ASSESSMENT TRIP 2011

Based on our conversations with members of the community we believe that the next logical course of action in the Divisão community within the Chico Mendes Reserve is to implement some system that will deliver clean drinking water directly to the school. With the introduction of electricity in the region electric pumps is now an option for pumping water from the springs up to the school. An alternative is to pump water to storage at a higher elevation so that the school can have gravity fed water.  During the assessment trip we will send a team of students and a professional to test water quality, survey the area between the school and the springs, measure the rate at which the springs recharge, and to discuss design options with members of the reserve.  In addition, we will gauge the supply of both electric pumps and storage devices in the town of Assis Brasil, and in the city of Rio Branco.

July 2011

IMPLEMENTATION TRIP SUMMER 2010

During the implementation trip during the summer of 2010 the Amazon program sent students David Azinheira, Phil Macclellan, and Calvin Archibald to the Brazilian Amazon with Professional Mentor George Costa.  In the Divisão community within the Chico Mendes Extractavist Reserve outside of Assis Brasil, the EWB team worked with community members to improve drinking water retrieval and drinking water quality at the “Floresta das Criancas” (Children of the Forest) school.  This was achieved by protecting a spring by creating a cement covered brick barrier around it with a rubber covered wooden cover to protect the spring from outside contaminants.  The team also worked to retrofit a hand pump purchased in the United States to work at the new protected spring while also constructing a hand pump made of PVC and local rubber for a nearby spring used for bathing.  The PVC hand pump was designed during the year leading up to the trip, and was made entirely of materials available to residents of the reserve.

July 2010

AMAZON PROGRAM PREPARES TO TRAVEL FOR SECOND IMPLEMENTATION TRIP

Right now, the program team is preparing for its second implementation trip tentatively set for late July.

The goals of the trip include:

• Installing a second spring box
• Teaching community members how to build a hand pump using supplies readily available to people within the reserve
• Writing an instructional booklet for building our water system design to be distributed throughout the reserve
• Conducting a health assessment

July 2010