View this page "Travel & Logistics Team"

[Joe Graham]

The Travel & Logistics Team had a great meeting tonight, and we've
updated our page. Please check it out!

We have a list of information we need from other teams, so please
start looking out for these things:

Contact Team
· How do we get to the community from the airport?
· How do we get around in the community?
· How many people can the community comfortably house? What is the
housing like? Should we consider camping?
· What is the food like in the community? Should we pack our own as
well?

Health Team
· Are there any health requirements for the trip?
· What will be the First-Aid Kit contents?
· Are there any specific food requirements from the assessment team?
· What sort of water purification will be needed?

Budget & Fundraising Team
· Will it be possible to get airline sponsorship via cheap tickets?

Geo-cultural Team
· What is customary for a house guest to do? Gifts?
· What is the weather like? I.e. what type of clothing will the team
need?

Technical Team
· How many people will go on the assessment trip?
· What equipment will be needed?
· How many translators do we foresee needing?

Let's get this project moving!

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/EWB-ASU-Tsuraku/web/travel-logistics-team
- or copy & paste it into your browser's address bar if that doesn't
work.

[Mehlika Kiser]

I found a website that may provide us with some useful information.  The site was for some ASU Tropic Field Biology trip to Ecuador.  It talks about passports, airline tickets, money, documents, and the kinds of stuff to bring.  Some of it may not apply to us, but a lot of it does.

 

http://lifesciences.asu.edu/bio494/jfouquette/bring.html

 

Enjoy the weekend!

 

Ayla

[Jake Larsen]

I have contacted the ecuador consulate regarding what Items we can and
cannot take through customs and they told me that If we send them
information on the project that they will give us some type of legal
documentations to present in customs so we will not have any
problems. The info they want is:

-Names, Date of Birth, Passport Number of all travelers
-full flight itinerary
-"letter support of the ecuadorian organization to accept the
colaboration and help of you" (his english is a bit confusing)
-a letter from EWB describing our activities in Ecuador, signed by the
president of group.
-list of all supplies we are bringing (medicines, etc.)
-a self addressed stamped envelope to recieve document

If we do all this they basicly give us a get out of jail free card. I
don't know if we need this for the assessment trip, but I just wanted
to let everyone know.

Also, on another note, are we still looking for a professor to become
involved and possibly travel? If so what would their role be? What
type of commitment is required of them? One of my professors
referenced EWB and their sustainability work so I was thinking of
talking to here about the project. I want to get all the correct
information on what we need her for first.

Keep in touch.

Jake

[Mehlika Kiser]

Thanks, Jake, for all of the info you found concerning the Ecuadorian consulate.

As for our mentor, I've attached to this email Form 405 - Mentor Qualifications, that I found on the EWB-USA website.  This document gives a nice description of the role of an EWB mentor.

I've been trying to spread the word about our search for a mentor through different avenues.  I emailed a description of what we're doing with the project application attached to Dr. Westerhoff and Aaron Dotson, a PhD student of Dr. Westerhoff, who has some connections to the professional world.  He's forwarded my email on to two engineers in the Arizona Water Polution Control Association Young Professionals Group, and hopefully they will pass it around as well.

Michal and I are going to soon talk to Dr. Crittenden.

I'm also going to tap into connections I have at Carollo Engineers, a water/wastewater consulting firm, as well as a few other places.

I'll share the responses as I get them.

Ayla

[Jake Larsen]

I have finished and posted the emergency plan (form 606), and my
portion of the presentation slide. The files are "606 completed.doc"
and "Travel Slide.doc". Also be advised that the 606 document, for
some odd reason, freezes up or stops responding if you scroll all the
way down the page and then scroll back to the top. I can't figure it
out, but be sure and save any change immediately is altering it. I'm
sorry, It is weird and frustrating, but I don't have the time at the
moment to fix the problem.

Jake

[Michal Ziv-El]

Hi Technical Team,

I would like to hold a meeting this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. I am not yet sure of the location (ISTB2 would probably be best but I need to see if we can get into a room there).

We have much to prepare and we are beginning to be pressed for time, so we will begin meeting on a weekly basis. If you are part of the travel it is exceptionally important for you to start attending these meetings since you will have a much clearer understanding of the project. If you are not part of the travel team, please don't be deterred from coming since there is still a lot to help out with (I'm not going on the trip either!).

