Monday, January 12, 2009
This is the second morning in Rio Frio. Everyone came to breakfast at 8am. The breakfast was the usual tortillas, beans, papaya, etc. After breakfast, we drove to the conference center FOPRIDEH to have a brainstorming session about the future of projects with APP and AguaClara. The conference room is very nice and the individuals each got a seat either a very professional chair or a normal chair like the ones in my restaurant. Once people settled in, the chairman of APP introduced himself and asked the students to break into group and brainstorm on some of their concerns. Nadia was the first to express her group's thoughts. She suggested that the APP should setup a way to measure their performance. At the end of the suggestions, the board was covered with varies of ideas/concerns. The chairman had to stop the brainstorming because he wanted to answer the concerns and discuss other things. Toward the end, the chairman reminded us APP and AguaClara are two different organizations. Then Monroe jumped in and pointed out three importance aspects that needed to be answered.
Summing the meeting, people seems to be happy that they got together to express and combine their ideas. Words are important, but actions is even more important. Saying something is different from doing or carrying out the actions. Many ideas were brought to the table during the meeting. Each idea carries a large amount of weight. I just can't help but wonder how long it will take to complete one idea and how many will be doable. In a way, I am looking at the situation as half empty cup rather than a half full cup.
I carried these heavy thoughts to lunch at the conference center. The meal was delicious. The mean consisted of chicken, mashed potato, steamed and creamed vegetable, and bread. Basically, I went up to get more bread. At the beginning of the meal, we were introduced to the Agua Para El Pueblo (APP) staff. Despite their maturity level, they still were little shy and embarrassed. Embarrassment is inevitable when one is forced to face peers, new faces, and foreigners. It is human nature to feel embarrass.
After lunch, most of the student went to the water bottling plant of Aguazul (9775-3324) while some accompanied Heather Reed to the Honduras Hospital. While the students went their separate ways, Monroe and APP attended a NGO meeting with CARE, CRS, SANAA, Save the Children, and OPS.
Aguazul is the first and only business in Honduras that is certified by the NSF International because it applies a rigorous and complete water quality control. The tour of Aguazual consisted of video for Aguazual propaganda and then a limited tour of the rebottling system. The video mainly consists of all the commercials for Aguazul. One of the many commercials on the video that I remember is a baby boy who got a bottle of milk from his mother. He runs back to his room with his milk and uses his chemistry set to distill the water out. Then, he drinks the water. Another commercial adds onto this story. The boy grows up to be a chemist for Aguazul and he revisits his mother. Once again, his mother gives him milk again. He declines the milk and goes to pour Aguazul from a water dispenser.
After the tape, we continued with the tour. Aguazul uses water stem from their wells. The water is then purified by specialized procedures that eliminate the microorganism and harmful minerals. Through sand filters, the water is submitted to the first step in the filtration that reduces the suspended particles. Afterward, the coal filters are used to eliminate smells and strange colors in the water. The third complex of filtration is accomplished with filter razor strops that reduce the mineral levels to the optimum. The modern filtration microcomputer system is used to monitor the water. Afterward, the most sophisticated system of inverse osmosis is employed to remove 99% of the solid from the water. Ultimately, the treated water is stored in tanks of great capacity.
Subsequently, the water transfers to a system of disinfection with ultraviolet rays and ozone to conserve its purity before heading to the bottling area. On the other side of the water bottling plant, the 5 gallons containers are washed and carefully inspected before entering the process of production. The containers are then transported to the washing machines where they are washed with detergents and high temperature. Afterwards, the containers are rinsed with purified water and sanitized. Next, they are passed to the last screening inspection. From there, the containers go to the section of codification where their date of production is printed. Lastly, the containers filled with water will be distributed by trucks.
When we completed the tour, the lady gave us a LINK drink (another product of Aguazul) and an Aguazul cap. Basically, they are using us as advertisement or promoter for Aguazul. In this way, I believe that the Hondurans are very smart. I just wish they all would care and be more passionate about their surroundings and environment.
Afterwards, we went to Tegucigalpa for a 45 minutes tour. Some students went to the National Post Office. Then we proceeded to buy snacks for ourselves. Tamar gave us a brief tour of Tegucigalpa. She told us about how a man would rob a woman be pretending to be the woman's boyfriend. The man would place his arm around the woman's shoulder and his other hand would hold gun. Yee!!!
We all met at the cathedral to head back to Four Communities. On the van back, Monroe and Nadia started a discussion about the meeting at the FOPRIDEH. Nadia states that the meeting was very informative. Rustom jumped in and stated that when someone asked APP chief about how many plants of AguaClara is running well. After the chief answered that all the plants are running well, many students smiled because we visited the plants. Most of the plants have some problems ranging from poorly trained operators to broken motor.
Nadia also stated that doing case studies is essential for future documentations. She also pointed out that Lalo's idea of film documentation is very good. As the ride continued, the students broke into their own conversation with each other. I talked to WenQi about our Chinese background. As the students waited for their dinner, Heather Reed fainted again.
Everyone gathered around Heather to assist her. From this instance, I saw how people care for one other on this trip. As Sarah and I reach our host house, our host mother greeted us. Then she goes to tease me about my inability to knock on the locked door last night. I did not mind it because it was indeed funny. Once again, I wrapped myself with my yellow jacked to sleep on the bed with the mosquito net.
I forgot to mention that on my first night in Four Communities, I got bitten by many bed bugs. Sarah also got bitten. In total, I got 16 bites on my two arms. At first, the bites were only red dots on my arms. Then, they gradually swelled up and turned to a darker red. To protect ourselves from more bed bug bites, Sarah and I covered ourselves before going to sleep.