopefully next week the projects will start to be on 'cruise control'- and we will merely be acting as quality control. This method of working is great for everyone- and we are not merely giving Buca a new pipeline- we have the opportunity to teach them skills so they can give themselves a pipeline. Additionally, they are invested in the pipeline and know exactly the location of every lateral, so they can troubleshoot and repair future problems themselves.

In Savusavu yesterday we ordered even more pipe and materials from our hardware guy Gulabdas- and we are confident that we have enough time to finish the expanded projects by the end of the implementation trip!

I will be leaving Tuesday morning and will be back in the Bay Area in the afternoon, so I can finally upload photos of the construction and the villagers, along with photos of our lodgings. I will miss all of the people in Buca Bay who have been so welcoming! I might even miss the dinner plate sized spiders, cockroaches, moths and leaf bugs...(ok, slight exaggeration on the size- except the leaf bug- we saw a leaf bug as large as my forearm!!)...

See everyone at home soon (Sototale)!

Kim's Ramblings

2010-08-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 15

So we finally have internet access and wanted to update everyone at home regarding our project. First of all, this implementation is going great - it is like night and day compared to my previous implementation trip in India. The villagers are very excited about the work and our partner NGO really came through for us regarding communicating with the villagers as well as helping us sort out many logistical issues.

Shakeel and I arrived last Monday (we are 19 hours ahead of you folks back in the States), and we pretty much hit the ground running. The rest of the team had already been here for a week at that point and had loads to bring us up to speed on. Although we had spent a great deal of time planning for this trip back home, there were alot of scope issues that needed to be dealt with. For instance, Buca Village had dug up their entire village, exposing their existing distribution system. Originally, we had only planned on replacing the existing 2" pipeline with 4" pipeline, but after evaluating the site conditions, we determined that we should replace their entire distribution system. There were just too many unknowns with the existing laterals; they could be potential sources of contamination and since we were replacing the existing line anyway, we decided to go the extra mile (not quite literally but close) and create a water tight system in the village. Not only did we decide to replace the leaky laterals, but we closed the loop on the distribution system to improve their level of service (a shout out to WRK on that one).

It is one thing to plan a system on paper, but another thing entirely to build one, so this is where things started getting exciting. Shakeel held a few workshops on PVC pipeline construction, and I think some of us learned as much as the villagers regarding how to actually build a system in the field. As the week wore on, we all spent time in each of the villages to take part in tricky parts of the construction or for community meetings. By the end of the week, most of us were based primarily in one village to provide consistency, and Kelly, Adrienne and I were spending alot of our time in Buca Village - the villagers have taken to this very well and even embrace the idea that their project is being overseen primarily by the 'lewas' (the ladies).

The bridge crossing in Vunikura Village was a pretty amazing feat as well. We managed to install a galvanized steel pipeline underneath the bridge to act as a carrier pipe for a new 2" distribution line. This pipe replaced the existing river crossing that washes out during the rainy season. It was a tricky bit of construction, especially to ensure that everything was done as safely as possible, but we managed it. Next week we hope to finish up the section of new pipe installation between the tank and the village (~600 meters through the jungle). On Friday, we finished some pipeline repairs in Loa Village; the final repairs will take place on Monday and we start building the biosand filters there next week.

We have also been taking water samples at the sources and taps for the villages. The coliscan and the H2S methods seem to be working great, although our 'laboratory' area is directly adjacent to where we sleep and the aroma drifts into our sleeping quarters (not the best smell to wake up to). We visited the existing slow sand filter at the Mission near our project site to observe their operations and maintenance procedures, as well as to see if we could improve our existing slow sand filter design (building slow sand filters are on our agenda for Vunikura and Buca during future implementation trips). This was extremely interesting and I think we learned alot in terms of how we can optimize our proposed systems.

As far as the team, we are all in good spirits despite the fact that all of us except Kelly (knock on wood) have had some level of stomach discomfort since we have been here. Every one is working extremely hard and we are all getting along great, which is terrific since we spend every waking moment together!

That's all for now. Things are going great and we are on schedule to complete our construction in all of the villages prior to our departure. The people are amazing - the villagers are so thankful for our help and are very kind people. They are also a very sharing group - always trying to provide us with tea, kava, coconuts, etc. At the village meetings, they repeatedly thank us for our help and it is really heartwarming to be able to help such a wonderful group of people. Personally, I'm learning loads (if anyone ever needs help with a PVC system, I'm your gal), and so far this has been an absolutely amazing experience.

Friday the 13th!

2010-08-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

Bula everyone, Shakeel here. Apologies for the infrequent posts, but we've been spending all day out in the villages at the work, and haven't had much chance to go where we can connect. We're in Savusavu today on a rest day, and so you'll see a few updates from the team soon...

Our team is having a great time. We're working crazy hard, learning a lot, building relationships, and sharing the highs and lows - with the lows mostly involving cold showers and supersized arthropods, although we consider the various giant 6- and 8-legged furry creatures we're sharing our rooms with more as mascots and compatriots than adversaries.

Anyway, last Friday, the 13th, was a big day for all three villages. On Friday it felt to me that all of our prep work, including the work our team has done over the last several months back home, the frantic prep work here in Buca Bay, the organizing, the materials purchasing, planning with the village residents, training sessions, redesigns, and re-redesigns; all of that all really fell into place. In Buca the villagers installed the first length of the 4-inch main village distribution pipe, in Loa the villagers built the three worst in-village pipeline fixes, and in Vunikura we routed their new supply pipeline up over a particularly tough angle along a jungle hillside, both before and after a crazy (in a good way) tough awesome river crossing.

The residents of each of the villages are on board, working hard, and having fun themselves building their new water infrastructure. They've caught on and jumped on the work so quickly that we're really starting to feel the momentum building. We'll post photos and details about the projects in the next few posts.

Moce (goodbye) for now!

Implementation: Week One

2010-08-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

Bula (Hello) everyone!

We finally had a moment to update the blog! Things have been busy in Fiji on our implementation trip as we prepare for construction. During the week, we get up at 6:15am and work until 6pm, with a short break for lunch. After dinner, we have group meetings to discuss our day's findings and plan for construction. We were glad to have a rest day yesterday, because we had no time this last week to have some down time and recuperate.

We (Adrienne, Maggie, Thomas, and myself- Kelly) arrived on Monday afternoon (August 2) after a long long day of traveling- we took four planes and each one seemed successively smaller... the smallest plane held about 12 people and was a little frightening! But it provided a nice aerial tour of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu on our trip from Suva to Savusavu. When we arrived in Savusavu, Amini from the Dream Machine Foundation was there to greet us- which was great! We stopped at the grocery store for bottled water, got lunch, went to the hardware store, and then headed to Buca Bay on the bumpy, unpaved Hibiscus Highway.

On Day 2, Tuesday (August 3), we woke up to a large breakfast prepared by Ase, who is cooking for us at the Dream Machine Foundation House. We headed to the Mission at Natuvu Creek to meet Dr. Anibal and his wife Adrianna, as well as Lina and some of the nurses. The Mission has allowed us to set up our office and lab in a large room on the bottom floor.