Before the meeting, please read the documents in the links below if you have not yet done so. They will give you a good background to the problems in the community, a general idea of what we need to test for, and some EWB suggested solutions. I realize it is a lot of information, but we will be able to be more productive if everyone is starting from the same base line.

1. The original application- I assume most of you have read this, but if you have not this is essential!
http://ewb-asu-tsuraku.googlegroups.com/web/EWB-USA%20Tsuraku%20Original%20Project%20Application.doc

2. Site Assessment Checklist (form 505)- many of you have probably read this already as well.
http://ewb-usa.org/downloads/Guidelines/Water%20Guidelines_Final.pdf <http://ewb-usa.org/downloads/Guidelines/Water%20Guidelines_Final.pdf>

3. Water Resources Guidelines- a document prepared by EWB with great background for water projects (if this is too technical, at least skim this so that you have a general understanding).
http://www.ewb-usa.org/downloads/SourcebookDownloads/505%20-%20Site%20Assessment%20Checklist%20rev2007-05-30.doc <http://www.ewb-usa.org/downloads/SourcebookDownloads/505%20-%20Site%20Assessment%20Checklist%20rev2007-05-30.doc>

At the meeting I will let you know where we stand with the water and soil testing, and the site topography evaluation.

We have a lot of background learning to do and many skills to master, so come ready to learn some information and help make a plan for the next six weeks.

I will e-mail you as soon as I know the location.

Michal

[Michal Ziv-El]

Hi Technical Team:

The location for the 7:00 p.m. technical team meeting tonight will be Noble Science Library in the very large corner group study room on the third floor. If you do not know which room I am referring to, when you enter the library look up to the third floor and you should see us.

I want to stress again that if you are on the travel team please make an effort to come to this and future meetings (although you do not need to be on the travel team to come!). Please also note my previous e-mail below with the links of some documents that you should read before tonight.

This meeting and future ones will be an hour to an hour and a half and will be very informative and structured, so they will be well worth your time.

See you tonight!

Michal

________________________________

[Michal Ziv-El]

Technical Team (AND TRAVEL TEAM)- this is a long e-mail but please read it.

We had exceptionally bad attendance last night, only three people including myself and only one of the three of us is going on the assessment trip (thank you to the two people who attended!). I understand of course that everyone has other commitments and that last night some people had unavoidable conflicts, however, with the trip coming up in five weeks I sincerely hope that members of the travel team will find a way to attend as many of the technical meetings as possible. I think you will understand from the length of last night's agenda, attached, that the travel team has a lot of basic information to gather and learn and a number of skills to master in order to make this assessment trip as successful as possible.

Due to the 4th of July next week, we decided last night that the best day for NEXT WEEK'S MEETING IS MONDAY, JULY 2 AT 7:00 P.M. AT NOBLE LIBRARY 2ND OR 3RD FLOOR CORNER GROUP STUDY ROOM (depending on which is available). Please let me know ASAP if you have a conflict with this day and time.

Attached is the agenda from last night. Please read through this carefully. You will notice that there are a number of small presentations that I would like members of the travel team (or Andy, since he wanted to do one as well) to present at Monday's meeting. I'm relisting the presentation topics here so that it is very clear. Plan for a five minute presentation with two to three very informative power point slides- please send these to me before the meeting!

1. Percolation and soil classification and give ideas about where we can practice these techniques (if you choose this one, I will send you a USDA fact packet which has most of the information you will need) + how to measure flow rates using a stick and/or bucket and stop watch

2. Why we test for each of the water quality parameters listed under the onsite testing, and safe levels of each contaminant (you can get most of the information you'll need from the packet Simple Test Procedures for Rural Drinking Water Sources that Mark posted on the group page, and the rest of the information from EPA web pages)

3. Look into different types of latrines suitable for developing countries - this should include basic information, sources with more detailed information, and ideas about the types of materials required- you don't need to become an expert, just give us an idea about this topic (Cori, I know you started looking into this already so you get first dibs on this one)

4. Rainwater from rooftop harvesting- this should include basic information, sources with more detailed information, and ideas about the types of materials required - you don't need to become an expert, just give us an idea about this topic (section 4.1.1 in the Water Resources Guidelines packet that I sent the link to previously will give you a good introduction).

