Project: Horgan's Village Water, Power, Hospital, School Needs
Letter
Problem:
Horgan recently
received a package containing several letters and photos from his Village, from
Ibiaku Osuk Village Council and from Community Secondary School Ikot Usen,
describing their situation with regards to Water, Power, Hospital and School
needs. The material was scanned, including photos
of the current Water access method as well as pictures of the School and
Students, and can be viewed below.
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Letter #2
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In general the needs, as listed by the Village Council, can be summarized as follows:
(Note: "Blocks" (buildings), including buildings with candidate implementation as blocks, are underlined)
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Water, Power |
Hospital |
School |
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Primary |
Secondary |
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"
sinking
of a bore-hole erection of an over head water tank...
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"
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" [15. School Fence and Gate***] " |
" [11. School Fence and Gate ***] " |
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**
"...also...both the village secondary and primary schools needs a good Staff quarters to facilitate teachings" |
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| * "...both institutions [hospital and schools] needs a good [delivery] vehicle for efficient administration..." | |||
Solution:
Vehicles
FOAO member Gus forwarded an email recently from "tiziay aluni" about
a story that appeared a while back in the Oakland Tribune titled "Group gives ambulances to Ghana",
an excerpt from which reads "...Links Inc., the Oakland African-American civic group helping the
poor in Ghana, is making room in its 40-foot Port of Oakland container to be sealed Saturday so it can be shipped to West Africa...On Wednesday, Paramount Chief Nana Kobina Nketsia V of Sekondi-Takoradi and Philip Nkrumah, mayor of Sekondi-Takoradi, met with Ruth B. Love, an organizer of the Links drive..."They are going to get two ambulances," said Love, a former Oakland school superintendent. "One for Sekondi-Takoradi, and one for the village in Ghana we have adopted." Love said the two donated ambulances are coming from Hayward...Church members at Downs Memorial United Methodist in Oakland, one of the city's largest African-American churches, have joined the Links' campaign, donating household goods, books, medical supplies and other items during the past several months...".
"tiziay
aluni" email
"Group gives ambulances to Ghana"
Oakland Tribune story
Supplies and Equipment
As there are strong similarities between the Horgan Village Project and what Links
Inc. and their associated church folk have accomplished, we may be well advised
to model our activities on their efforts - contacting Links and
their liaison Church members may enable us to "clone" their
methodology, which could help provide resources for the Horgan Village Project.
For example, Links Inc. may be able to point us to where to get more "Vehicles"
("Ambulance", "Delivery" and "Duty"), while their liaison Church members may
know of further resources for Horgan Village needs list items, "Supplies
and Equipment" ("Typewriters",
"Photocopy Machine", "Books", "Pupils
desk", "Teaching aids", "Technical workshop/equipment, tools, materials",
"Science Laboratory, equipments and chemicals", "Computer center",
"School
Fence and Gate",
and Technical/Computer "Instructors", as well as "Wheel
chairs", "Hospital beds", "Scanning equipment",
"X-ray equipment" and also "Sports equipments"
and "Farm equipments").
Additional sources would likely be charitable organizations and businesses with
philanthropic programs that manufacture these items and perhaps distribute older
models of equipment to developing nations.
Workshop and Construction
Water Supply and Sanitation
Power Generating
If the forgoing takes care of the items mentioned, that leaves, on Horgan's
village list, just the "Workshop and Construction" items
like buildings, called "Blocks", including
buildings that could be built as blocks ("Library",
"Technical
Workshop",
"Science Laboratory",
"Computer
center",
"Assembly
Hall", "Staff
quarters"),
highlighted as underlined in the above table, as well as the "Water Supply
and Sanitation" area ("Water bore
hole/overhead tank/treatment plant") and "Power Generating"
area ("Power generating
set"). As it is not likely entire buildings in such numbers would be
shipped, and because these last items strongly suggest "Appropriate
Technology" ("AT"), and hence Peace Corps, solutions, it is likely
a more appropriate solution would be to point the villagers to plans and ways,
using locally available materials, they can build, repair and maintain, in
place, such resources themselves, using, for example, the numerous construction
plans on the Peace Corps Appropriate Technology Library (PC ATL). Along these lines
Cliff recently sent an email to Judy and Horgan describing the AT Library CD's
covering Water and Construction Technologies. There are additional
CD's covering Workshop Tools and Equipment and Power generation; however, if straight Power Generator equipment is
needed,
there are many choices available in both the Real Goods "Renewable Energy Catalog"
and the The Sustainable Village
Products Catalog Energy section
Shipment
In
the newspaper story noted above, the Oakland Tribune report "Group gives ambulances to Ghana",
there is an
an excerpt which reads "...Links Inc., the Oakland African-American civic group helping the
poor in Ghana, is making room in its 40-foot Port of Oakland container to be sealed Saturday
so it can be shipped to West Africa...". If we will be contacting
Links, Inc, as noted above in the section "Supplies and Equipment", to
find out how they accomplished their procurement of goods to Africa, while we're
at it we could also find out from them how to setup the Container and
Shipment process.
