AT Water Quality Testing: Suggestions Welcome!

My week at ECHO reminded me how much I enjoy appropriate technology solutions to problems!

For the last year, I have been focusing on international development, which I have loved, but there are moments when I have really missed science, engineering, and hands on experimentation.  So even though I won't officially be involved with the water ministry when I return to South Sudan, I am thinking experimenting with appropriate technology solutions for water quality testing as a fun side project if I have the time.    

After observing a demonstration of ECHO's biosand filter, my first though was that I wouldn't drink the water.  I know how biosand filters work, but the engineer in me wants quality assurance.  The same goes for most of the other popular appropriate technology water treatment methods.  

So here is my question: 

Does anyone out there know of any appropriate technology solutions for water quality testing? 

The research I have seen uses expensive testing techniques and requires a full lab.  I'm sure others might have more faith in biosand filters than I do, but if I wouldn't drink the water, I have a hard time recommending it to anyone.  I have also seen resources that recommend always using a disinfection tablet in conjunction with biosand filters, which is great if they are consistently available and affordable.  If you need to use a disinfection tablet in the end anyway, it seems to me like a biosand filter isn't really necessary since simple sedimentation and filtration would probably be enough to prepare the water for disinfection.  So for a lot of reasons, I want to know if there is a way to determine water quality beyond just measuring turbidity that doesn't require sending away samples.  

Ideally the testing could be done with only materials purchased or found in East Africa.  

I welcome any and all resources, suggestions, thoughts, crazy ideas, etc.  Send them my way! I haven't done much research on the topic, so maybe the answer to my question is already out there, which would be awesome.  No need to reinvent the wheel. I'd love to learn! 

ECHO

I had the opportunity to spend the last week studying tropical agriculture for development at ECHO.   Here are just a few pictures and quick captions.

 One day for lunch we had a salad that contained 34 ingredients fresh from the global farm! 

Mount Victor at ECHO (elevation 24 feet) demonstrates agricultural techniques that can be used on mountainous terrain.   Different sections of the farm are set up as examples of various tropical climates including the climate most similar to South Sudan.  

  I learned a lot through the classes, but the best part of the week was connecting with and learning from like-minded individuals.  

The global farm was a truly beautiful place to explore as I meandered through the different pathways.  =)  

Living in the Grey

My love of the sciences started when I was a little girl.  I asked questions that had black and white answers and loved solving problems.  I have always been drawn to the beauty of fractals and images with symmetry and structure.

My windshield on a cold morning in Richmond

But from the moment I arrived in East Africa over four years ago, I started to learn to live in the grey and the abstract.  It was a slow process, but somewhere in the middle of it all, I became much more comfortable asking the questions that don't always have definite answers.  Missions and international development are full of these types questions as is the Christian faith.  

I still have moments when I want everything to have a black and white answer, and I'm continually learning how to live by faith in the grey.  It is an ongoing process.  Learning to live in the grey does not exclude the scientific method by any means.   I still love fractals and solving concrete problems. I just have also come to love discussing questions that have answers that I cannot yet understand or that may not have answers at all.

This may not much make much sense to you, but if you can relate, then maybe you are one the many friends who has questioned, considered, discussed, and prayed with me in a living room, coffee shop, classroom, or car ride.  For these friends I am deeply thankful.  

When I Don't Trust

Support raising missionaries talk a lot about trusting in God's provision, and I am no exception. I am so thankful for the record I have of God's provision and the ways he has answered prayers.

But with three weeks left in the US, an ever increasing number of items on my to-do list, a dying computer that I really can't afford to replace, my support account still over a thousand dollars short of my goal, and more goodbyes on the horizon, trusting in God's provision becomes the thing I say but don't do.  I start problem-solving like the engineer that I am with a heart full of doubt.  I stop trusting, leave God out of the process, and act independently without asking for help.

The sinful tendencies of my heart come out in these moments when there is no buffer.  It is easier to trust in God's provision when I have plenty of time and savings to fall back on if necessary. Today I listened to a sermon on Habakkuk and was reminded that my version of not having a buffer as an American is no where even close to what is experienced by so many people around the world where God's provision is the difference between life and death.  The reality of trusting in God's provision is that God may not answer my prayers or the prayers of Christians around the world.  Yet God is always faithful.

I have experienced God's faithfulness in times of struggle and unanswered prayers in my own life, yet I so easily forget this record.  As my pastor pointed out, the stories of God's provision and answered prayers are the ones most often shared by Christians.   But if I look back honestly at my own life, each story of God's faithfulness in unanswered prayers has shown me more about the character of God than all the answered prayers combined.

In these moments when the buffer I have become accustomed to is no longer there, the true state of my heart is exposed.  So please pray against my doubt and unbelief.  Pray that I would not just say that I am trusting in God, but that my heart would actually trust God with every detail of my last three weeks in the US.   Pray that I would remember the ways God has been faithful to me in previous times of struggle, but more than that, pray that I would recognize that my concerns are small and that God is faithful even in death.

On the Move with Jayber Crow

Last night I turned in my last grad school paper of the summer semester, which more than anything else marked the transition to summer for me.

I'm already on the road, making my way down the east coast, stopping to visit friends here and there on my way to Southwest Florida.

I am counting my time left in the US in weeks rather than months now, and my to-do list seems to just keep getting longer.

This is the stage for me that is filled with excitement as I anticipate biking along the familiar red-dirt roads of Mundri and being reunited with dear friends.  It is also a time of sadness as I say both hello and goodbye to old friends in Richmond and all over the US.

