Mercer on Mission. Crossing Cultures. Changing Lives.
It is rare in that a student participating in Mercer On Mission has the opportunity to return to the exact same community that was the focus of a previous mission trip. Indy will have that opportunity this summer. Her first Mercer on Mission trip, in 2010, featured interaction with the Sisit community in West Pokot, Kenya, centered around water and sanitation.
Installation of a water turbine unit for pumping water over 1.2 km (and 400 feet up!) from a river source and construction of bio sand filters with the community were the focus of this mission.
A common challenge in Kenya is access to clean water. The Sisit community, located in the mountains above the Wei Wei river is no exception. Previous to the installation of the water turbine, the people of Sisit had to climb down to the river daily and carry water back up the steep slopes to their houses. Women spent a good portion of each day hauling heavy containers of water from the river.
While access to water is a challenge for the Sisit community, access to clean water is an even greater challenge. Thus, during the installation of the water turbine pump system, students were busy building bio-sand filters for each family benefiting from the water project. AquaClara, a Michigan based charity organization, designed a bio-sand water filtration system that can be built and maintained using materials available to most rural people. While these filters are extremely labor intensive they are cost effective and maintainable in rural areas. Built out of layers of gravel, coarse sand, and fine sand they develop their own biological layer and are very effective at filtering out any biological contaminants. Mercer students spent days collecting, sieving, washing sand and gravel. Together with members of the community they hauled the sand and filter containers up the mountain to each of the houses where they assembled the filters. Each filter produces 20 liters of clean drinking water daily, enough to meet the WHO standards for each family.
The 2012 Mercer on Mission to Kenya will again feature interaction with the Sisit community in West Pokot, Kenya, centered around water and sanitation.
Mercer on Mission - Kenya
Academic Courses
ENP 390: Environmental Studies and Policy - Special Topics: Water, Sanitation, Energy, and Appropriate Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
AFR 490: Supervised Practical Research - Kutana: Traditional Societies and Contemporary Issues in the Kenyan Context
Faculty
Dr. Loren Sumner, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Laura Lackey, Professor, Department of Environmental Engineering
Program Highlights
The service project will focus on providing improved drinking water to a community in the West Pokot District near Sigor, Kenya. We will work with Sam Harrell, a CBF missionary that founded and operates Africa Exchange. Visit his website to learn more about Sam and Africa Exchange. The focus of our efforts will be to build and install (up to 50) small water-filtration units appropriate for households using locally available, and relatively cheap materials. The mission will involve some hard physical labor, but the main requirement is a willingness to contribute. This experience will transform your life.
Living conditions will be rudimentary during the majority of our journey. Accommodations while performing service tentatively include Robert’s Camp on Lake Baringo and Marich Pass Field Studies Centre. Several days of relaxation will be enjoyed after concluding our work. Tentative relaxation locations include The Rondo Retreat in the Kakamega Rain Forest and at the Sekenani Camp in the Maasai Mara.
Travel Dates: May 27 – June 19, 2012
Classroom Studies:
May 14 - May 25, 2012
Mercer University, Macon Campus
Map:
A: Nairobi
B: Roberts Camp, Lake Baringo
C: Marich Pass
D: Rondo Retreat, Kakamega Rain Forrest
E: Sekenani Camp, Masai Mara
1 comment:
It's amazing how the lives of the women and girls will change when they are not spending half the day hauling water.
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