Slideshows added

See the slideshows in the left-hand part of the blog - they show the latrine construction process and other photos from our trip.

Latrine Construction Progress

The team of masons in Rwanda has been busy working on latrines during the last two months. The table below shows a list of completed latrine replacements and repairs. The House numbers corresopond to the numbers on the map (which may be hard to read in this image - sorry).

Currently funds are running low in Rwanda and we are preparing to send additional funds to keep the project on track.

Latrine Construction Progressing

The masons have continued to work hard on constructing latrines in Rugerero.  When the travel team left Rwanda one latrine replacement was complete and two slab repairs were complete.  A month and a half later, the following work is complete:

 

6 new latrines are finished (5 have doors):25W,21E,30E,27W,29W,29W,28E
5 new latrines started and will be done next week:31W,42E,41E,45W,43W

6 slabs repaired :41W,20E,24E,10E,10W,5E

Travel Team Returns to USA, but Work in Rwanda Continues

Everyone returned home safely (and healthy!) after the trip to Rwanda. While we did not quite complete all of the original objectives of the trip, we feel very satisfied about the number of latrine repairs accomplished and our relationships with the community in Rwanda. We are confident that the foreman and masons can continue to repair latrines. Since we left, two additional latrines have already been completed (photos will be posted when available).

Photos have been added to many of the prior posts - so you may want to review them. Updates from here on out will be more infrequent.

Please post a comment about how we can improve the blog for future trips - please click on the "comments" link below and answer following questions:
- how often did you check the blog?
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Ready to leave Kigali

Adam, Linford, and Laura waiting to check bags in the Kigali airport.

Leaving Gisenyi

Before we left Gisenyi this morning, we were visited by the police commander, the local government executive secretary, the Red Cross director, and the owner of the guest house where we were staying. All wanted to wish us a pleasant journey and asked us to be "ambassadors" for Rwanda.

After taking the bus to Kigali, we met some Rwandan medical students for dinner - and we all agreed it was the best Indian food we had ever had.

Travel Team Leaving Gisenyi

Yesterday was our last day in Rugerero - we completed construction of the first latrine and worked on repairs of some of the other latrines in the village. Then we met with the health committee (pictured here) to discuss proper maintainence of the latrines, surveying the community about the latrines, and how we will continue to keep in touch with them during the rest of the project.

We also talked about how solar ovens could help them reduce charcoal and firewood use for pasteurizing water and cooking food.

We are traveling to Kigali today to meet with some medical students there, and fly back to USA tomorrow.

First Latrine Complete!

We finished work on the first latrine yesterday. There are still a few cosmetic additions to be made (like a door), but we are happy with the result.

Also, here is a picture of the team of masons, helpers, Red Cross volunteers, and EWB-MAP travelers. We think this was a great team., and we are confident that the masons will do a great job on the remaining latrines without us.

Wrapping up

Laura and Linford repaired 4 latrines with broken pipes. Rich and Adam tested solar ovens for water pasteurization. It's hard to believe we only have 1 more day in the village?

Educational materials

Today, we organized educational materials to leave in Rugerero - guidelines for latrine repairs, latrine use, interviews. W also visited a local hot spring and had a leisurely afternoon lunch at a likeside restaurant owned by Mama Chukula - who also owns te guest house we are staying in.

Photos

Pouring the first slab - everyone helps out. Concrete mixing is occuring in the background (Linford in yellow) - when it is ready, there is a bucket brigade for pouring it in the form. Then several people work the concrete (Lora on the right and Adam in the middle) while the mason smooths it out.

Almost all of the material is moved around the village by hand. Here laura is moving a PVC pipe - with some help from the kids.

More Photos

Everywhere we go, the children follow us - often holding our hands. The kids frequently ask us to take a "photo" of them - then we show them the picture on the camera and they laugh.

Here Rich is tying rebar together for the structural reinforcement in the first latrine slab. We have been working side-by side with Rwandans and feel very comfortable with them despite cultural and language differences.

Photos!

We went into town and are using a computer for internet - so here are some photos from the last week.

This image shows a heated discussion about the latrine design. Linford is in the middle in yellow and is talking to (from left to right) Michele (the foreman), Jean (the red cross director), a mason, and Semajeli (the head mason)

A long walk home

Today the mason put up half of the adobe for the first latrine and we poured the floor slab for the second latrine. The taxis were all full so we walked back to Gisenyl, which took about 50 minutes with crowds of kids yelling "bonjour" and "muzungu" (white person) the whole way.

