#uvagi

[theengineerthatcould]

Children as the vehicle for spreading social change

An UVAGI project that I was looking into was one about potable water education in the Tzununa region. There will be existing instructors that already have developed a curriculum for water-education, and that the GI team will be assisting the instructor in teaching the information.

Here’s an idea that I have: I know that targeting the children can be an interesting and effective strategy for spreading ideas throughout a community, because they are the ones more likely to get excited about new ideas and tell their parents all about it. In fact, this strategy was utilized by the seat belt safety campaign in the 1980’s. Seatbelt usage had been hovering over 10% for a long time, when a campaign to educate children about seatbelt safety finally was implemented. The campaign aimed to teach children that seat belts save lives. By convincing them of the importance of wearing seat belts, the campaign encourages children to act as a reminder and encouragement for their parents to wear their seatbelts when they drive. Parents then would likely feel obligated to set a good example for their children and start to develop the habit of wearing seatbelts.

I believe this strategy would be effective on educating communities about the importance of using water filters.

If children can understand the importance of water filters in preventing health problems and saving the lives of their loved ones, they would be very active and vocal in promoting their use in their families and communities.

I had the idea of using a children’s book explaining germ theory and illustrating how water filters work to reduce the turbidity of water. Picture this: the wicked coliform in the water scheming to attack the fair young Maria Jimena who is always doing good deeds around the village. He plans for his team to get into her body through the water that she drinks every day. But not so fast!  The strong, mighty Senor Arena el Laceador from a biosand water filter thwarts the plan of the evil coliform.

And scene!

I sketched up an example page in the picture book, then scanned it and colored it using Photoshop (artistic consultation courtesy of hall mate and future roomie Ms. Katy Hutto). This panel illustrates the concept that microorganisms, such as coliform sticks to sand particles (Senor Arena el Laceador / Mr. Sand Man, the Lasso-er), so it does not get to the drinkable water. Here, a heroic sand particle is trapping the evil, scheming coliform, who exclaims "Oh goodness! The lasso-er destroyed my diabolical plan! How shall I escape?!"

These stories can be made colorful and appealing to children, and which will engage their attention as they learn about the importance of clean water. Pictures would be appealing to children, more so than words or books. I believe that putting special emphasis on teaching children about the importance of water safety would be a worthwhile way to try to increase the use of water filters in the communities in Tzununa, and I would love to make a picture book about it if I do have the opportunity to go on the Tzununa project.

[theengineerthatcould]

Tracking NGO Politics

One of the past participants of UVA GI told me the story of an NGO who had brought in a large quantity of water filters to a Guatemalan community for free, hoping that this would give them better access to potable water. However, the major flaw in this decision was the failure to integrate the filters into society. For one, the villagers did not understand germ theory and did not draw the correlation between dirty water and sickness. They didn’t understand the value of water filters or why they would be beneficial. Also, the water filters needed to be replaced very year, but the people did not have the means or funds to obtain new filters. Therefore, the filtration systems became obsolete after one use-cycle. There are also issues that are rather difficult to foresee, such as the fact that the villagers did not value the filters because they were given out for free.

It was valuable to listen to these experiences and understanding the complexity in real-world design projects, particularly if they are in completely unfamiliar settings. It also demonstrates the immense influence of the social and cultural context.

In fact, NGOs with great intentions but not-so-great implementation of their ideas are very widespread. Guatemala is actually considered one of the NGO hotspots. The issue with this is that lots of the NGOs have the same or very similar ideas, but they do not generally connect or collaborate each other. Therefore, their efforts of NGOs in Guatemala can be repetitive and ineffective. An idea that the team had was to use GIS technology to map the locations of the operating bases of the NGOs and track what they are doing. That would hopefully contribute to the effort of streamlining the operations of NGOs in Guatemala and contribute to increasing the efficacy of NGO operations there. 

[theengineerthatcould]

Guatemala o GuateMEJOR?

I first heard about the UVA Guatemala Initiative summer research opportunity for Carolyn a while back, and it sounded like a fascinating opportunity for research. Its main focus is public health, but that topic also touches on so many aspects of it and involves interdisciplinary teams consisting of students from fields all across the board. I’ve looked into the program much more and it sounds like an experience I absolutely want to have during my time here at UVA. One of the aspects about UVAGI that attracts me most is the comprehensive orientation and pre-orientation activities for the participants, which involves three parts: 1) pre-departure orientation, 2) on site Spanish school, and 3) the research phase.

In the spring semester, the program holds six orientation and planning sessions, as well as readings about cross-cultural engineering and readings about Guatemalan history and culture. I’m passionate about culture in general and would love the chance to learn more about Guatemala’s contemporary history as well as its ancient Mayan heritage. Then, for the first three-weeks on site, students live with a host family and attending Spanish school. I have taken Spanish for five years in high school and attended the Virginia Governor’s Spanish Academy two summers ago, and I have become enamored with the Spanish language. The chance to learn Spanish in such an intimate cultural setting is one of my dreams. The research phase would also be rewarding because I would have the chance to experience the challenges and rewards of working within an unfamiliar and completely different culture. It will be interesting to see how my existing view will be changed and new values I will be exposed to. Guatemala is a fascinating country. And this experience would be an amazing chance to learn about the people and culture of Guatemala as a participant in their lives.

Another aspect of the program that appeals to me is their emphasis on maintaining a long-term relationship with the communities near Lake Atitlan. There are ongoing projects in each site and UVA students, although often different ones, go back every year to build on the projects of past years and set a foundation for those in the future. By building upon projects, UVA students who participate in the program can be passed down years of experience and research information, and knowing all this allows them to plan and design more meaningful and impactful projects in the future.

I have to speak to Dr. Kent Wayland a few times about the UVAGI program as well as his experiences in Guatemala. He assured me that he will contact me when they start assembling teams, and I look forward to hearing from him!