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Now more than ever, I am motivated because I saw that our presence could inspire and give hope, powerful human emotions that have overcome much adversity.

Josiah's Honduras Journal Entry

2010.01.19
Breakfast today was a plato tipico with beans, plantains, tortillas, and chorizo (sausage). We went out in the morning to visit the Tamara plant - our first visit to a functioning AguaClara plant.

When we arrived, it was incredible to see particles in the flocculator - you could see them going up and down! The operator told us that he was not adding alum to the water - just dosing it with chlorine. He also mentioned that they only had water from one of the two water sources. Effluent turbidity was the same as influent: about 6 NTU. Goes to show that even if our technology great, the community has to address other problems in the system.

Cuatro Communidades was next. I noticed how beautiful the plant was - it was aesthetically pleasing and it had a small garden with hydrangreas. Little things like a garden make it a much more pleasant place to be. This plant was dosing with alum but did not have a properly working chlorine doser. Again, another communication issue - we've run into several on this trip. Our doser team played with it and figured out that the Chlorine had eaten through part of mechanism.

After the plant we got a rare chance to hang out by a pool - after lunch (more beans, tortillas, rice, and meat) and a lengthy meeting with the local water board and a member of Agua Para El Pueblo. He mentioned that Cornell students should:
*Consider recruiting business students
*Link business people in so they convince their colleagues to help the developing world through AguaClara
*Consider hiring an expert fundraiser