We’ve spent the last couple of days working at the Ecofilter factory near Antigua. It’s not really a “factory” in the traditional sense. There are no forklifts ferrying supplies and no big industrial smoke stacks spewing fumes into the atmosphere. There are about 20 workers who transform big clods of clay into ceramic pot-shaped water filters, and they do it with surprisingly little machinery – a lot of the work is hand-labor. We students, of course, get to help out in that hand-labor department, doing all sorts of things, like stacking firewood, bashing big clods of clay into smaller clods, boxing up filters, and doing whatever else we can help with. And naturally, it’s all done with a cheery smile on our faces ;)

Speaking of the students, our Missouri S&T population in Antigua has more than doubled. Last Saturday night the senior design class was joined by the Women As Global Leaders group (or the Wagles, as we affectionately call them). Dr. Huebner from the materials sciences department has also joined our ranks, and Ernie too, who has become the honorary Grandpa of our classmate from California. I’ve not counted everyone myself, but I hear tell that there are about 29 of us altogether, counting professors and students alike.