After the Mission, we headed to Vunikura, one of the villages we are working in. In Vunikura we are rerouting the pipe from their storage tank- currently it just passes unprotected over a river, merely held up by sticks. We are going to pass the pipe under a bridge using galvanized steel pipe casing with metal clamps, which can attach to the bridge's I-beams. [Hopefully this fix will mean they won't have to repair their pipe every time there is a large storm. Currently large flows down the river wash out the pipe, leaving the village without water for up to a week. ] We were impressed to see that all the men in the village were working on digging (keli-keli) a trench for the new pipe!

After lunch, we headed to Buca, where we will be replacing their leaking main distribution line with a larger pipe. We met with some men from the village's water committee, Asaeli, Wame, Mosese, and Lasaga, and were glad to see that the men in Buca were digging as well! The villages have been waiting a year since Deborah and Justin's assessment trip, and it seems that they are anxious to replace their old pipeline.

That night, we headed to a community meeting in the village of Loa, where we will be repairing broken sections of pipe and installing 3 small biosand filters. We told the villagers our plans and asked for their input, with Amini translating. They seemed glad we were there to help with their largest leaks.

On Day 3, Wednesday (August 4th), we headed back to Vunikura and hiked up to their water source with Williame (headman) and Arone (pipeline guide), where we took water samples, then walked along their pipeline to the tank (stopping for new coconut water, or Bu, fresh from the tree along the way!) for more water samples.

In the afternoon we headed to Buca, where we identified all 45 laterals coming off their main water distribution line. The laterals were installed piece-meal and most are not glued, causing numerous leaks. Additionally, there are septic tanks right next to many of the laterals, so there is the potential that leachate could travel into their lines. We hope to reorganize the laterals from the distribution line, provide glue to stop obvious leaks, and set them away from septic tanks as much as possible.

On Day 4, Thursday (August 5), we had a tour of Vunikura's village water line and taps, where we identified the leaks in the village and took water quality samples at 5 taps. Many of the taps are broken off, or are ill-connected. We hope to replace or improve many of these connections to help with water pressure problems in the village; low pressure in the pipeline means less water coming out of taps and also means that septic leachate below ground can travel into the pipe easier.

In the afternoon, we went to Buca for a feast! The women in the village made us a meal of curries, wace (cassava leaf patties with garlic and onion), cassava root, rice, and pastries. There was enough food for 25 people, made just for the four of us! The food was delicious and it was nice to talk with the village women. After our meal, we took water samples at seven taps in the village.

On Day 5, Friday (August 6), we headed to Loa in the morning to walk their water line within the village. They have some very large leaks on the east side of the village, so large that they have to shut off the water on that side of the village for most of the day. If the water is left on, there is no water pressure left for the rest of the village. It was very hot and after our tour of the line, we enjoyed some more Bu (green coconut water) with Jesoni, the head of the water committee, and Jim, also on the water committee.

In the afternoon, we had a tour of the Mission slow sand filter water treatment system with another Mosese, who is in charge of all the filter maintenance. We took water samples at 6 points along the system - at the source, at the outlet pipe at the sand filter, after being filtered through the sand filter, in two of the storage tanks, and from the Mission taps.

In the evening, we went to Loa to listen to some Fijian and American music played by Jim and a third Mosese, which was quite nice.

On Day 6, Saturday (August 7), we traveled to Savusavu to relax, dip our toes in the ocean, and pick up some more water and supplies.

The food is delicious here- we have been eating so much! There is no meat, but lots of cassava, bread, and vegetarian protein. The weather is variable - changing from hot and drier to cooler and very humid, but it has been mostly comfortable.

We anticipate another full week of work ahead! Hopefully, we receive all the supplies early in the week and begin construction in all three villages. We will update again most likely next weekend - so Moce (goodbye) for now!

Adrienne, Kelly, Maggie, and Thomas

Fiji 2010. We're back!

2010-08-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

Since our departure in August, 2009, the EWB Fiji team has been working diligently to prepare for a return to Buca Bay to implement some serious projects in the three villages of Buca, Loa, and Vunikura. As I write, we have four team members (Adrienne, Maggie, Thomas, and Kelly) in country preparing to make improvements to the villages' water distribution systems, and two more (Kim and Shakeel) are on their way! The materials are in, the village help is plentiful, and the time is now to begin a years-long process of improving the water quality for the residents of Buca Bay, Fiji! Check back soon for blog updates and photos!

Moce

2009-07-31T02:16:00.000-07:00

“Moce” in Fijian means “good-bye.” Our three weeks here have come to a close, and so we’ve been saying the word many a time to our new friends in Buca Bay. The Fijian people are inherently warm and welcoming. Walk by anyone’s house and you get a friendly “BULA!” and a genuine wave and smile from the person sitting inside. Good-bye doesn’t come quite so easily, though, especially if you don’t plan to see the other person for a quite a while.

This week we took the time to visit each of the three villages for one last wrap-up meeting with the leadership and water committees. We presented the findings of our water quality tests, health surveys, and our understanding of the villages’ concerns about their water systems. Then we discussed some ideas of how we could potentially help improve their current systems (with treatment, pipe replacements, etc…) but unfortunately couldn’t promise a project until further consultation with the project team back home. We closed each meeting with a signing of our Memorandum of Understanding between EWB-SFP and the village, which is essentially an agreement to work together in the future to improve water quality and distribution for all people in the village.

And so, this officially ends our assessment trip. After three weeks, we feel that we’ve collected just an incredible amount of information, made important connections, and met some amazingly warm-hearted people. It’s sad to leave, but we hope to be back soon with shovel in hand.

Moce

PS: The photos shown here are a mish-mash of images from our last week and include: wrap-up meetings with the village leadership, a trip to Rainbow Reef (resort and white sand beach) for some quality snorkeling, a local volleyball tournament, some 3-day old kittens (courtesy of Deborah), cute kids, and a meke (a Fijian good-bye song and dance party) performed by the residents of Vunikura.

Blog Silence

2009-07-27T01:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the 3 days of silence, but here’s what you’ve missed:

Saturday: We walked the Vunikura pipeline with Taranga Ni Koro William and Arone and spent the afternoon writing the Loa Summary Report.

Sunday: We visited the water source and slow sand filter for the Mission Clinic. In the afternoon we hitched a ride to the neighboring island of Kioa for an afternoon of relaxing on a deserted beach. This is a privately owned island by the Polynesian residents of Kioa – we needed permission to spend the afternoon there. Roger and Joe from Vunikura kindly dropped us off with 6 coconuts and a machete and told us they’d be back – we were glad they didn’t leave us there, “Survivor” style!

Monday: Close-out meeting with Loa. Unfortunately Malakai, the head of the water committee and our main contact in Loa, was suddenly called up to serve on the UN forces in Iraq and had to leave immediately. We still were able to have a serious talk with the Taranga Ni Koro – Tomu, and Simeli, another important figure in town. We are also lucky that Roger Lutz’ right-hand man, Amini is now available to be our translator. He is Fijian and is originally from Buca, but has lived in Sacramento for many years… In the afternoon we did more boring wrap-up stuff that you probably don’t particularly care about.

