a message to you rudy
For those of you who might be wondering what I’m doing out here, my company is working on a project providing water treatment systems to tsunami-affected areas in Sri Lanka. My job here is to get our last sites finalized and keep our logistics in order so that we can finish this project by the end of the year.
one of the sites that needs our systems. yes, this is a tacky marketing shot, but isn't he cute?
It feels so good doing work that has an impact…....People here desperately need water! The government barely provides enough--most people who are lucky enough to have piped water complain that they only get it once every 2-3 days, and what they get is not enough to last. So we’re going around looking for water sources like the one above-wells and streams that don’t go dry, but are too dirty for people to use for drinking water.
For example, this is how one of the camps gets their water: via a 100-gallon tank that that gets lugged around by tractor. The government has promised water deliver via bowsers-water tankers to areas that don’t have piped water, but the bowsers can’t make it up the hill at this site, so folks have to make do with what they cam lug in themselves. They are digging a well right now, once it’s done we’ll be able to pipe water up to the top of a hill and treat it so that people can get clean drinking water via gravity flow.
Yesterday we visited a site in Tangalla where we have a water system up and running. This place was totally awesome, it’s a 90-house camp being built by this group called International Service Partners. Their construction manager, Rudy, was nice enough to show us around, tho he wouldn’t let me take a decent picture of him:
At this camp, every family getting a house has send members to work on the project, and it’s a good one---two bedroom cement brick homes with plumbing and electricity. “We may be moving a little slower, but we’re taking the time to do everything right”. That includes making their own cement blocks to get the proper mix and curing times, along with hand-building doors and windows on site. They even got local engineers to to ensure that the houses were all up to code, more than most NGO’s out here have done-a bunch of houses built nearby got torn down for being structurally unsound. C’mon folks! Just because tsunami victims live in a developing country, it doesn’t mean they deserve substandard houses to live in!
Rudy is from Texas, but plans on staying here for the next 5 years until the camp is fully built and can sustain itself. Part of the camp’s purpose is livelihood creation-currently they are leveling some land for a warehouse where residents can start cottage industries like making ropes and fishing nets. This is just an awesome project and I’m so honored that we’re providing water treatment for this place.
one of the sites that needs our systems. yes, this is a tacky marketing shot, but isn't he cute?
It feels so good doing work that has an impact…....People here desperately need water! The government barely provides enough--most people who are lucky enough to have piped water complain that they only get it once every 2-3 days, and what they get is not enough to last. So we’re going around looking for water sources like the one above-wells and streams that don’t go dry, but are too dirty for people to use for drinking water.
For example, this is how one of the camps gets their water: via a 100-gallon tank that that gets lugged around by tractor. The government has promised water deliver via bowsers-water tankers to areas that don’t have piped water, but the bowsers can’t make it up the hill at this site, so folks have to make do with what they cam lug in themselves. They are digging a well right now, once it’s done we’ll be able to pipe water up to the top of a hill and treat it so that people can get clean drinking water via gravity flow.
Yesterday we visited a site in Tangalla where we have a water system up and running. This place was totally awesome, it’s a 90-house camp being built by this group called International Service Partners. Their construction manager, Rudy, was nice enough to show us around, tho he wouldn’t let me take a decent picture of him:
At this camp, every family getting a house has send members to work on the project, and it’s a good one---two bedroom cement brick homes with plumbing and electricity. “We may be moving a little slower, but we’re taking the time to do everything right”. That includes making their own cement blocks to get the proper mix and curing times, along with hand-building doors and windows on site. They even got local engineers to to ensure that the houses were all up to code, more than most NGO’s out here have done-a bunch of houses built nearby got torn down for being structurally unsound. C’mon folks! Just because tsunami victims live in a developing country, it doesn’t mean they deserve substandard houses to live in!
Rudy is from Texas, but plans on staying here for the next 5 years until the camp is fully built and can sustain itself. Part of the camp’s purpose is livelihood creation-currently they are leveling some land for a warehouse where residents can start cottage industries like making ropes and fishing nets. This is just an awesome project and I’m so honored that we’re providing water treatment for this place.