5. Catchments and storage dams- this should include basic information, sources with more detailed information, and ideas about the types of materials required- you don't need to become an expert, just give us an idea about this topic (section 4.1.2 in the Water Resources Guidelines packet that I sent the link to previously will give you a good introduction).

6. Riverbank Filtration- this should include basic information, sources with more detailed information, and ideas about the types of materials required- you don't need to become an expert, just give us an idea about this topic

Mark and I will be preparing a preliminary list of interview questions for the community (he will be focusing on health questions and I will be focusing on technical questions).

Let me know by the end of the day which presentation you would like to do. If you have questions about these presentations or about last night's agenda, feel free to contact me. You can e-mail or call (if you need my phone number I can send it to you individually- I don't want to post it here).

Last, I want to remind you to please read the documents for which I sent you the attachments previously. I know that the Water Resources Guidelines is very detailed and you won't retain all the information, but skimming over it is very important.

I hope together we can prepare the travel team for a very successful assessment trip!

Michal

[Grant Sharpe]

Notes to all researchers:

The "Fieldguide to appropriate technology" book that we invested in earlier this semester contains much/most of this information.  Also, I've posted some links some time ago on the google groups site that has a lot of references on this information.  If any of you feel like you'd be really interested in something, but don't exactly know where to start looking, please please email me, and I'll see what I can do to guide you.

 

Thanks,

 

-Grant

 

[Cori Oversby]

Hey Guys,

I finished my final, Yeah!!.  So now you have my undivided attention.  I can make the Monday meeting and I will but together the slides for the pit latrines.  I actually have the Field Guide to Appropriate Technology with me right now so I can also look into anything else if you need.  Let me know what you would like me to do (I'm game for anything).  I plan on devoting most of Sunday to research.

Thanks,

Cori 

---

From:  "Michal Ziv-El" <Michal...@asu.edu>
To:  EWB-ASU Tsurakú Project <EWB-ASU...@googlegroups.com>
Subject:  [EWB-ASU Tsurakú] Technical Team update following yesterday's meeting
Date:  Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:46:37 -0700

>Technical Team (AND TRAVEL TEAM)- this is a long e-mail but please read it.
>
>We had exceptionally bad attendance last night, only three people including myself and only one of the three of us is going on the assessment trip (thank you to the two people who attended!).  I understand of course that everyone has other commitments and that last night some people had unavoidable conflicts, however, with the trip coming up in five weeks I sincerely hope that members of the travel team will find a way to attend as many of the technical meetings as possible.  I think you will understand from the length of last night's agenda, attached, that the travel team has a lot of basic information to gather and learn and a number of skills to master in order to make this assessment trip as successful as possible.
>
>Due to the 4th of July next week, we decided last night that the best day for NEXT WEEK'S MEETING IS MONDAY, JULY 2 AT 7:00 P.M. AT NOBLE LIBRARY 2ND OR 3RD FLOOR CORNER GROUP STUDY ROOM (depending on which is available).  Please let me know ASAP if you have a conflict with this day and time.
>
>Attached is the agenda from last night.  Please read through this carefully.  You will notice that there are a number of small presentations that I would like members of the travel team (or Andy, since he wanted to do one as well) to present at Monday's meeting.  I'm relisting the presentation topics here so that it is very clear.  Plan for a five minute presentation with two to three very informative power point slides- please send these to me before the meeting!
>
>1. Percolation and soil classification and give ideas about where we can practice these techniques (if you choose this one, I will send you a USDA fact packet which has most of the information you will need) +  how to measure flow rates using a stick and/or bucket and stop watch
>
>2. Why we test for each of the water quality parameters listed under the onsite testing, and safe levels of each contaminant (you can get most of the information you'll need from the packet Simple Test Procedures for Rural Drinking Water Sources that Mark posted on the group page, and the rest of the information from EPA web pages)
>
>3. Look into different types of latrines suitable for developing countries - this should include basic information, sources with more detailed information, and ideas about the types of materials required- you don't need to become an expert, just give us an idea about this topic (Cori, I know you started looking into this already so you get first dibs on this one)
>
>4. Rainwater from rooftop harvesting- this should include basic information, sources with more detailed information, and ideas about the types of materials required - you don't need to become an expert, just give us an idea about this topic (section 4.1.1 in the Water Resources Guidelines packet that I sent the link to previously will give you a good introduction).
>
>5. Catchments and storage dams- this should include basic information, sources with more detailed information, and ideas about the types of materials required- you don't need to become an expert, just give us an idea about this topic  (section 4.1.2 in the Water Resources Guidelines packet that I sent the link to previously will give you a good introduction).
>
>6. Riverbank Filtration- this should include basic information, sources with more detailed information, and ideas about the types of materials required- you don't need to become an expert, just give us an idea about this topic
>
>Mark and I will be preparing a preliminary list of interview questions for the community (he will be focusing on health questions and I will be focusing on technical questions).
>
>Let me know by the end of the day which presentation you would like to do.  If you have questions about these presentations or about last night's agenda, feel free to contact me.  You can e-mail or call (if you need my phone number I can send it to you individually- I don't want to post it here).
>
>Last, I want to remind you to please read the documents for which I sent you the attachments previously.  I know that the Water Resources Guidelines is very detailed and you won't retain all the information, but skimming over it is very important.
>
>I hope together we can prepare the travel team for a very successful assessment trip!
>
>Michal