But! Here are some photos to keep you entertained until the next post, which honestly may be a bit more sporadic from now on than our usual daily blogs. Only 5 days left! L

Road Trip!

2009-07-24T02:15:00.000-07:00

Savusavu is the second largest city on the second largest island in Fiji. A booming metropolis of about 2,000 people, Savusavu is THE Friday getaway for the residents of southern Vanua Levu, and we decided to see firsthand just how crazy this town could get. We actually had been to the town for a brief hour or so when we flew in a couple weeks back, but not for any extended amount of time. Funny how word gets around when people with transport are going to town. Within two hours of announcing our departure for the following day, we were asked for rides by four people. Luckily, one decided to stay back the day of. This morning we set off to pickup our quarry along the route: Daniel at the MNC house, then Meline at Loa (oh and could her friend have a ride too??), a hitchhiker about 20 km down the road, and finally Steve, a Peace Corps volunteer that we had gotten in contact with after hearing recently that he was nearby. By the time we rolled in to Savusavu at 10:00am, we had a truck load of all sorts.

Our purpose, actually, was mostly business. We heard that the regional Health Department had an office there, as did the District Officer, and these two agencies are likely good entities to be on one’s side if one is implementing a water project within their jurisdictional area. We were met at the Health Department by the three regional health inspectors, all who seemed relatively excited that we were doing work in the area. They provided us water testing results for a handful of communities around the island (similar to what we have been doing here) and standard design plans (circa 1964) for the septic systems they are currently providing the village of Buca. They gave us their blessing and escorted us to the District Officer from whom we would also need authorization. About 5 minutes into our pitch, he says his first words:

“So, do you have funding FOR us?”
“No,” we explain. “We’re a volunteer organization and any funds that we raise would go directly to implementing our project.”
“Do you want money FROM us?”
“No.”

We sensed that he did not understand our reason for interrupting his “busy” Friday afternoon, but after a few more “we’re volunteers”ses and “no money goes to you or from you”ses we felt he was on board.

We were supposed to talk to another state official, but apparently he was at a birthday party and could not be reached. The health inspector agreed to update him on our behalf.

After the morning activities we met with Jeff Stone, an American ex-pat and the current President of the Savusavu Rotary Club as well as the incoming president, Steve. Jeff and Steve were a wealth of information about how the process works for working on projects such as ours in Fiji. Jeff, a retired engineer with the Army Corps, has lived in Fiji since 1997 and has implemented a handful of water projects in the area in the name of the Rotary chapter, and provided us with close-out reports on those projects which detail design schematics and itemized construction costs. We feel that the local Rotary club will be a good technical partner and resource for us as we head into the design and construction phases of the project.

Before heading back to Natuvu, we shared a tasty beverage with Steve (the Peace Corps fellow we picked up on the way in) and Brett, another PC bloke, who are both working in villages close to ours on projects related to sanitation and health. They also added their two cents about working with local government agencies and shared with us some of their successes and frustrations working in rural Fiji. They may not be a technical resource for the project, but they can certainly help us understand some of the cultural issues we may face along the way.

At the end of the day, we were excited about the progress we were making in developing the connections and relationships necessary for a successful project.

Aside note: The road from Savusavu to Natuvu is predominantly unpaved and riddled with cobbles and deep potholes. Kudos to Deborah who, on the first trip two weeks ago, traversed the 70 km in 2 hours, 45 mins, and today drove the same distance in 1 hour, 45 mins! She is getting mighty comfortable behind the wheel.

No Rest for the Weary

2009-07-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately we don’t have too many witty stories to tell today, as we spent a better part of the day hard at work! We have a little more than a week left here, and are trying to make sure all of our loose ends are tied up before we sadly leave this beautiful place.

This morning we again drove over to Buca, this time to collect water samples from the taps and perform our health/water usage survey. After doing similar surveys in Loa and Vunikura we have it down to a science and don’t even blink when we ask whether someone has a “running stomach.” We were accompanied by a small entourage of local children, including two kids from Scotland, who grew up with their father in Fiji. Between health assessment interviews we enjoyed an epic swordfight and a quick break for some delicious fresh coconut milk.

This was our first contact with Buca villagers other than the leadership, and we enjoyed making friends with the women and children. We were surprised by the relative “affluence” here – one family even had a washing machine (no running water in the house, but a washing machine!)

On our way back from Buca for lunch, we gave a ride to Asi, one of the cooks here. We are becoming quite the regular taxi service! Lunch today was an amazing yet strange combination of spaghetti with tomato sauce, boiled dalo (taro leaves) with coconut milk, taro root fries with ketchup, and watermelon. After lunch we had a group g-chat with our Engineers Without Borders team back home (hi team!!), and then got to work sifting more sand, running water quality samples, etc. It was a busy afternoon of paperwork! We are starting to pull together our final thoughts on each of the villages in preparation for our wrap-up meetings (and going away parties!) with each of the villages, scheduled for next week.

All in all we are happily settled into our routine here and are very fond of all our new friends - the secretaries/nurses that work in the clinic, the ladies that prepare our meals, the various gardeners and security men around the Mission campus, and of course the welcoming and warm residents of Loa, Vunikura, and Buca.

Fiji Talk

2009-07-22T02:01:00.001-07:00

Ok, so no blog posting yesterday. Why? We woke up at 3:30am to catch a boat to Taveuni, the third largest island in Fiji. Why 3:30, you ask? Well, we’re still not quite sure, but we think it’s because the captain had not officially registered his 15+ passenger boat with the correct authorities just yet, and we needed the cover of darkness to sneak into the port undetected. Safely on the island, we spent a relaxing day enjoying the change of scenery. Deborah tagged along with a new Mission group to the island’s main attraction, a grand waterfall (see photo) while Justin took a walk in the opposite direction to find a beach to relax on. Whether sitting on a beach near a luxurious hotel, or hiking through wild rainforests to swim in spectacular waterfalls, we found Taveuni to be a beautiful and relaxing place. In the early afternoon we went back to Natuvu in time for another small Meke in honor of the departure of the latest Mission group.

Today, however, was a bit more eventful. Here’s a quick synopsis:
1) Morning: Drive to Loa to talk to Malakai (who, apparently is NOT the headman… why are we finding this out now??) about his community’s health issues. We were told to meet him “after breakfast”, which to us meant 8:30. He was nowhere to be found, but after 30 minutes we found him. He was at his farm, of course. Apparently breakfast is at 9pm. AFTER breakfast is at 10pm. Fijian time. Oops!
2) Afternoon: Truckin’ it to the only white-sand beach within a 20km radius of Natuvu: collected a sand sample to test for suitability for potential SSF
3) First trip to Tucavesi to visit the regional medical clinic and talk to the staff doctor to get our first straight answers about the health issues facing the Buca Bay region (whoa, was THAT enlightening!)
4) In Buca to talk to Headman Asaeli about his community’s health issues
5) Evening: Drive a group of 4 women holding 4 new-borns , 1 pregnant woman, and two other women in the truck from Buca to Vunikura (a 30 minute drive trying not to jostle the sleeping new-borns!)

