Recently in Guatemala 09 Category

This is a really nice photo, so it doesn't really need a caption (unless someone who is/was there wants to give us more info by leaving a comment).

Only four more days left in Guatemala. Since this weekend was the half-way point of our trip, we took Saturday as a day to explore Antigua, and catch up on any work  Through the course of the day all three teams (Ben and Alex, Matt and Aaron, and myself) made it to ECOFILTRO to do more work. Sadly the thermocouples we had installed on the January trip were not successful, so a new plan was put in place and four new ones were installed. 
The boys continued with their tests.
 
We went to Chiquimula to do more field tests and to have the Women As Global Leaders group to visit a school. Today we visited seven houses (that use ECOFILROs) around the same mountain the school was on to collect samples. We returned to Antigua tonight and will spend the next two days working here. 

Adios! ~Dianna

Here is a report from Dianna Meyers (left), who is in Guatemala with other S&T studens for spring break:

Hola once again from beautiful Guatemala! The beginning part of this trip has been focused on our friends at Chichicastenango. Reports of algae in their water system brought us to do some on-site testing. Last week, the group's efforts were focused on gathering data from different water sources and drawing some conclusions, but more importantly some ideas on future work and how to solve their problems. It was an amazing experience to get to meet so many faces of Guatemala and be invited into their homes to help them. We also stopped by the orphanage (more like a children's home) in Lemoa to check up on their water system. Last Thursday morning, we packed our van again and headed back to Antigua! The first day in testing has began on all three projects. The Women as Global Leaders class was scheduled to arrive in country soon.  

 

A group of S&T students has traveled once again to Guatemala, using spring break to help others with water quality issues. Reports from "the field" to follow.

 

Dr. Curt Elmore and some of his students have been collecting wind and solar data for almost a year during trips to rural Guatemala. They are trying to see if it might be feasible to use renewable energy to pump water from a future well. We received the following email from Elmore this morning:

I'm attaching some photos of our renewable energy feasibility study in Sacala las Lomas, San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango, Guatemala (what a mouthful - we say "Sacala" for short). -- Curt

After a semi-relaxing weekend the group is preparing to head onto our next destination. On Saturday, the group went into work at ECOFILTRO for the morning. It took a bit longer than expected to concrete in the thermocouples inside the kiln. On Sunday we were halfway though our experience and Dr. Elmore gave the class time to relax. The guys went to the beach to enjoy the day. Monday was our final day to work at ECOFILTRO. I gathered data from the newly placed thermocouples, while Ben, Alex, Aaron, and Matt finished up collecting samples and running tests. The group will travel tomorrow to visit a water collection site, and meet with a water committee. I am not sure if there will be internet connection where we are headed, but in case there isn't I hope you have enjoyed reading about our trips, and feel free to send me any questions! 
-- Dianna.

Here's Dianna's update from this past weekend:

Taking a break from talking about work, I'm here to tell you about our other Guatemalan experiences thus far:

- Housing - Yes, our hotel has Wi-Fi. It's really quite wonderful. Each room has a TV, private bathroom, comfortable bedding, and they serve us breakfast each morning! The people who run the hotel are polite, friendly, and willing to help in any way possible. 

- Driving - Driving is different here. The streets are mostly one way, people don't use their turn signals, and only on the highway have I seen speed limits. The roads are cobblestone, and wide enough for 2 and ?? vehicles. Mostly you have the right side lined with parked vehicles and a flow of cars/vans moving with motorcycles and smaller three wheeled vehicles (tuk-tuk) passing on the other side.

- Food - For breakfast they have served us different meals each day, but the staple seems to be fruit juice, beans, eggs, and salsa/jam. For lunch, they have a bigger meal, but we have been only having time to stop by tiendas to get tortillas, chiles rellenos, helados y maros (blackberry ice-cream), and hamburgers. For dinner each night we have been walking around Antigua and finding random restaurants. Each evening has been different- burritos, beans, quesadillas, gorditas, soups, chicken, guacamole, and gyros.

- Shopping - Today we experienced the super market. It was crazy to get through, and never ending, but something you have to do when here. The shops were open, and you wove your way through the open areas moving from veggies, to flowers, to clothes, to fruits, to about anything you could want. When walking through the streets people are constantly trying to grab your attention. 

Well, there's a lot more that could be said, but this is getting to be long, so good-night and I'll update more later.

~Dianna

We are really getting into our projects now, and starting to find our way around Antigua. Some general comments so far on the trip have been about how friendly the people are here. We attempt to speak Spanish, and they are very understanding and patient. It looks like all of our projects are going well. For my furnace project we are prepared to install thermocouples this weekend while they are shut down, and in the mean time I am using other methods for recording the temperatures. Alex, Ben, Matt, and Aaron have already begun to collect samples and it sounds like they have a long day ahead of them tomorrow. The weather is amazing, and we are finding new restaurants each day. Since the Spanish classes, our communication has improved for sure.
-- Dianna

Hola everyone, my name is Aaron Archer. I am enrolled in GE 352 International Engineering and Design. We are working and studying in Antigua, Guatemala, at Ecofiltro. Our second day in country consisted of completing some initial experimentation for the Arsenic Mitigation and Water Quality groups. Dianna did more observations on the furnace currently employed and completed some design work for application of her furnace modifications. The group enrolled in language school, which was very helpful for our very broken "Spanglish." Our teachers were very helpful and happy to help. We look forward to completing more testing and finalizing our work plan today. So from Antigua, Guatemala, I bid all my friends and colleagues at Missouri S&T Buenos dias!

S&T students are once again taking advantage of time off from classes to help people in Guatemala...Here's the first of a new batch of dispatches from the field in 2009:

This is Dianna Meyers with the first blog entry from the Senior Design group in Guatemala. First, some background information: Dr. Elmore since December 2007 has been coming down to Antigua, Guatemala, to work with Ecofilters. Ecofilters is a company that produces ceramic filters for people to purchase to disinfect the water in their homes, work and schools. 

On January 5, the group departed from St. Louis and arrived in Guatemala by that afternoon. We had a tour of the facilities we'd be working in and started to unpack our testing supplies immediately. We will only be here until the 15th of January, so a lot of data collecting and testing will begin immediately. 

It's been a pretty amazing trip so far driving through Guatemala, meeting the people, but I think most of us are ready to sleep and get an early start in the morning. 

Here is a run-down of the three projects we will be tackling: Alex and Ben are working together for on-site testing of the filters (and Ben will be helping me blog later and can give a more detailed description). Aaron and Matt are continuing with their project from last semester -- arsenic mitigation. And finally, I'm going to be working on the firing efficiency of the furnaces.