First Latrine Repair Complete

Today we poured a new lid for one of the latrines that had a broken lid but was otherwise functioning. We spanned the pit with square pipe, then a layer of galvanized tin roofing, then rebar-reinforced concrete. As with the latrine, we worked side-by-side with Rwandans - some from Rugerero, but most were a mason and some helpers we hired from Gisenyi. We feel really comfortable working with this group - they are learning English and we are learning both French and Kinyirwanda.

Here's a typical day for us:
7 AM - breakfast on the veranda overlooking Gisenyi (usually a crepe and eggs)
8 AM - hike around the mountain to the north (Adam calls it the 'freaking mountain') on a short-cut to the taxi stop
8:30 - cram into a van-taxi with 16 others and ride 10 minutes uphill to Rugerero
9 AM - 3 PM - work in the village - lunch is clif bars or nothing
3:30 - catch the taxi back downhill
4-6 PM - shower, relax, tea
6 PM - dinner
7 PM - meet to discuss the day and plans for tomorrow
9 PM or so - head to bed

This has been our schedule so far with some modifications. We work really hard during the day, but have plenty of time to relax and analyze our work plan.

The slab looks great!

Today we met with the community. Jean Bosco introduced us and bragged how the village will soon be rich because of our help. Tomorrow we start replacing broken slabs with a second mason.

The First New Latrine!

Today, we poured the slab for the first new latrine. In the morning, we tied rebar and prepared the support for the slab. The afternoon was spent mixing concrete (7 batches!) and spreading the concrete in the form. It was a good day working side-by-side with Rwandans. We had lots of fun and laughs with them as we tried to communicate with them in three languages and gestures.

New frustration

We discovered that some villagers (including the president) are breaking their existing slabs on their septic pits and cleaning them out so they can get a new latrine rather than a repair.

Re-using rocks

We are saving rocks to be used for the next latrine. After filling, we started construction of the support for the slab. Linford worked hard to make sure the mason and foreman understood the plan. Communication is a BIG challenge.

A Day of Labor

We spent the day in Rugerero today. After re-arranging the storeroom, we spent most of the day back-filling the first latrine. Rich broke up the wall then jumped in and helped a local throw rocks out of the pit.

Update - 2nd mason

On Tuesday, a second mason will start working with us. He will be repairing latrines that are partially functional.

This afternoon, we walked around Gisenyl and almost ended up in the Democratic Republic of Congo!

Update - Planning Day

Today was a planning day. We reviewed what had been accomplished by the team so far and planned the next two weeks. Tomorrow we will begin construction of the lid on the first latrine.

Update on Rich and Adam

After Adam and Rich's bus arrived in Gisenyl, we enjoyed a nice dinner and the view of Lake Kivu from our guest house.

Update on Lora and Linford

Lora and Linford were invited to participate in a remembrance ceremony at the Rugerero Genocide memorial. They tried to remain out of the spotlight but as the only foreigners, they kept getting pushed to teh front. Linford even had to give a speech (in Rwandan style with lots of praise!)

Update for Adam & Rich

Adam and Rich arrived in Rwanda. They are taking a bus to Giswenyl - the total transit time from Philly to Giswenyl is ~30 hours including layovers.

Last Day for the Bobs in Rwanda

The bobs are leaving tomorrow (Thursday). Today we had a good meeting with the health committee. We told them about the change in design and they understood that we are building a strong structure with only one chamber. More of the walls for the latrines have been constructed. They are moving along at a good pace.

Travel Team Obtaining Advice on Structural Design

The team in Rwanda is proceeding with construction of the latrines. We have solicited advice from structural engineers about the modifications to the latrine design and are thankful to Grace Hsuan (Drexel University professor of Civil Engineering) and Neil Yersak (EWB-MAP member, Duffield Associates) for their help in providing critical feedback about the design.

The form (angle iron beams and roofing material) is only intended to be a temporary structure to hold up the concrete. The concrete will span 2.2 meters and be 10 cm thick. The concrete is reinforced with 12mm rebar on 10 cm centers. The angle iron will be mortared into the wall.

The aggregate available in Rwanda is not the correct size (1.5" aggregate is available but we need <0.75") and we are still trying to determine how to modify the concrete recipe to accomodate.

Lora and Linford arrive in Rwanda

The second part of the travel team has arrived in Rwanda. Lora and Linford arrived in Kigali yesterday. They rode the bus from Kigali to Gisenyi - apparently the bus was pretty cramped. There is a business class bus which has larger seats and a place to put bags. Linford lost feeling in his legs because they had to put our bags in front of us. But it was a fun experience.