Somewhere in there we came to the frustrating realization that it’s REALLY hard to have a straight conversation with a Fijian. Here’s a typical exchange:

Us: We have some questions about your village’s water use.
Headman: Ok.
Us: Can you tell us who is responsible for the water system?
Headman: Yes.
Us: Yes, what?
Headman: Yes, I can tell you.
Us: Oh, ok. So, who is responsible for the water system?
Headman: There is a committee.
Us: Who is on the committee?
Headman: Me, my brother, my cousin, my uncle, and the Headman.
Us: Aren’t you the headman?
Headman: No. I am the Spokesman.
Us: Oh, this whole time we thought you were the Headman.
Spokesman: No, that is my brother.
Us: Your brother who is on the water committee?
Spokesman: My brother is not on the water committee.
Us: Isn’t the Headman on the water committee?
Spokesman: No. He isn’t on the water committee.
Us: Who, your brother, or the Headman?
Spokesman: My brother is the Headman.
Us: And is he on the water committee?
Spokesman: Ok.
Us: ????? (Looking at each other to see if the other understands… the other one doesn’t)

So the only way around this, we have discovered, is to ask the same questions to the same people, phrased slightly different, over and over again, until there is some semblance of consistency between answers. After 13 days in the region a small ray of understanding of how it all works here, is starting to shine on us. Hopefully the next week will bring some final clarity!

Blowing the Conch Shell

2009-07-20T01:30:00.000-07:00

Mondays in Loa are “village day” where all the men are required to stay home from their farms and help with tasks around the village such as mowing all the lawns and repairing the water system. (It’s also the only day of the week you are allowed to wear hats in the village). We had been instructed to arrive in Loa at 7:45 in order to speak at the end of the Monday morning village meeting, but upon arrival we were ushered into Q’s house to wait – the meeting hadn’t started yet! We then heard the first blowing of the conch shell, signaling that the meeting would start sometime soon. But instead of heading to the meeting, Q’s mother and wife began serving us a breakfast of deep fried cassava and fish (for Justin). We were also handed a fan to swat at the flies while we ate. The meal was served on a tablecloth on the floor of the family room, and the women sat in the kitchen, waiting for the men (and Deborah) to finish their meal.

When the second sound of the conch was heard about half an hour later, we headed towards the “town hall”. The meeting wouldn’t actually start until the third sound of the conch, which ended up being closer to 9:30… ah, Fijian time! The meeting was run by Tom, who we assumed to be the deputy headman, along with Malakai, the headman. Tom introduced us to the 20-odd members of the village who had showed up for the meeting, and Justin gave his well-practiced spiel about Engineers Without Borders and how we would like to help them improve their water system. We also presented them with token gifts of soap and school supplies for the children.

The villagers thanked us repeatedly for helping their villages and told us that we are now considered part of their family. The meeting then continued on for a good hour in Fijian. Q translated a few of the relevant bits to us later – a lecture on water conservation and the need to turn off the taps when not in use, and a decision that they would throw a party for us before we leave. Deborah is hoping the party will include Bacalolo – the delicious cassava and coconut milk desert that we had at the last lovo!

After the meeting Q’s brother Jim toured us around the village to perform our health assessment survey – which included questions on both water usage and health. We met with five families, asking them the same questions but coming up with different answers every time. In general, the results of the survey showed that their main concern with water is shutdowns during the rainy season. (It is difficult to get a straight answer out of Fijians, as they are so anxious to please you that they will answer yes to almost anything you ask. Questions must be phrased carefully so as not to lead to an automatic yes.)

Eleven days into our trip, we feel like we are making good progress in getting to know our three villages and have befriended many lovely people. Now when we roll into town, our friends seem genuinely excited to see us and invite us into their homes for a cup of tea and a chat.

Finding Nemo

2009-07-19T01:26:00.001-07:00

In case you were wondering about our radio silence yesterday, we unexpectedly took (most of) the day off. We had an appointment to walk the Vunikura distribution line, but woke up to pouring rain. The Mission campus was very quiet due to their Seventh Day Adventist sabbath, and we spent the morning quietly catching up on paperwork. At mid-day we took a quick trip to Loa to collect tap samples to check turbidity during a rainstorm. After lunch we luxuriously lounged around the Mission. When the sun came out in the afternoon, we took the opportunity to kayak across the bay. On the other side of the bay we happened upon a school of huge purple jellyfish, and quickly hightailed it back home as fast as our paddles could take us. Other than that, it was a quiet and relaxing day.

This morning we started off our day with more relaxation! We asked Dr. A and Nani about snorkeling, and they arranged to have their employee Moses take us out beyond the bay to a good coral reef nearby (where we were told there would be no jellyfish!) And it was amazing! We saw blue, pink, and yellow coral of all shapes and sizes. In between the beautiful coral were schools and schools of little tropical fish scurrying around – florescent blue, black and white, and of course the famous clown fish. After we had our fill of fish, Justin got back in the boat while Deborah swam a bit more… until she saw one of those huge purple jellyfish, at which point she hopped back into the boat so fast, she impressed the group with her new-found arm strength.

When our local friends heard we were going to Buca in the afternoon, everyone and their wife wanted a ride. We piled as many as we could into our truck – including Siwa (formerly spelled Seewah in our blog) and his brother (and our new friend) Masaki and made the bumpy ride to the other side of the bay. Once there, we met the Tironi Ni Koro (Headman) Asaeli, his son Pene, and along with Siwa began our hike up to the Buca source. And oh boy what a hike it was! It took about an hour of trekking through deep, thick mud to reach the source. We were slipping and sliding and squishing and squooshing all the way to the top. Luckily there were no falls and our guides helped us across the river crossings and up the last slippery climb. It was quite the jungle trek!

Once there, we were happy to find a well-kept catch basin at the spring source. The only problem with the system seems to be a need for a smaller screen for catchment and perhaps a larger trash rack for the rainy season. After measuring, photographing and sampling, we trekked back down to the tank, observing the by-passed slow sand filter (SSF) and storage tank. As mentioned in a previous blog, Asaeli plans to move this tank closer to the village to be used for drinking water only. We plan to discuss this with Roger’s son Nik and his wife Laura who installed the SSF and live in Napa, California.

The hike also gave us an opportunity to chat with Asaeli, ask him more questions about his village and their water system, and get to know him better in general. He seems like a very attentive headman, who tries hard to help his village and has a good understanding of the technical aspects of their water system.

On the way back we stopped so Justin could play a quick pickup volleyball game with the local young men (20 and 30 year olds), and Justin was invited to join them the next night as well. There’s a big tournament coming up next week and all the local villages are vying to have Justin on their team. Meanwhile, Deborah made friends with the other spectators – including the young mothers and their cute children.

Tired from our long hike, we made our way back to the Mission for dinner and water quality testing of Buca’s source, tank, and SSF samples. (Even though the SSF is bypassed, they fill it every month when they clean the tank and therefore there was water for us to sample).

