Denver Professionals March Chapter Meeting

1. Denver ProfessionalsMarch Chapter Meeting

2. Agenda • Introductions • Chapter Business • Status of Projects • MalinguaPamba Breakout Sessions • EWB-USA Research Project—Kaitlin Litchfield

3. EWB-Spring Grants! $325,000 in grants up for grabs Application deadline: April 1st 2012 Must travel before 1/30/2013 Please advise if you need help submitting!

4. General Fund Reallocation Chapter general fund reached $14,600 as of last month We can make better use of this money if we allocate it to projects. Vote was announced in February 2012. Voting results will be announced in April 2012.

5. Agou Avedze, Togo Sanitation Chris Fahlin & John Humphrey • Goals: • 1 month • 6 month • 12 month Budget Needs:

6. Ambalona, Madagascar Water Scott Allen & Tom Rutkowski • Goals: • 1 month • Currently traveling to Madagascar. • 6 month • 12 month • Budget Needs: • lots

7. Malingua Pamba, Ecuador Potable & Irrigation Water System Russ Zick & Rob Zuber • Goals: • Complete 2011 Trip Reports • Complete a potable water monitoring trip in June. Education, O&M are secondary goals • Implementation trip tentatively scheduled for October Budget Needs: $4k — $7k for June trip.

8. Malingua Pamba, Ecuador Erosion Control Russ Zick & Rob Zuber • Goals: • Identify top three priority sites for erosion control work • Planning for October trip • Complete pilot erosion control trip in October or November Budget Needs: $10k — $12 for October trip.

9. Brainstorming session on MalinguaPamba — Group 1 • The village president, PaulinoSacatoro, is our major ally within the MalinguaPamba community, but he holds too much of the power and decision making responsibilities. How can we get him to offload some of the duties? How do we build ties with other leaders in the village? (Paulino may take a job outside of the village in the near future.) • It is not clear that an adequate percentage of the villagers are paying their monthly dues to the water board(s). What is the best way to promote these payments and provide enough incentives so people see the benefits? • Plumbers do not appear to be consistently performing their job or even staying at their job. For some areas the responsibility is revolving through families. Transferring the knowledge seems to be a challenge. How can we change this into a positive, adding new energy and ideas without losing the knowledge? • How can we better utilize EWB USA's resources?

10. Brainstorming session on MalinguaPamba — Group 2 • During the last trip, Mark Richards noticed that two float valves were missing and water was just flowing straight through the system without filling up the tanks.  Also, villagers need to monitor and perform repairs from time to time.  How to improve villagers’ knowledge and skills related to the operation of each system? How do we encourage ownership of the potable water system, irrigation system, or erosion solutions? How do we get villagers to think in terms of the system as a whole and not just their small area? • The equipment and spare parts room is not maintained and not stocked well.  It is not clear who has responsibility for this or who actually has access?  It would be nice if the plumbers had all the tools they needed. How can we help provide these tools or have the equipment room provide the tools without them “walking away”? • We have historically relied on our NGO partner for communication with the village (between trips). How can we improve direct communication with the villagers, in particular the Water Board?  This improvement would be in terms of greater regularity and must entail substantive discussions.  • In our MOU we have asked for monthly records of meeting attendance, water system dues paid, maintenance records (including parts costs), and meeting minutes. While these aren't submitted monthly Pam (NGO) will often receive a couple of months worth at once and forward to us, though this may be an incomplete package. We have not played "hardball" yet. What type of transparency standards (especially in terms of finances) do the other groups require?

11. Brainstorming session on MalinguaPamba — Group 3 • Do you have any suggestions on setting up MOUs with the community?  What is a good process?  What items should be included?  Obviously, "who pays for what?" and who performs what tasks?" are important but what else should be included? •  How to keep trained workers (e.g., plumbers) involved?  In MP many men leave the village for jobs in larger cities, especially men who have gained a skill. Also, because many men in the village leave for seasonal work, it would be advantageous to get the women more involved with the operations of the potable water system.  How can we do this? • How can we get feedback on community priorities?  For example, what is best way to determine the level of interest in erosion control projects? • How can we get new EWB members up to speed and involved so they don't lose interest? How can we keep meetings interesting for people who are looking to get involved yet relevant and productive for active members working on the project?