Village Needs Appropriate Technology ("AT") Chart:
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Other Power resources |
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Updates
Update
1: FOAO Project Horgan's Village Letter - Water Needs Update 01 email
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In the "Village Needs Summary Chart" above, in the "Water, Power" column, the Ibiaku Osuk Village Council has pointed out"...the most pressing needs of your village now is....good drinking water which will require the...sinking of a bore-hole... erection of an over head water tank...and a standard water treatment plant...". A search of the Peace Corps Appropriate Technology Library, for low tech, low cost, sustainable, "do-it-yourself-with-readily-available-parts" solutions, for search keywords (1) "bore" (2) "water tank" (3) "water treatment", has returned the following successful search results construction plans documents: (1) "The Design of Small Bore Sewer Systems" (2) "Construction Manual for 3500 gal. Ferrocement Water Tank" (3) "Water Treatment and Sanitation". The construction plan documents have been uploaded to the Friends Of African Outlet (FOAO) Public Access AT_Libs One and Two Files area, where they may be viewed, downloaded and printed from any computer in the world with Internet Web access, such as those found at a number of Nigerian Cyber Cafés.
Task Force Team List:
Because of the size and scope of the Horgan Village Letter Project, it would be advisable to establish a number of Task Force Teams over which to distribute the workload of the various activities. Based on a grouping of similar functions, the following Task Force Teams could be assembled to handle the project:
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Team
1: Vehicles |
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Village
List Area Covered: Vehicles |
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Task
List for Team (3 members) per Team Member #:
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Team
2: Supplies and Equipment |
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Village
List Area Covered: Supplies and Equipment (Science
Laboratory, (inc. equipments and chemicals)) |
| Task
List for Team (16 members) per Team Member #: #1-16
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Team
3: Workshop
and Construction |
| Village
List Area Covered: Workshop
and Construction (Blocks: Classroom (6), Hospital, Office) (Other potential blocks: Library, Technical Workshop, Science Laboratory, Computer Center, Assembly Hall, Staff Quarters |
| Task
List for Team (9 members) per Team Member #:
#1-9
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Team
4: Water Supply and Sanitation |
| Village
List Area Covered:
Water Supply and Sanitation (Water bore hole, Overhead tank, Treatment plant) |
| Task
List for Team (3 members) per Team Member #: #1-3
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Team
5: Power Generating |
| Village
List Area Covered:
Power Generating (Generator, Wiring) |
| Task
List for Team (2 members) per Team Member #: #1-2
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Team
6: Shipment |
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Village
List Area Covered: All |
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Task
List for Team (3 members) per Team Member #:
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Order of Task Force Team Operations:
Of the 6 Task Force Teams, some can operate concurrently (in parallel), other sequentially (one must finish before the other), while a limiting factor is the current size of FOAO, 18 members. A consideration of these constraints suggests the following order of operations:
(1) Water Supply and Sanitation Team: According to the Horgan Letter from the Village Council, "...the most pressing needs of your village now is...good drinking water...".
(2) Power Generating Team: Likely will be needed early-on to possibly provide
power for "Water Supply and Sanitation" and very likely provide power
for "Workshop and Construction" operations.
(3) Workshop and Construction Team: Buildings will need to be there first, so
there are places to house and store "Supplies and Equipment".
If the Village opts to build its own buildings, they will take a while to
complete - that will give the American-side FOAO Supplies and Equipment Team
time to locate their Bill of Materials, while
the Nigerian-side Workshop and Construction Teams
are constructing the buildings.
(4) Supplies and Equipment Team:
Because this is the largest of the teams, and the teams above will need to go
first, this team may start with a "skeleton crew" aiming for the most
critical materials. Later, as the earlier team projects (water, power, etc)
finish up, that will free up the rest of the members for this team, enabling
this team to shift into high gear probably about the same time the "Workshop and Construction Team"
is hitting it's stride.
(5) Vehicles Team:
The "Workshop and Construction" Hospital and School Blocks need to be
created and stocked with "Supplies and Equipment" before, as noted in
the Village Council letter, "...both institutions... [can be serviced
by]... a good... vehicle for efficient
administration...".