A Sad Day in Vunikura

2009-07-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today was a very sad day for Vunikura. First, the missionary youth group that has been volunteering with their children over the last two weeks, headed back to California this morning. Their departure brought many, many heartfelt tears from the sensitive and loving women and children of the nearby villages, especially our new friend and guide Ana.

Next, was the funeral of Eleanora, the daughter of headman (Tironi Ni Koro) Titimo. We headed to Vunikura well before the funeral started and were welcomed into Ana’s “family room” to wait while the family prepared. Ana’s niece entertained us by drawing out Ana’s family tree (see attached photograph for the size of the family; this is just from one grandparent!), and soon a variety of village children gathered around to play with us. Justin luckily had a couple games up his sleeve to entertain both the little ones and their young mothers.

The funeral was a somber affair with everyone in their Sunday best (sulus and flowered shirts). We squirmed through the two hour catholic mass and ceremony, sitting crosslegged on the floor and listening to the Fijian prayers. We then made the short hike to the cemetery for the grave-side ceremony. All-in-all it was a very typical funeral, and we were glad to be there to show support for our new friends.

We left Vunikura before the meal was served, as we knew the Mission would have our lunch waiting for us. With the youth group gone, it is only Dr. Anibal, Nurse Nani, and us staying here and the mission is eerily (and happily) quiet. This won’t last long as there are upwards of 30 guests coming in the next two weeks!

In the evening we attended a pizza dinner at the home of Dr. A and Nani. It is a beautiful home on the hillside above the mission; a very original design of a circular tent-like structure. We enjoyed getting to know the couple over a delicious dinner. They are very friendly, open and generous people - before working here in the Fiji they spent two years in Madagascar and 10 years in Paraguay; they are originally from Argentina.

Sample results: We have completed the sample results for the Loa source and tank and Mission tap – which suggest the presence of total coliforms and E. Coli.

We have been spending a good deal of time thinking about our results, and discussing our observations in the various villages. For Vunikura, even though our sample results are positive, the health records at the mission and conversations with the villagers do not indicate that they have been getting sick from the bacteria in the water. There have been two cases of typhoid in the village, but they were on the outskirts of the village, and it is suspected that appropriate hygiene was not being followed. We believe that EWB can help them by improving their catchment system at the source, replacing sections of the distribution system, and improving their septic system.

Meke and Lovo!

2009-07-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

We visited the third and final village, Buca, today after being in town nearly a week. We hope they weren’t feeling neglected! Their headman, Asaele, welcomed us into his home and we chatted about their water situation. The leadership of Buca is actually very organized and fundraises upwards of $3,000 a year for improvement projects within the village. They have an elected water committee comprised of 4 villagers who have plans for the existing water supply and distribution system. Their primary concern is the leaky polyethylene (?) pipe that runs from the mainline to the taps. The committee has placed an order with the government for 1-inch PVC pipe to replace these pipes and they are hoping for a 6-month turn-around time.

Last year the Dream Machine Foundation had designed and installed a slow sand filter for the village of Buca in line with their current water distribution system, only to have it bypassed 3 days later and never to be used since. Their reason for bypassing the filter: it was too slow. It wasn’t filling the storage tank faster than the residents of Buca were draining it. Asaele acknowledged that clean water was important, but not having water at all was unacceptable. His idea is to move the filter closer to the village and put it on a parallel line to be used solely for drinking water.

We spent a good part of the morning getting the layout of the village and promised to return on Sunday when we’ll hike up to the water source (a good 1 hour, according to Asaele) to take samples.

Our missionary friends spent their last night in Natuvu tonight, and were given a goodbye party complete with Fijian traditions like a Meke (traditional warrior dances and songs) and a Lovo (Fijian luau aka barbeque!). Some of the Loa men, dressed in full warrior garb, performed a spear dance while the rest sang Fijian melodies in perfect four-part harmonies. Even though we’re here for another two weeks, they included us in the group and presented us with flower necklaces and invited us to feast on the rock-steamed tarot, kavasa, pumpkin, breadfruit and assortment of fresh fish caught that morning (we think one was barracuda). It was certainly a festive night and we were honored to be a part of it all.

Hanging out in V-Town

2009-07-15T00:44:00.000-07:00

Today has been one of the least taxing days of our trip so far. With no more room in the incubator for any new samples at the moment, we were limited to bumming around Vunikura and chatting it up with the local ladies about their families’ health and water usage (this was actually strategically planned as our formal health assessment). Ana introduced us to her auntie, her cousins, her sister… we actually have no clue how these folks are related as the word “cousin” and “uncle” are tossed around to mean “someone I grew up with who was around a lot.” Everyone is everyone else’s relative here!

We spent a good couple of hours asking about their hygienic practices (soap is quite a luxury in these parts), common illnesses, and wishes for an improved system. We both found it interesting that symptoms related to ingesting biologically-contaminated water (diarrhea, vomiting, overall stomach-achiness) were not considered by the villagers as common occurrences. More common were skin diseases, asthma, and the giggles (Fijians have infectious laughter issues).

What the folks at Vunikura are most concerned about when it comes to their water, it turns out, is volume and turbidity. When it rains, their distribution system fills up with muddy water (and who really likes the taste of that?). The 30+ year old pipes are backed up and ultimately break, leaving them to go to the nearby river to collect their water until the pipes can be repaired. Also, the growing population is putting an increasing strain on the water supply, especially when a handful of people carelessly leave their taps running all day long! Clean, safe water is important, yes, but a dependable distribution system seems to be a higher priority to the residents we spoke to. They mentioned that they have been raising money ($50 per adult male) to give to the Fijian government for a new system, which is quite a sacrifice for the families. Unfortunately the government is extremely slow in helping out these rural villages; we plan on contacting them to see if we can work with them to improve the system.

We sadly learned today that the daughter of Titimo (the Taqici headman) passed away yesterday, from a congenital heart disease. We gave our condolences and were graciously invited to attend the funeral on Friday. We asked whether this would be appropriate and were assured that Titimo would appreciate our attendance. With Seewah’s advice on behavior and dress in hand, we plan on sharing our sympathies with our new friends on Friday.

This afternoon we started digging through the Mission’s medical records in an attempt to understand what illnesses are affecting the residents of this area. Thankfully Laura, one of the volunteers currently staying here, offered to continue summarizing the stacks of data for us tomorrow (thanks Laura!).

Tomorrow we are off for our first real visit to Buca – the third and final village we will be assessing. Because the sampling incubator is still full, we will be GPSing the taps and getting a general understanding of the layout of the village.

Here is a photo of Violeta - Ana's adorable daughter.

Did You Remember Your Costco Card?

2009-07-14T00:07:00.000-07:00

This morning we were off to a relatively late start and missed our Loa guides Q and Malakai. Fortunately, because the community is so close-knit all it takes is a spoken name with an inquisitive inflection and you get a friendly finger pointing you in the right direction. We drove up the road and found machete-wielding Malakai ready to take us to the town's water source. Cutting steps into the soft, steep jungle slopes for his clumsy companions, he led us to a stunning, hidden waterfall which was the source of water for his village. Malakai makes this trek barefoot on a weekly basis, while we spent a good part of the walk desperately grasping for vines and thorny trees to catch our balance. Deborah’s grand finale included a graceful slide on her backside down the last few feet of the trail.

