Chapter Meeting4/12/10

Tag Sale

When: April 30th, 8 am – 4 pm

Where: 7 Hale St Ext, Vernon

-Donations are Tax Deductable so start your spring cleaning now!

Hartford Botanical Garden

Where: Colt ParkWhen: Saturday May 14th and 15th

What we need1) Volunteers!

10 people on Saturday, 30 people on SundayBring your neighbors, bring your friends!

2) Tools to useShovels (large and small)WheelbarrowsHoes

CT Invention Convention

When: Saturday May 14th

Where: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, CT

-If you are interested

please let Beth Matonak

know:  

beth.matonak@pw.utc.com

CPEP Day, May 21st

Volunteers needed!Where: Hartford Convention CenterWhen: Saturday May 21st, 8AM to 2PMWhat: Staff the Egg Drop Competition!

Students from multiple schools have designed and assembled apparatus to protect up to twelve eggs from a

fall of 30 feet. Will it work? You have to be there to find out!

 If interested please contact Mike Reiter at: Michael.Reiter@pw.utc.com

New Britain Rock Cats

Let’s

try

this

agai

n!

Possible Dates:July 31st, 1PM vs Bowie SoxAugust 20th, 7PM vs Hew Hampshire Fisher Cats

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

-HPC team traveled to India in February-Final implementation trip to India

-HPC will continue to monitor the projects that we helped build over the last 5 years

-In March the chapter selected Sabhung, Nepal as the desired location for our next program

- Application was submitted on April 8th

Sabhung, Nepal Project Description• The current major need, as requested by the community, is a water supply system.• 2484 people directly effected.• Women and children spend many hours every day walking to and carrying home

water. This means the women have less time to earn income and the children often miss school.

• Two water sources currently being used by the community:• A well that is a 15 minute walk from one portion of the community (ward 7).• A waterfall that is a 1 hour walk from another portion (ward 8).

• Not known if water treatment and storage tanks will be needed.• EWB’s role will be to:

• assess the community and its water sources.• design and implement a water system.• educate/train the community on the functions and responsibilities of a water

committee as well as system maintenance and fee structure/uses.

Sabhung, Nepal

Sabhung

Sabhung, Nepal

Progress / ScheduleMarch 13th – HPC project selection voting concluded.April 8th – Submitted project application to EWB-USA (April 10th deadline).

• May 8th – Expect to get verdict from EWB-USA.

• May 9th – Initiate contact with NGO

• Late May – Project meetings begin.

• August 14th – Submit assessment plan to EWB-USA.

• Sept. 8th – TAC.

• October – Assessment trip.

• January, 2012 – Submit implementation plan to EWB-USA.

• February, 2010 – TAC.

• April, 2012 – Implementation trip.

• Nepal's monsoon season is during June, July and August, and it is not recommended to travel then. The dry season is at its height in April-May and is a good time to assess water sources at their lowest output.

Community & Partner Involvement• Namlo will provide an in-country contact person who can assist with finding

lodging, meals, transportation and community labor resources.

• Laura Welland, a member of the West Coast Technical Advisory Committee, travels frequently to Nepal (3 – 4 times per year). She is willing to provide whatever possible to the chapter on this project and serve as a liaison as well as travel with the team at her own expense.

• There is an international chapter of EWB in Nepal, headed by Pawan Shrestha. They have shown interest in the EWB-USA projects in Nepal and can coordinate with local universities to collaborate.

• The Sabhung community has agreed to provide:

• manual labor.

• rough accommodations - thin mattresses on a dirt floor.

• begin fee collections to assist as they can with finances.

NGO – Namlo International• Founded in 1999 by Magda King - first Spanish woman to summit an 8000m peak• Headquartered in Denver, CO• Operate 5 interrelated programs:

• School construction• School improvement• Sustainable community development• scholarships• Sister schools

• Don’t have engineering expertise.• Have been working in Sabhung for 2 years - built a school for 800 students.• In November, 2008 Namlo volunteers were told by villagers that this was the first

time westerners had ever visited their community.

Preliminary HPC Team

• Project lead – Jeff Lake

• Technical lead – Tim Onderko

• Education lead – Tim Onderko

• Health and Safety Officers - Nadia Glucksberg & Mike Reiter

• Community Heath Assessment Lead – TBD but working with Marcia Hughes from the University of Hartford and Judy Lewis from the UConn Heath Center.

• You can participate too! Now and over the next 5 years.

Backup

Nepal

Budget• Flights from JFK to Pokhara are $2700.• Daily living expense can vary greatly within the Kathmandu Valley (or Pokhara) at

various hostels and hotels. A hotel room can cost anywhere from $10/day to $300/day.

• A vehicle will have to be hired to get to Sabhung after flying to Pokhara; this may cost $100/day.

• Daily cost of living in Sabhung will be less than $5/day.

Nepal - Travel and SafetyTravel

• Approximately 28 hour trip just to Kathmandu• Fly to Kathmandu and then short flight to Pokhara. Hire car to get to Sabhung• Estimated $2,300 per person for travel• Room and board can cost between $10 and $300 per day

Safety• Foreigners are treated with curiosity, friendliness and great respect in Nepal• Maoists declared a cease-fire in 2006 and have a written peace agreement

with the national government

Medical• Several Hospitals in Pokhara• Westerners use CIWEC clinic in Kathmandu, which is run by Canadians