(6) Shipment Team: Evidently the final team to come into play, once the
preceding teams are closing in on completion of their tasks, and we reach the
state that NASA often describes by the phrase "We are good to go!"
Team Formation and Member Selection:
A table has been created showing all the Task Force Teams and listing all their individual Team Member positions. FOAO members can decide which Task Force Team(s) they're interested in and the Team Member position(s) for which they would like to volunteer. The table is called the Task Force Team Member Assignment Chart.
Project Management:
Use of Project Management software is extremely helpful and strongly advised. A Project's Task Force Team's Projects, their individual step-by-step tasks, the allocation of resources (team members), coordinating of time-related events, synchronizing of Projects and the like can all be tracked and displayed graphically, to help keep teams focused and on target, as shown by a typical Microsoft Project screenshot. The software of choice is Microsoft Project, due to it's Enterprise Class capabilities (a Fortune 500 company favorite) and ability to scale to, and synchronize with, versions running on even the smallest portable PDA devices like the Pocket PC (screenshots).
Nigerian-side potential local contacts and resources:
A
number of resources exist which may provide FOAO with additional, supplemental
support contacts and resources in Nigeria, as described in the FOAO
"African Newsgroups, Cyber Cafés, Village Earth, Peace Corps Friends Of, Peace Corps
Online" Resource Directory (ANCCPCRD):
Village Earth "...The Consortium for Sustainable Village Based
Development...Your partner in community development projects around the world...Our partners have produced successful results in...Nigeria...The national government of Nigeria has invited Village Earth to assist the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in implementing the Integrated rural Development (IRD) program throughout the entire nation. Village Earth staff has trained over 20 NYSC officers in 'Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development' over the past five years...". Their
servicesare described in the ANCCPCRD section
"Village Earth".
Nigerian Internet Newsgroups may be emailed of our FOAO organization and
Horgan Village Letter Project, which may result in Newsgroup members replying
with an interest in helping, advising, even assisting in Project tasks in
Nigeria. Their structure is described in the ANCCPCRD section "Newsgroups".
Nigerian Cyber Cafés make it possible to access resources such as the Peace
Corps Online Library and the FOAO Website and Newsgroup, to access FOAO Website
Resource Directories and download FOAO Newsgroup Files (for example
instructional "e-Books" like "The Construction of a Hydraulic Ram
Pump" from the FOAO's copy of the Peace Corps Appropriate Technology
Library set of CD's. Some cafés further offer basic videoconferencing services
that could handle special kinds of problem situations. Their use is described in the ANCCPCRD section "Cyber Cafés".
Friends of Nigeria (FON) Peace Corps Alumni is a National Peace Corps
Association affiliate of "…a community of almost 2000 Returned Peace
Corps Volunteers (RCPVs) and staff who served in Nigeria…", whose
website offers a "Directory of Nigeria PCVs and Staff" that may
provide US and Nigerian contacts interested in assisting FOAO efforts. Their
organization is described in the ANCCPCRD section "Friends
of... Peace Corps Alumni".
Peace Corps Online Directory Nigeria is another resource similar to FON
that may be a resource for FOAO. Their organization is described in the
ANCCPCRD section "Peace
Corps Online Directory".
Updates:
Update
1: FOAO Project Horgan's Village Letter - Water Needs Update 01
email (from Cliff)
On
the FOAO "Project: Horgan's Village Water, Power, Hospital, School Needs
Letter" webpage, at the "Village Needs Summary Chart", in the
"Water, Power" column, the Ibiaku Osuk Village Council has stated
(along with the letter and photos from Kufre)...
"...the
most pressing needs of your village now is a good drinking water which will
require the...sinking of a bore-hole erection of an over head water tank...and a
standard water treatment plant..."