From the source, we walked as far as we could along the above-ground portion of the distribution line, stopping to look at the “air relief valves” or simply put, holes drilled into the pipe with a piece of bamboo stuck in them to keep the water from geysering out. Malakai shared his concerns of the system with us: the source is often clogged with debris during rainstorms, and the distribution pipe is frequently damaged during Department of Public Works “road repairs”.

After taking samples from the source and the tank and GPSing the distribution line, we headed back to the Mission for lunch and paperwork. In the afternoon we took a trip to Sunny’s “Costco”, a warehouse-style wholesaler of canned foods and non-perishables. We purchased bleach to sterilize our sample results, and crackers and soda for our missionary friends who were up half the night being ill. (Given their miserable status, we have become even more fond of our bottled “Island Chill” water and have placed an order for a second case with Sunny).

Sampling Update: All Vunikura samples have tested positive for the confirmation of E. Coli. We are now running the Loa source and tank samples, and a full set of Mission tap water (fingers crossed).

Although there are virtually NO beaches with sand in this area (~sob~), we found a small stretch of grey sand outside of Sunny’s place. We grabbed a couple bag-fulls and are drying them in front of our rooms with the intention of performing a sieve analysis to determine if the grain size distribution is acceptable for slow sand filters.

Now it’s time for Justin’s first capoeira class (afro-brasilian martial art) from Deborah, before our samosa dinner (yumyum!).

Too Cold to Work

2009-07-13T00:40:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to a soggy, rainy Monday. After a delicious breakfast of vegan pancakes, we put on our rain gear, hopped in the truck and drove 10 minutes to the next village – Loa. We had been told to meet Cemeli at the yellow house in the center of town. On arrival, we were welcomed by his son “Q”, and Cemeli’s younger brother, Malakai. Cemeli and Malakai together take care of the water system for Loa. Justin gave his “we’re EWB and we’d like to help you improve your water system” spiel, well-practiced from our presentation in Vunikura the day before, and we had a lively discussion on the issues and problems with the Loa water system.

Q showed us around his village, and a couple hours later we had mapped nearly every house, communal tap and latrine in Loa! Deborah commented that there were curiously high numbers of people home for a workday, to which Q replied “they don’t work because it’s too cold outside and they don’t want to get sick.” By our internal thermometers, it was probably about 80oF, and we were sweating up a storm in our waterproof windbreakers.

This afternoon we had an informative interview with Dr. Anibal and Nurse Nani, the Argentinian couple who run the Mission Clinic. They provided us with information on the villages’ health and hygienic habits. They also recommended that we talk to the government run free clinic in Tuvavesey, who provides vaccinations and women’s health care for the area.

Sampling update for Vunikura: nearly all our samples tested positive for confirmation of total coliforms; we are now running the samples for confirmation of E. Coli. We had a disconcerting positive sample for the Salmonella Presence/Absence test on the Mission water, which is run through a slow sand filter. We plan to do further testing on this water, and meanwhile are appreciative of our case of “Island Chill” bottled water that we purchased in Savusavu. ("Island Chill," by the way, is the generic alternative to "Fiji" bottled water, which is also readily available here... go figure).

Tomorrow we are off to explore the source and tank for Loa, and meanwhile will leave you with photos of the kittens of Buca Bay (courtesy of Deborah’s kitten obsession).

Dua, Rua, VA!

2009-07-12T00:48:00.000-07:00

It’s Sunday. A lazy Sunday. We slept in until about 7:20. Apparently, Justin’s alarm went off at 7:00, and the only person in the boy’s dorm who DIDN’T wake up to it was Justin (ear plugs are a requirement in a room full of snoring dudes).

After breakfast, we put on our Sunday best (which happened to be whatever smelled the least like sweat and body odor) and traveled to Vunikura again to participate in Sunday mass. There are no pews in the church at Vunikura, so we were invited to sit cross-legged on the linoleum floor for 90 minutes while listening to church hymns, bible readings, and the sermon… all in Fijian, of course. There are striking similarities between American church services and the one we witnessed, most notably being the short attention span of the children who, not a minute into the program, began wandering about the small building as the adults tried in vain to wrangle them in. Deborah quickly made friends with the toddler in front of her who was absolutely captivated by her bracelets. By the end of the service, the girl was sprawled about Deborah’s lap looking longingly up at her new buddy.

After the service, Ana, our self-appointed translator, arranged an impromptu town meeting where we would be introduced and we could tell our story. The meeting was non-mandatory, and Ana was quick to point out that “see, only the women come to these things”. This was partially true. A handful of men arrived as the meeting was getting started and included the priest, our guide from the day before, and 3 or 4 concerned fathers, but the majority of attendees were made up of women and curious children (Titimo and Silvetere (the Headman) were out of town ).

We explained to the group that we had been talking about coming to their village for the past year and were excited to be working with them to improve their current water distribution system. We also invited any of them to share their opinions on the current condition of their water supply. There were no volunteers, so we asked them to participate in single-family surveys later in the week. Overall, we felt well received and hoped that the village can be patient with us over the next few years while we go through this process.

Following the meeting, we took the opportunity to schmooze a little with the residents of Vunikura and presented them with our gifts: bars of soap, pencils, pens, crayons, stickers and paper folders. Justin wandered over to the volleyball net where a few of the guys were playing a pick-up game while Deborah sipped fresh coconut milk as the kids enjoyed their new bounties.
Before leaving Vunikura, we gathered one of the families for a photo shoot. Deborah aimed the camera and tried to impress the villagers with her recently-learned Fijian: “Dua… Rua… VA!” which loosely translates to ‘One… Two… FOUR!’ Well done, Deborah. Well done.

In the afternoon we enjoyed an epic two hour nap, which was mostly likely a result of yet another amazing lunch at the Mission cafeteria. This time we had seitan and spinach canalones. Yes, that’s right – home-made seitan. The woman who owns this clinic, Marta Toomas, is vegan and has taught the locals to make the most delicious meals for the guests! Deborah is in vegan heaven.

A quick note about our sampling results for Vunikura: The source, tank and tap samples all came out positive for presumptive total coliforms and presence/absence of salmonella. Now we have started the confirmation test for coliforms. Note: the picture shows the results of the salmonella P/A tests. The bottle on the left shows tap water. The second is a salmonella test on our bottled water (the orange color means NO salmonella). The remainder are salmonella positive tests for the Vunikura water.

Although we still plan to return to Vunikura to further document the tap locations and walk the distribution line – tomorrow we are off to meet with the next village, Loa!

Vunikura Hiking/ It’s Black!

2009-07-11T02:57:00.000-07:00

There are multiple religions in this area and with that two Sabbaths are observed – Saturday for the Seventh Day Adventists (SDAs) and Sunday for the Catholics and Methodists. This actually works to our advantage as we can work with whoever is not observing their Sabbath. Vunikura is all Catholic and therefore today we headed there to sample the source and tank. Seewah was observing the sabbath, so we were joined by Ana, Arone and Pele. Ana is a primary school teacher in Vunikura who is very warm, friendly and speaks English well. She is close with Roger and is very excited that we are here to help her village.

