After a very successful trip to Lima, I now have a Masters Degree! Or at least, one that is officially valid in Peru. My original degree certificate has grown to 6 sheets of paper and various ribbons and seals to show it's all present and correct. I've been working on this ever since I first got here, so it's great to have it. This now means I can put letters in front of my name - but more importantly it means that I can become a member of the Peruvian College of Engineers and officially sign-off on projects - which in turn means that AIDIA has the option of not only doing self-funded projects but also working with in-country funding making my Water projects ministry more sustainable long-term. At least this is the plan...
It's not the end of the paperwork as the Abancay branch of the College doesn't quite know what to do with me because no foreigners have tried to register here before - so we will be working that out. There is an official system - so somebody somewhere will know!
I also have my Peruvian driving licence, having provided a translation of my UK licence, passed the theory test, proved I can see and done a psychological assessment ("to what extent do you agree with the following statement: sometimes I see things that aren't there", etc.). Again, I'm not planning on using this straight away, as I don't have a car at the moment, but am very glad to have it completed for the future when I might be transporting lots of construction materials to the villages.
Saturday 27 June 2015
Thursday 4 June 2015
Spring protections and project research in Curahuasi
I’ve just come back from a week in nearby Curahuasi, where I’ve really enjoyed seeing Bruce and Cherith Rydbeck again. They have worked in community development for about 35 years, and Bruce is a Civil Engineer who does water projects. I know them from my work in Ecuador, where they now work with a charity called Kawsaypak Yaku (Lifegiving Water). They brought a team from Calvin College in the USA to work with the local government on improvements to the water system in Curahuasi.
So it was great to meet Bruce and Cherith again, benefit from their wide experience, meet the team they brought, and join in some of the work they were doing. For the first few days I stayed at the Diospi Suyana (we trust in God) missionary hospital in Curahuasi, and it was lovely to learn a bit more about their work.
Curahuasi has to ration its water, with different areas of the town getting water from as little as an hour a day. We were investigating ways to improve this quantity issue, as well as looking at possibilities for better chlorine dosing systems for water quality. A lot of what we did was survey work, as the group will continue to research and develop options when they’re back in the USA. I really enjoyed the practical outside work, and the detective work involved in figuring out ways to get the data we needed from minimal equipment and no drawings! It turned out that I could do a lot to help - particularly as one of the professors was ill on the first day.
I stayed on a couple of extra days to help finish up the protection of one of their springs, which they had been working on for the last couple of weeks. Again, it was great to be back in that practical environment, remembering old methods and learning new ones.
I’ll be talking with AIDIA, with the Curahuasi local government, and with Bruce about how I, or the rest of the AIDIA team, might be able to carry on involvement with this project in the future.
And for a little treat - here's what we were watching while the pipework got loaded onto the truck:
So it was great to meet Bruce and Cherith again, benefit from their wide experience, meet the team they brought, and join in some of the work they were doing. For the first few days I stayed at the Diospi Suyana (we trust in God) missionary hospital in Curahuasi, and it was lovely to learn a bit more about their work.
Curahuasi has to ration its water, with different areas of the town getting water from as little as an hour a day. We were investigating ways to improve this quantity issue, as well as looking at possibilities for better chlorine dosing systems for water quality. A lot of what we did was survey work, as the group will continue to research and develop options when they’re back in the USA. I really enjoyed the practical outside work, and the detective work involved in figuring out ways to get the data we needed from minimal equipment and no drawings! It turned out that I could do a lot to help - particularly as one of the professors was ill on the first day.
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| Students checking water depth. I wouldn't let them go inside to get a sample... |
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| Meeting at the local government office to explain our work |
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| I don't remember many sites with such a view in the UK! |
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| Crossing over a river ravine - they've had to divert the river to a more central channel to stop the supports being undercut. |
I stayed on a couple of extra days to help finish up the protection of one of their springs, which they had been working on for the last couple of weeks. Again, it was great to be back in that practical environment, remembering old methods and learning new ones.
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| Driving up towards the spring (the first time, before we went back for the forgotten bags of cement. |
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| Lunch by the roadside - the spring is about 5 minutes' plunge down the hill (up was rather more challenging). |
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| Last week they covered over the spring area to protect it, and modified the existing collector tank. Today we were connecting up the new pipework for the increased flows. |
The plastic pipe being softened in order to bend it slightly:
I’ll be talking with AIDIA, with the Curahuasi local government, and with Bruce about how I, or the rest of the AIDIA team, might be able to carry on involvement with this project in the future.
And for a little treat - here's what we were watching while the pipework got loaded onto the truck:
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