As I make this journey, I have been listening to Jayber Crow on audiobook.  Knowing it was one of Bethany's favorite books, I downloaded it right away when I saw it available on Noisetrade.  I'm not even at the half way point of the book or my drive, but so far I love how Wendell Berry speaks about community in a slow and humble way with a Southern accent all wrapped up in story.  I didn't realize how much I longed for a good story, but after reading a lot of academic articles and text books over the last year, I am completely engaged in the story of Jayber Crow's life and the Port William community.  Stability in relationships and community are topics I have been praying a lot about this year, but rather than continuing to ramble about community, I will just leave you with the link to Jayber Crow on audiobook.  =)

http://noisetrade.com/wendellberry/jayber-crow

“'You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out - perhaps a little at a time.'
'And how long is that going to take?'
'I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps.'
'That could be a long time.'
'I will tell you a further mystery,' he said. 'It may take longer.'”
― Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow

Half Way There, Livin' on a Prayer

On Friday I put on a cap, gown, and hood along with all the other economic and international development students from my cohort at Eastern University.  Friends and family came to watch us walk across a stage and NOT graduate.  We still have half of the summer term and the fall practicum to complete, but since we will be scattered across the globe in when we actually graduate, having a special service now made more sense.  

Standing in line waiting to walk in the auditorium, one of my classmates suggested "Livin' on a Prayer" as an  anthem for our commissioning service.  The lyrics to the chorus were perfect, so a few of us started singing.  

Whooah, we're half way there 

Livin' on a prayer 

Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear 

Livin' on a prayer 

After the service, I went out to dinner with my parents, and everyone who saw me in my robes congratulated me on graduating.  Meanwhile I was thinking of all the reading I still had to do for the next week.  =)  It was a great night despite the heavy rains and flooding and the fact that I still haven't actually graduated.  

On another note, after the service, as we were all mingling and taking pictures, one of the speakers congratulated me for being the only girl wearing flats instead of heels.  I wasn't sure exactly what to make of that, but at least I was comfortable and less likely to slip on the very wet sidewalks.  =)  

Research

This year for me has been a lot about research, so when I saw this beautiful stained glass window at Valley Forge, I had to take a picture.  =)  Only one and half more semesters of grad school!

Considering, Thinking, Reasoning

from the poem "A Short Testament" by Anne Porter

I made this image in April when signs of spring were just starting to show up in Philadelphia. I have been thinking a lot about seasons, winter, and spring recently especially in relation to community and relationships.

I generally have several thoughts running through my mind at any given time that are not quite fully formed.  And most of the time I never actually come to a conclusion.

Some days I really wish I could just turn off my thoughts and not spend so much time considering everything. Especially since grad school provides plenty of material that I must consider.

I'm so thankful for the various friends in my life who have been partners in processing and considering so many different topics including God, fractals, mystery, culture, language, community, water, and most of all, how they are related.  =)

Isaiah 1:8 "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD"

"Science has explained nothing; the more we know the more fantastic the world becomes and the profounder the surrounding darkness." ~ Aldous Huxley

A Biblical View of Microfinance

During the fall and spring, realizing there were six weeks left of the semester meant it was time to buckle down and start preparing for the final projects.  The summer terms is ONLY six weeks, which makes it more like a sprint.  We start already talking about the details for the final projects/papers.

I am equally excited about the topics for the two courses I am taking this semester:

1. Introduction to Microfinance
2. Advocacy, Public Policy, and Human Rights

One of the reasons that I choose Eastern University was because even when you take a more technical course like Microfinance, it is approached from a Biblical perspective.

My first assignment is to answer the following question:

What considerations do you think are important for microfinance programs seeking to assist and empower the poor in order that they might be be designed and run Christianly? (Based on a Biblical/theological view of the Kingdom, the Church, and the Incarnation)

So after one short week in Richmond between semesters, I'm back in the rhythm of reading, considering, and writing papers.  And in about six weeks I will be leaving PA and making my way down the east coast back to FL so that, God willing, I can head back to South Sudan at the end of the summer!

My Church Family

I am extremely thankful for my church family!

They welcomed me when I was weary after the end of my spring semester, listened to the things God has put on my heart this season, pointed me towards Jesus, and prayed for me. They also lent a traveling graduate student/missionary a car for the week. This is why I love my church.

On the day after I arrived in Richmond, WEPC had organized a night for a dear elderly couple to share stories of the 15 years they spent as missionaries to Congo.  In the photo they sit between their two daughters in front a display of family photos.  I was a BEAUTIFUL night to honor a couple who has faithfully served God for many decades.  This is why I love my church.  

There are very few physical places in the world that feel like "home" to me.  The sanctuary of WEPC is one of those places.   It is hard to express how encouraging and restorative it was to sit in front of a beautiful, familiar tapestry, hear Steve preach the gospel in a sweater vest, and sing "O love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in  Thee" together with my church family.  This is why I love my church.

Of course, WEPC isn't perfect, but is my church, and I am thankful for every opportunity I have to come to Richmond and be a part of the life of the church, even if it is for only a few days. 

As a bonus, WEPC is in Richmond, which is also home to the Japanese gardens at Maymont!

I am also beyond thankful for all the wonderful friends I have in Richmond! I had so many real, honest conversations this week.  I also got to laugh and enjoy a little bit of life together with women I have known since we were all recent college graduates and new to Richmond.