The source (which we had seen the day before) is a dammed spring which appears to have adequate flow, even in the dry season. The inlet pipe has a screened entrance, but we were told that there is a problem with sediments clogging the pipe; the entrance is cleaned out approximately once a month.

From there we were taken to a potential second source, which turned out to be a river very far from the village, with a hill in between. We don’t think this is a possible source, plus from further conversations it appears that the original source has sufficient flow, but needs improvements to prevent sediment clogging and leaks along the distribution pipe.

We interrupted the hot, sweaty morning with a fresh coconut break. Arone and Pele climbed trees to harvest the fruit, and Ana used one of the men’s machetes to hack it open for us. A delicious treat! Next we observed the storage tank, located at the side of the road. The tank appeared half full, with adequate flow coming in.

Throughout the day we queried Ana on family life and health in Vunikura, and her opinions of their water system. By the end of the morning she invited us to attend Sunday mass in Vunikura and promised to help us find families who were willing to be interviewed for our baseline health survey.

In the afternoon we came back to the Mission with our source and tank water samples to our makeshift ‘laboratory’ in Deborah’s room. We opened our sample incubator, excited like kids at Christmas to see the results of our tap samples from the previous day, and were surprised to see four solid black bottles. This indicates the presence of salmonella in the water, which is an indicator for Typhoid. Yikes! We also saw small bubbles in some of the total coliform MPN tests. Double Yikes!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon discussing and reviewing our Vunikura data. Tomorrow we plan to return to Vunikura for church (Deborah’s first time!) and to administer health surveys. We’re looking forward to more time spent getting to know the Vunikura villagers who seem very friendly and welcoming.

Did Someone Call for an Engineer?

2009-07-11T02:45:00.000-07:00

We met Roger at 6am on Friday and trucked over to Seewah’s house. Seewah is a local who works in the clinic at the Mission and who has volunteered to play the role of liaison and interpreter between EWB and the villages. Although the official language of Fiji is English, and English is taught in schools, many of the villagers usually speak in their native dialect and are shy speaking to us.

From Seewah’s house we drove to the water storage tank in Buca. The tank is located at the side of the road, uphill from a small graveyard. We observed the existing slow sand filtration system that was put in by the DMF just last year, and is currently bypassed due to volume constraints. This was just a quick visit and we plan to return later to take more photos and measurements. In the village we were introduced to Amose, the deputy Headman. Apparently in Buca there is a village chief who is appointed by lineage and a separate Headman who is elected every two years from one of four clans in the village. We gave a short spiel to Amose about EWB’s intentions and was given permission to access the village.

Next we drove to Vunikura and were introduced to Headman Titimo, head of the Taqici tribe. (The village chief “William” was out of town.) Vunikura’s water system operators Arone and Pele accompanied us up to visit the water source for their village. This source was a bit of a hike through dense tropical foliage. Again, we promised to return for more photos and samples.
We made a quick stop to meet Sunny, an indo-Fijian who runs the local “Costco”, which turned out to be a mechanics yard and small supply store. (For readers who don’t know, Fiji is made up of two cultures – indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians who descend from the time of British colonization.) We then met Cemelle (which sounds an awful lot like “Smelly” to us), who is the water system operator for Loa. We arranged with Cemelle to meet with his village chief on Monday morning at 8 am, Fijian time of course!

Following a successful skype meeting with our EWB team back home, we schlepped back to Vunikura with Seewah as our guide, to take samples at the village taps. Titimo, the headman, showed us the taps. There are about 35 to 40 houses in the village and approximately 12 communal taps, although some homes have their own taps. We were told that one house even has 3 taps (although we didn’t observe this for ourselves). Justin brought the GPS system to document the location of each of the taps, and we collected four samples.

We quickly went to work that evening testing them for total coliforms, E. Coli, salmonella (indicator for typhoid) and turbidity in our portable water quality test kits. From there we turned in for the evening, exhausted but happy with our first day of hard work.

Playing Chess With Pigs (ask Justin!)

2009-07-11T02:00:00.000-07:00

After only two days on our paradise island we packed up our swimsuits and snorkels and ferried back to the mainland. We spent the night at a low-budget hotel near the Nadi airport and woke up early to catch our flight to Vanua Levu, the second largest island of Fiji. Before leaving we purchased a Fijian Sim card for our cell phone and made first contact with families and EWB team-members. (This purchase has since proved useless as in order to get cell phone reception near the Mission you need to drive 15 minutes up a treacherous rocky road and stand on one leg while wiggling your left pinky).

A brief 1 hour flight in a small twin-prop airplane gave us amazing views of the lush island and sparkling ocean below and landed us at the SavuSavu airport. The airport was so small that after landing on a short airstrip the plane had to turn around and drive back to reach the ‘terminal’.

Waiting at the airport for us was a Budget rental employee who left us with a 4x4 pickup (thanks for arranging that Animesh!) In Fiji drivers are seated on the right side of the vehicle and cars drive on the left, so after a couple minutes of turning on windshield wipers instead of turn signals and reaching for a stick shift in the wrong location, we were on our way. Justin made sure to shout out “Cow!… Goat!… Pig!… Chicken!” while Deborah tried not to hit the identified animal wandering nearby.

Our first stop was downtown SavuSavu, a “city” with one main strip of stores. After parallel parking (oof) we walked the main drag to find the hardware store filled with PVC pipes and fittings (we took photos of the stock, confusing the store owners), a sulu (traditional Fijian sarong which ironically was made in China), kava roots for gifts for the village chiefs, cases of bottled water to drink, and cheeseburgers and tarot-root burgers for lunch.

From there we hopped back in the truck for what we thought would be a quick drive to our destination – the Mission at Natuvu Creek. Unfortunately the 80 km drive ended up taking 2.5 hours due to the conditions of the road. Most of the road was unpaved with large cobble-sized rocks and gargantuan potholes. Along the way we stopped for directions (“keep going straight on the one road” being the standard answer) and ended up taking some school children back to their home village, along the route. Little did we know that picking up one group of girls would lead to an endless stream of friendly hop-ons catching a ride home.

It was dusk by the time we pulled into the Mission parking lot. The Mission itself turned out to be a hidden paradise of comfortable beds, clean water, delicious food, a swimming pool, and free wireless access! The Mission property is owned by the Toomases – a dentist and ophthalmologist couple who founded the Mission clinic – a state-of-the-art free clinic for the villages of Buca Bay. The Mission is staffed by Dr. Anibal and Nurse Nani a husband and wife team who run the clinic. Currently staying at the Mission is a Seventh Day Adventist Youth Group from Southern California, who make an annual trip to help out.

Upon arrival we were greeted by Roger Lutz of the Dream Machine Foundation (DMF), one of the NGOs that has been working in Buca Bay for the last few years. Roger immediately arranged a 6am meeting with us for the next morning, to introduce us to the village leadership and locations of the water supply systems. We were off to a running start and we hadn’t even unpacked yet!