Starting
with the low tech, low cost, sustainable, "do-it-yourself-with-readily-available-parts" solutions,
I consulted the webpage's "Village Needs Appropriate Technology
("AT") Chart", "Water Supply and Sanitation" column,
which has links to the Peace Corps Appropriate Technology Library (AT Lib) on
CD, the 2 CD's covering "Water Supply and Sanitation", which are
"Disk 12 Water Supply and Sanitation" and "Disk 13 Water Supply
and Sanitation Cont.". I did a search of the CD's Table of Contents for the
following keywords and got the following results:
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Search Keyword
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AT
Lib CD 13 Water Supply and Sanitation Cont. |
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"bore" |
Water
Supply: Sanitation
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"water tank" |
Water
Supply: Tanks |
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"water treatment" |
Water
Supply: Treatment |
I have extracted these files off the AT Lib CD and uploaded them to our FOAO Website/Newsgroup Files Public area (anyone can access, you don't need to get/join with "Yahoo ID, etc). As mentioned earlier in the "Project: Water Pump for Africa" for Judy for our Mali friends, now that the files on the web they can be seen by any computer with web access in the world - if the village doesn't have a PC with Web access or phone line or electricity, then the villagers can access the files from the nearest "Cyber (Internet) Café". Nigeria has many Internet Cafés, in towns including Jos (Plateau State), Akure, (Ondo State), Ibadan campus (Oyo State), Jimeta (Yola), Port Harcourt, Abuja, Ibadan, ABUJA, Enugu, Kaduna and Lagos (see the "Village Needs Appropriate Technology ("AT") Chart", "Nigerian Cyber cafés" column for a complete list). The Nigerians (Kufre and friends) can come into town (maybe with a teacher or someone to ask the Café operator for help with the computer), & at the Café they can check out the "bore", "water tank" and "water treatment" construction plans, download & print them if they like and begin construction immediately - or look around the web for more if not. For example, on the FOAO Peace Corps Resource Directory there are links to the "Appropriate Technology Library" and "Complete list of books in the AT Library" - if they find something that looks like a better fit, we can put that file on the FOAO Website/Newsgroup Files Public area. Additionally, if the plans, which are typically in English, are going to be reviewed by a non-English African country, for example French-speaking Mali, the villagers can explore translating the English text into French using the FOAO's experimental "Universal Language Translator" (linked to below, along with a Help/Instruction/Procedure Manual).
Note: Yahoo has a maximum file upload size limit of 5 Megabytes, but some of the AT Lib CD files are bigger that 5 Megabytes (one was nearly 20 Megabytes), so the files needed to be split into smaller pieces, then uploaded; then, when they are downloaded, they need to be reassembled into the original bigger file by running a small utility program (the pieces are not readable until reassembled). I've used special software to split the files and write the "assemble utility" & I've included a small "Help File" to explain the "download, reassemble and read" procedure, all of which has been uploaded to our FOAO Website/Newsgroup Files Public area in appropriate folders, links to which are provided below. One of the files was small enough it didn't need to be split and reassembled, so you can read it directly off the website by clicking on it's name, which is "15-364.pdf Construction_Manual_for_3500_gal._Ferrocement_Water_Tank" (linked to below).
FOAO
"Project: Horgan's Village Letter" webpage:
"Village
Needs Summary Chart", "Water, Power" column
"Village
Needs Appropriate Technology ("AT") Chart", "Water Supply
and Sanitation" column
AT Lib:
"Disk
12 Water Supply and Sanitation"
"Disk
13 Water Supply and Sanitation Cont."
FOAO
Website/Newsgroup Files Public area
Peace Corps Appropriate Technology Library (AT Lib) CD Uploaded files,
for "bore", "water tank" and "water treatment"
construction plans:
"bore"
Water
Supply and Sanitation Cont. folder
Sanitation--The_Design_of_Small_Bore_Sewer_System
subfolder
"The
Design of Small Bore Sewer Systems" files
"water tank"
Water
Supply and Sanitation Cont. folder
Tanks--Construction_Manual_for_3500_gal._Ferrocement_Tank
subfolder
"Construction
Manual for 3500 gal. Ferrocement Water Tank" (This is the small one you
can read just by clicking on the filename)
"water
treatment"
Water
Supply and Sanitation Cont. folder
Treatment--Water_Treatment_and_Sanitation
subfolder
"Water
Treatment and Sanitation" files
FOAO
Universal Language Translator (Experimental)
Folder
Contents
(samples)
Help/Instruction/Procedure
Manual
Project Task List Table:
The stage and status of the Project over time is currently logged by "event entries" for Project Team Member, Project Task and Task Description/Notes, as documented below in the Project Task List Table:
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Team
Member
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Task
Description
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Task Notes |
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Horgan
(Project Initiator)
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Identify problem, describe situation based on letters/photos received from Village
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Situation
exists in Horgan's home village; Horgan's Mom is a schoolteacher there
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Cliff
Thompson
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Problem Resolution
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Team 1: Vehicles (FOAC
members TBD) |
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Team 2: Supplies and Equipment (FOAC
members TBD) |
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Team 3: Workshop and Construction (FOAC
members TBD) |
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Team 4: Water Supply and Sanitation (FOAC
members TBD) |
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Team 5: Power Generating (FOAC
members TBD) |
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Team 6: Shipment (FOAC
members TBD) |
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