The team (BobH, BobDF, Lora, Linford) visited the village today. The Bobs have been doing a lot. They have been working closely with the new mason. He and his team of either 2 to 4 people have been working hard to pour the footing for four of the units. The walls for one of the units was built today. Some of the original walls had to be torn down and rebuilt. They will be meeting with the health committee tomorrow to discuss changes with the design. They have recalculated the cost for all of the latrines and found that the price will be close to $800/latrine - similar to the original estimate. The Bobs have visited the hospital nearby which also has a collapsed latrine. The Bobs have visited a lot of stores too. Shopping is really challenging because all of the stores have different goods. There are not large quantities of anything so sometimes several stores have to be utilized for purchases.

Construction Started

Most of the construction work is being completed by the stone mason for Gisenyi. He has started working on four latrines and has already poured footings for dividing walls in two of the latrines. Because the work is going smoothly and the Bob's don't have much to do, they are planning to return to USA two days earlier than planned (leave Rwanda next Thursday rather than Saturday)

Modification of Slab Design for Latrines

The aggregate and sand for the slabs (latrine floors) arrived but did not meet our expected specifications. The aggregate contained a wider range of sizes than expected, and the sand contained gravel and silt - both of these factors lead to concerns about the ability of concrete made from these materials lasting for the lifetime of the latrine.

The current proposal for improving the structure is to pour a single slab (instead of six) and to support the slab with steel beams and metal roofing material. The steel beams will be two pieces of angle iron welded together (to form a T profile) and four beams will span across the pits on 16" centers. Roofing material will be placed perpendicular to the beams in order to support the concrete. The concrete will be reinforced with rebar as in the original design.

There are several advantages and disadvantages to this new design. It will be implemented on the first latrine to determine how well construction proceeds and then a decision will be made whether to continue with the new design or a modification of the old design.

The foreman and laborers are working on putting in concrete footings in the first latrine today and will start building the support walls soon after that. Pouring of the slab should occur early next week.

Accomplishments from first 3 days in Rwanda

BobH and BobDF have been busy in Rugerero and have reported the following accomplishments:

1. Hiring a foreman to oversee the latrine construction - the foreman was recommended by Jean Bosco and is a skilled stone mason (the central wall dividing the pit will be constructed from stone)


2. Purchased supplies for the first four latrines


3. Visited a shop that can construct the forms for pouring the concrete slabs - the shop can make one form per day - they will make one form and test it this week, then proceed with making six forms total


4. Met with community to discuss the plans for latrine construction - the community agreed to provide labor for moving materials and cleaning out the bottom of the pits

We are excited about these achievements in the first few days on the ground. Jean Bosco (from Red Cross) is our primary contact and host in Rwanda - he has been very helpful (this picture shows BobH, BobDF and Jean Bosco on the last trip to Rwanda).

Transportation is being provided using the Red Cross van supplied by Jean Bosco - the van runs on Rwanda time, so the Bob's have had to be patient with getting a later start in the mornings than hoped. They have experimented with public transit, but the van still seems like the best option because hiring our own car and driver is very expensive.

Today, the foreman did not show up in Rugerero as expected but has promised to be there on time tomorrow to start working on preparing a pit and installing the dividing wall.

Generally, the team is a little frustrated that the project is not proceeding as quickly as they would like and the community is not willing to put in as much labor as hoped. We are learning to understand the culture of the community and how best to work with them.

First Part of Travel Team Arrives in Rwanda

BobH and BobDF made it to Rwanda! They drove to DC, spent the night in a hotel, and then spent almost a whole day traveling to Rwanda (via Rome, Addis Abba Ethiopia and finally Kigali Rwanda). In Kigali, they met up with a driver who took them to Gisenyi - about a 4 hour drive.

The Bobs are staying in Mama Chalula's guest house in Gisenyi. They have identified a foreman who will begin construction on the latrines on Tuesday. They have met with some the community and some local officals about the project so far.

Some other good news! The money that EWB-USA wired from our account arrived in Rwanda - so the travel team will have access to the funds they need to execute the initial stages of the project!

Latrine Repair Project in Rugerero Rwanda

Below is a satellite image showing the homes in Rugerero Rwanda. The homes are colored based on whether their latrines are fully functional, damaged, or non-functional.

Below is a legend for the colors in the map with pictures of typical latrine pits.

Between August 22 and September 20, 2008, the EWB Mid Atlantic Professionals will be in Rugerero to implement a latrine upgrading project. During the trip, EWB-MAP plans to upgrade at least five of the worst latrines based on the design shown below. Latrine upgrades will continue with local supplies and labor over the next year.

Test EWB MAP Rwanda Blog

This is an initial test of a blog for posting details of the EWB-MAP trip to Rugerero, Rwanda in August-September 2008.