Furry Tongues

2009-07-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

While at the resort, we met a Kiwi, Allen Neilson, who has been living in the village adjacent to the resort for a couple of months. Allen is working with the village to build an eco-park, which he intends to be a model for his sustainable-living design concept (similar to the “living roof” at the SF Academy of Sciences), and also a source of tourist income for the villagers. He is a horticulturist by training, and his ideas for the eco-park includes structures made of living and growing flora planted and trained in the footprint of the building. He showed us the location where he and the villagers had planted the initial rubber-tree “posts” which he hopes will sprout and create walls of vegetation. Other ideas of his include a café run by solar stoves, collecting methane from the sanitary systems, and more. We suggested he also include water filtration concepts, such as point-of-use filtration systems.

Allen had befriended a local named Simon, who invited us to his home, where he offered us our first taste of Kava. Kava is a traditional social Fijian drink made from the Waka root. It’s supposedly a mild depressant that tastes earthy and leaves a slight numbing sensation on your tongue and throat. The traditional Sevusevu ceremony includes sitting in a circle around the Kava bowl (tanoa), and when handed a bowl (bilo) of Kava you must clap once, say “bula”, drink up, and then clap three times. We enjoyed our numb tongues while Simon recounted a moderately incoherent story about his village chief’s forefather who apparently was a ruthless cannibal who refused to stop practicing cannibalism, and was consequently banished from his tribe. The locals laughed as Deborah’s eyes grew wide at the embellished tale. Meanwhile, Justin comfortably chatted away with the family, enjoying getting to know our new friends.

Bula Paradise!

2009-07-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

After landing at 5am in Nadi on the main island of

Viti Levu we checked the bulk of our luggage at the airport and boarded a boat (insert Andy Sandberg reference here) to Wayalailai Island for two days of much-needed vacation. On the boat with us were many young Australians and Kiwis, vacationing in Fiji as part of their post-highschool or university world tour. During the 1.5 hour boatride we passed many perfect little islands –small lumps of sand with a couple strategically placed palm trees. Just like the screen saver!

We were welcomed to Wayalailai by a small group of Fijians singing us a harmonizing welcome song. Bula Justin and Deborah! Our island was just what you would imagine paradise to be - lush greenery with beautiful white sand beach and turquoise ocean, and an ominous volcanic rock formation in the background thrown in for good measure.

Our resort consisted of a handful of traditional thatched bures (houses) and a dining hall where the camp-like schedule of activities were announced. In our two days on the island we managed to pretty much participate in all offered activities – we swam from one island to another (being tickled by tiny jellyfish on the way), snorkeled to our hearts content (seeing vibrant blue fish, black and white striped fish, hundreds of little yellow fish, and scary 1-meter long reef sharks!), and hiked to the top of the extinct volcano for a beautiful sunrise.

While Justin enjoyed leisurely lounging in the hammock under the palm trees, swinging to a gentle breeze, Deborah befriending the local female entourage, who taught jewelry weaving to the tourists. She also climbed around on the volcanic rocks scattered on the beach (perfect handholds!)

The food at the resort was nothing to speak of - white rice and stir-fry with the occasional leg of lamb; very bland without a trace of local influence.

Safe and sound

2009-07-09T01:49:00.000-07:00

Yes it's true! We have arrived safe and sound at the Mission at Natuvu Creek, where we will be staying for the duration of our trip. We are sorry to have worried you with our silence in the last few days, but have not had any internet access until today. We should be regularly online from now on.

And now, even though we have many many interesting adventures to report, and beautiful photos to share, we are off to bed! You will have to be patient until tomorrow to hear our stories...

Until soon!
Deborah

Deborah and Justin have arrived in Fiji!

2009-07-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

Deborah and Justin have arrived in Fiji. They spent a few days in Wayaliilai (no internet or phone access) and are now headed to Vanua Levu to meet with our NGO contact and make their way to the project site!

Flying Fears

2009-07-08T02:06:00.000-07:00

The flight(s) from San Francisco to Nadi (pronounced "Nandi") were surprisingly smooth! After a brief 5-hour layover in Los Angeles, and bellies filled with our last burritos, we were ready for our 10.5 hour in-flight nap. Justin was smart enough to request the exit aisle and we had plenty of room to stretch out and snooze.

With only an hour left until landing, it suddendly dawned on our bleary-eyed selves that we should probably review the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS') that our teammates had stuffed in our pockets before sending us off. (MSDS' explain the hazardous properties of the water sampling chemicals we were carrying with us).

We spent the remainder of the flight making sure our story was straight, and that we had a quick (and truthful) explanation for our complicated luggage. We nervously imagined solitairy cells with stern Fijian FBI agents querrying us on our bright green vials.

With these fears in mind we anxiously approached the immigrations officer, handed him our passports.... and... well. nothing. He didn't even say hello! From there we proceeded to the customs/baggage check, where as our baggage was scanned, the officer robotically asked us if we had any fruits or vegetables.... nope! And that was that.

Bula! Welcome to Fiji!!

(Bula is the Fijian phrase for hello/welcome. It is repeated to us every few minutes by pretty much everyone we see).

T minus 3 hours

2009-07-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

Justin and I are all packed and ready to go! Between the two of us, we have seven bags filled with pipets, chemical reagents, a turbidimeter, an incubator, lollipops, Costco-sized quantities of soap (for gifts), and snorkel gear. Everything one needs for a typical trip to Fiji. :) We're a bit nervous about the weight of the bags and the suspicious-looking vials of green chemical reagents, but have been told by the airlines it should be ok.

We will fly to LA and then take a 10 hour flight to Fiji, arriving at 5 am on July 6th. Then we will have two days of vacation on beautiful Wayalailai Island before heading to Buca Bay (pronounced "Butha"), where our work will begin.

See you on the other side!!

ps. We just figured out that Fiji time is 19 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time; or you can think of it as a day minus 5 hours. So right now it's 1:43pm on July 4th here in California, but it's 8:43 am on July 5th in Fiji.

Assessment Trip 2009

2009-07-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Project History
During the summer of 2007, a typhoid fever outbreak occurred in the Fijian villages of Buca, Vunikura, and Loa. This outbreak has been attributed to villagers using contaminated surface water as a drinking water supply. This water supply has tested positive for the bacterium that causes typhoid, as well as for E.coli and other harmful bacteria strains. The water distribution system supplying the villages was installed over twenty years ago, and water treatment is not employed prior to distribution.

Current Status
From July 4-August 1, two members from the EWB-San Francisco Professionals Chapter, Deborah Cohen and Justin Phalen, will be traveling to Buca Bay, Fiji for an initial site assessment. The goals for this trip are as follows:

With help from the local NGO, establish contact with the three villages. Ascertain the current status of the issue; obtain village buy-in for the project.
Complete a community health assessment.
Conduct water quality testing on the source, distribution tanks, and community taps for all three villages. The water quality parameters that will be tested for include total coliforms, E.Coli, Salmonella, and turbidity.