Lisa McFarlane: Engineers Without Borders in Togo
Posted by Adele Gibbs
Minutes of the Missoula Sunrise Rotary Meeting August 19, 2009.
President Susan Hay Cramer returned this week, with thanks to all for the "collective hug of Missoula Sunrise Rotary" following the passing of her beloved mother. Peg Novotny offered another a thoughtful invocation and Jim Betty led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Sergeant at Arms David Bardwick introduced several guests and visiting Rotarians. Guests included Idil (exchange student from Turkey who completed a banner exchange with our club); Agustina (exchange student from Argentina); John Wells (Susan Cramer); Susan Muralt; Lauren McLean (Adele Gibbs); and Lisa Holcomb (Cynthia Bryan). Visiting Rotarians included John Moody (Ephrata, WA) and Jim Hutcheson (Noon Club). David then showed several photos with "pets as babysitters." Many "ahs" and "oohs" followed.
Susan Hay Cramer made several announcements:
--The Noon Club is seeking volunteers for its Autumn Fest to be held September 12th. Please let Susan know if you can help and she'll put you in touch with Betty from the Noon Club.
--The Stuff the Bus campaign will be at both Target and Walmart from 12-3 this weekend. Please help if you can!
--The Missoula Federal Credit Union/United Way food drive is this week. Donate if you can!
--The District newsletter is now online. Please note the Peace Park celebration will be September 25th to 27th at Waterton.
--The District Assembly is scheduled October 23rd and 24th in Great Falls. If you're not participating in or attending the Who's Who Revue, please consider attending the District Assembly.
--The District Leadership Academy starts in December. This is an online course (2-3 hours per month) and runs nine months.
Anne Guest announced that Out to Lunch was to be the Indy Brothers and that Downtown Tonite on Thursday was to feature Blue Collar.
Bobby Clay circulated thank you letters from the Youth Homes kids for the outing to the Burchenal Ranch and he also announced that the Service Committee was meeting following the regular meeting.
COOKIES: This week Susan had cookies for Lynda Frost, celebrating her birthday this week; for Hugh Jesse, Susan Anderson Lisa McFarlane and Donielle Engebretson-all celebrating wedding anniversaries this week; to Steve Eastlick for 4 years as a Missoula Sunrise Rotarian; and to Rusty Babington for 2 years as a Missoula Sunrise Rotarian.
Paul Williamson then provided the Rotary Minute, the third and final installment of his interview with Duane Sterling at the District Conference in Bozeman this June. Duane told Paul it was a real pleasant conference and that the Montana District is filled with dedicated and active Rotarians. Great work, Paul!
Our Classification Talk was given by Carl Prinzing. Carl joined Missoula Sunrise Rotary in 1991 at the invitation of Cynthia Bryan. Carl said Rotary has changed his life, and that he now concentrates on Rotary instead of work. He said he has the Four Way Test printed on each of the phones at his office as reminders to all there. Carl has lived in Montana all his life, growing up on a ranch in Eastern Montana. He is an MSU graduate-where he and Bob Brown were fraternity brothers! Carl and his wife Carolyn have 4 children (3 boys and a daughter) and 7 grandchildren (5 boys and 2 girls). They currently have no pets, but do expect they'll have another dog (possibly another Golden) when they retire. Carl said his strongest character trait is that he is committed, that he'll drop anything to help (as he consistently demonstrates in all his work through Rotary!) Carl said he likes to ski, hunt, travel, fish, golf (a little). Carl shared that his wife Carolyn designed the District pin and banner! Susan Hay Cramer then thanked Carl for his consistent and invaluable work with Rotary.
Carl Prinzing then introduced our speaker, our own Lisa McFarlane. Lisa and her husband Jack have one son and have been hosting exchange student Agustina Torres from Argentina for the past year. Lisa owns her own engineering and consulting firm and has for the past couple of years been involved with a project in Togo with Engineers Without Borders. Lisa first thanked Carl for all his help with the matching grant on this project.
Lisa explained that Togo is a small country in West Africa, about the size of West Virginia. The population is approximately 6 million and Lisa said it "really is a third world country." The project Lisa spoke about serves the village of Agou Avedje, in the southern part of Togo, close to the Ghana border, at the base of Mount Agou. The village has a population of about 600 people in approximately 100 homes. There is no electricity and no running water. The village has 8 wells which can be dry from December to February. Lisa explained that the villagers go to the bathroom in the woods and they take bucket showers.
Lisa said that this project began with a Peace Corps volunteer contacting Engineers Without Borders. Lisa explained that Engineers Without Borders was formed in 2000 by a University of Colorado professor, and that the group shares a lot in common with Rotary as its vision and mission focus on basic human needs.
This project was picked up by an Engineers Without Borders chapter in Denver. Lisa said that the project started with two focus areas: pumps on the wells, and the creation of latrines. It was determined that sanitation problems, due to lack of water and a sanitation infrastructure, were the primary concern, so the first focus was on latrines. Lisa said that the organization supports each program, but relies on the individual communities to help decide what needs to be done. Lisa explained that in February 2008 a "demo" latrine was built near the school in Agou Avedje. The goal of the project is to place a latrine adjacent to every house in the village.
Lisa explained that a Memorandum of Understanding (in French, as the locals speak French in addition to their native language) has been signed by all parties. Each homeowner in Agou Avedje will be responsible for the maintenance of its latrine, with rewards given to those who comply. Lisa said a group is in Agou Avedje now, looking at the water system and discussing the next steps.
Lisa said that last year work was begun on an RI matching grant for the rest of the latrines and for work on the wells (hand pumps, or perhaps motorized via solar energy). The District Foundation came through with $6,000 in April to start on 50 latrines and the Whitefish Rotary Club has contributed another $1,500, for 11 more latrines.
