Tuesday, February 9, 2016 (by Kyle Solner)

In the main classroom, the home team works furiously, researching all things about Rwanda. Be it politics, economy, public health or geography, they aim to leave no piece of introductory information unturned. Other important topics being studied include climate & ecosystem, laws & regulations, food security, previous projects, and current energy, water, and sanitation sources/infrastructure.

Home team with their noses to the grindstone

Home team with their noses to the grindstone

Upstairs, the travel team brainstorms interview questions for the Rwanda natives, narrowing down a list of questions developed via a combined-class discussion from previous class session. They know as well as anyone the criticality of carefully asking the right questions while overseas. These questions vary from “where do you obtain your drinking water?” to “what materials are locally available?” among others.

Team 2 Leader Nick Bolander studying away with the home team, energy drink at hand

Travel team in the heat of discussion

Saturday, February 6^th 2016. The TAs of the class started to pack the equipment and materials needed for the trip to Rwanda. The field equipment will be used to analyze different water sources at the Gihembe Refugee Camp to assess the presence of chemical and microbial contaminants. Some water samples will be brought back to the University of Illinois for additional tests. The results of the analysis will be used by the teams to design integrated approaches that address the community needs at the water-health-energy-sanitation nexus.

Tuesday February 2^nd, 2016 (by Chinelo Agbim)

Today the class received a presentation from the TAs; Yukako, Daniel, and Gabrielle. Yukako and Daniel spoke to us about proper citation practices and recommendations for making a good presentation. Daniel and Gabi spoke to us about what they saw in terms of water, sanitation, and energy challenges on past trips to Kenya and Uganda. Through these presentations we began to see how cultural norms and differences can play a role in access to safe water and the use of latrines. A major issue we also discussed was that of high fluoride levels in both surface and groundwater resources. Despite the fact that fluoride exposure often leads to dental fluorosis (brown tooth staining) and skeletal fluorosis (bone fragility). The team that worked in Uganda in 2015 saw that at the Oruchinga Refugee Settlement people choose fluoride contaminated water over water with high levels of iron because of aesthetics and lack of knowledge about fluorosis. Based on these presentations, we then broke into groups and discussed interview questions for the community and refugee camp we will be working with.

During the second week of class the students were split into three teams. Each team has the guidance and support of a graduate Teaching Assistant (TA) whose area of expertise is in drinking water quality.  Within a team each student will perform an extensive research on a specific technology to determine if it can be used as an alternative to address the challenges on water/sanitation/energy at the Gihembe Refugee Camp in Rwanda.

Teaching assistant Daniel Mosiman coordinates team 1

Teaching assistant Gabrielle Levato coordinates team 2

Teaching assistant Aimee Moore coordinates team 3

First week of class focused on discussing what is expected from the students during the project. The teams selected their team leaders and Professor Benito Mariñas gave an introductory lecture on safe drinking water.

Professor Benito Mariñas’ lecture on safe drinking water