><< 06-27-07meeting.doc >>

---

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[Mehlika Kiser]

We only have five weeks (about 36 days) until the assessment trip, and meeting attendance has been quite poor lately, especially by travel team members.  Not only is it unfair that a few people (some not even on the travel team) should be doing most of the work for this assessment trip, but our project will not be as successful as it could be if everyone traveling to Ecuador is not doing his/her part.  Therefore, I strongly suggest that starting next Monday, July 2, until the travel team departs for Ecuador:

1.  Travel team members must participate on the technical team.  If you want to go on the assessment trip, you MUST know specifically what data needs to be collected, how to properly collect data, and what possible technical solutions might be appropriate for the village.  Such knowledge will be obtained through attending technical team meetings and completing technical reading and tasks.  See Michal's last two emails.

* NOTE: For the meeting on Monday, each person on the travel team must pick one of the presentation topics that Michal has outlined.  Cori has selected the pit latrines.  Please follow Cori's lead - pick your topic and email your topic selection to the group so that no one works on the same topic.

2.  Travel team members must participate on the fundraising team.  Though this is really a task for everyone in the organization, travel team members are especially obliged to actively try to raise money because the total cost of travel per person is going to be at least $900.

3.  If you expect to be on the travel team, you should not miss more than two meetings out of all of the meetings you should be attending  (technical, fundraising, and general meetings).  And if you do miss one or two meetings, it is your responsibility to contact the coordinator of the team meeting that you missed to find out what you missed and what you can do.  Or if you had a task due for that meeting, you should submit it before hand to the team coordinator.  This is just common sense stuff that one would do for any group project, whether for school or a professional job.  Please uphold the same professional standards for this project.

I know this sounds like a LOT of work, and of course, we all have lives outside of EWB.  But this is a real project, one that people are depending upon for their health and well-being and one that should train us to be better engineers (whether an engineering student or not) and project managers.  This sort of project demands a lot of time, dedication, and passion.  I strongly believe that folks that want to travel should be ready and willing to commit the necessary time, dedication, and passion to make this project successful.  If you think the above three points are too demanding or you can't commit as much as you'd like because you have a lot going on in other areas of your life, then please reconsider being on the travel team.  Everyone is welcome to contribute what they can to the project, but I believe the travel team members hold a lot more responsibility than non-traveling members because they are the ones who are actually going to be interacting with the community and doing the hands-on technical work.  Knowledge and preparation are key!

Ayla

[Elsy.E...@asu.edu]

Hello all,
I just check the flights in expedia and the Lacsa price is $516, I don't think
is bad at all. Leaving from LA.

I'll keep looking for prices
Elsy

[Jake Larsen]

Hello EWB friends!

I sent out all the documents to the Ecuador consulate today. Thanks
Mark and Cori for getting me the lists this weekend! Things seem to
be falling into place. I am leaving town tomorrow morning (Tuesday)
and will return on Thursday, August 2. I don't know if I will have
email access the entire time, but if anyone needs anything feel free
to call my cell phone. Take care everyone and I will see you all
soon!

Jake