Thank you, Lisa, for an interesting program!
We closed the meeting with a recitation of the Four-Way Test.
Sergeant at Arms David Bardwick introduced several guests and visiting Rotarians. Guests included Idil (exchange student from Turkey who completed a banner exchange with our club); Agustina (exchange student from Argentina); John Wells (Susan Cramer); Susan Muralt; Lauren McLean (Adele Gibbs); and Lisa Holcomb (Cynthia Bryan). Visiting Rotarians included John Moody (Ephrata, WA) and Jim Hutcheson (Noon Club). David then showed several photos with "pets as babysitters." Many "ahs" and "oohs" followed.
Susan Hay Cramer made several announcements:
--The Noon Club is seeking volunteers for its Autumn Fest to be held September 12th. Please let Susan know if you can help and she'll put you in touch with Betty from the Noon Club.
--The Stuff the Bus campaign will be at both Target and Walmart from 12-3 this weekend. Please help if you can!
--The Missoula Federal Credit Union/United Way food drive is this week. Donate if you can!
--The District newsletter is now online. Please note the Peace Park celebration will be September 25th to 27th at Waterton.
--The District Assembly is scheduled October 23rd and 24th in Great Falls. If you're not participating in or attending the Who's Who Revue, please consider attending the District Assembly.
--The District Leadership Academy starts in December. This is an online course (2-3 hours per month) and runs nine months.
Anne Guest announced that Out to Lunch was to be the Indy Brothers and that Downtown Tonite on Thursday was to feature Blue Collar.
Bobby Clay circulated thank you letters from the Youth Homes kids for the outing to the Burchenal Ranch and he also announced that the Service Committee was meeting following the regular meeting.
COOKIES: This week Susan had cookies for Lynda Frost, celebrating her birthday this week; for Hugh Jesse, Susan Anderson Lisa McFarlane and Donielle Engebretson-all celebrating wedding anniversaries this week; to Steve Eastlick for 4 years as a Missoula Sunrise Rotarian; and to Rusty Babington for 2 years as a Missoula Sunrise Rotarian.
Paul Williamson then provided the Rotary Minute, the third and final installment of his interview with Duane Sterling at the District Conference in Bozeman this June. Duane told Paul it was a real pleasant conference and that the Montana District is filled with dedicated and active Rotarians. Great work, Paul!
Our Classification Talk was given by Carl Prinzing. Carl joined Missoula Sunrise Rotary in 1991 at the invitation of Cynthia Bryan. Carl said Rotary has changed his life, and that he now concentrates on Rotary instead of work. He said he has the Four Way Test printed on each of the phones at his office as reminders to all there. Carl has lived in Montana all his life, growing up on a ranch in Eastern Montana. He is an MSU graduate-where he and Bob Brown were fraternity brothers! Carl and his wife Carolyn have 4 children (3 boys and a daughter) and 7 grandchildren (5 boys and 2 girls). They currently have no pets, but do expect they'll have another dog (possibly another Golden) when they retire. Carl said his strongest character trait is that he is committed, that he'll drop anything to help (as he consistently demonstrates in all his work through Rotary!) Carl said he likes to ski, hunt, travel, fish, golf (a little). Carl shared that his wife Carolyn designed the District pin and banner! Susan Hay Cramer then thanked Carl for his consistent and invaluable work with Rotary.
Carl Prinzing then introduced our speaker, our own Lisa McFarlane. Lisa and her husband Jack have one son and have been hosting exchange student Agustina Torres from Argentina for the past year. Lisa owns her own engineering and consulting firm and has for the past couple of years been involved with a project in Togo with Engineers Without Borders. Lisa first thanked Carl for all his help with the matching grant on this project.
Lisa explained that Togo is a small country in West Africa, about the size of West Virginia. The population is approximately 6 million and Lisa said it "really is a third world country." The project Lisa spoke about serves the village of Agou Avedje, in the southern part of Togo, close to the Ghana border, at the base of Mount Agou. The village has a population of about 600 people in approximately 100 homes. There is no electricity and no running water. The village has 8 wells which can be dry from December to February. Lisa explained that the villagers go to the bathroom in the woods and they take bucket showers.
Lisa said that this project began with a Peace Corps volunteer contacting Engineers Without Borders. Lisa explained that Engineers Without Borders was formed in 2000 by a University of Colorado professor, and that the group shares a lot in common with Rotary as its vision and mission focus on basic human needs.
This project was picked up by an Engineers Without Borders chapter in Denver. Lisa said that the project started with two focus areas: pumps on the wells, and the creation of latrines. It was determined that sanitation problems, due to lack of water and a sanitation infrastructure, were the primary concern, so the first focus was on latrines. Lisa said that the organization supports each program, but relies on the individual communities to help decide what needs to be done. Lisa explained that in February 2008 a "demo" latrine was built near the school in Agou Avedje. The goal of the project is to place a latrine adjacent to every house in the village.
Lisa explained that a Memorandum of Understanding (in French, as the locals speak French in addition to their native language) has been signed by all parties. Each homeowner in Agou Avedje will be responsible for the maintenance of its latrine, with rewards given to those who comply. Lisa said a group is in Agou Avedje now, looking at the water system and discussing the next steps.
Lisa said that last year work was begun on an RI matching grant for the rest of the latrines and for work on the wells (hand pumps, or perhaps motorized via solar energy). The District Foundation came through with $6,000 in April to start on 50 latrines and the Whitefish Rotary Club has contributed another $1,500, for 11 more latrines.
Thank you, Lisa, for an interesting program!
We closed the meeting with a recitation of the Four-Way Test.