UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies

So far, I have been quite healthy.  Only 3 mosquito bites, and Malarone has a pretty good record of keeping people safe from malaria.  Of course, there has been some stress, but overall, it has been incredible.  I was in a room with 56 women who are all leaders in this water development and community work.....it is almost impossible to describe the energy, conversations, dancing, and focus.  We worked very hard for 7 days having class in the morning and then hands-on infrastructure building every afternoon. Mildred Mkandla and I have become good friends.  She says she is "65 years old and retired , but not tired ," and that is an understatement.  I could hardly keep up with her.  She was mixing cement when all but the youngest of us had run out of steam.  My three teams are all at different levels of organizing experience.  The team I will be working with from August 8th to 13th are superstars, and I know I will learn a lot ...

Rainwater harvesting is a powerful solution to many of our issues of water around the world.  There are different reasons for this in different parts of the world.  In East Africa, many women walk several miles a day just to fetch water for their families.  These walks are often dangerous and many women become victims of rape and violence while trying to obtain water for their families.  On Thursday, during the advanced training, we (leaders in training) went to the site (a local school) where we will be building a rainwater harvest tank. We wanted to prepare the site so it would be ready when the grass roots leaders arrived the following week for training.  Unfortunately, the materials we needed to prep the site were not available.  But Mildred Mkandla, our trainer from Zimbabwe, was not deterred by this circumstance.  She was there to train us about rainwater harvest, so she took advantage of the opportunity to show us how many ways we can harvest ...

Despite high levels of GDP per capita, over 36% of Peru’s population lives below the poverty line, approximately three million struggle in extreme poverty, and nearly half of the population living in extreme poverty resides in rural areas. Reflecting this level of social and economic inequity is the correspondingly low level of food security in these remote communities. For this reason, I have been working for the past three weeks in the remote districts of La Mar, Huancavelica and Huanta, areas of historically low economic development and high social exclusion. These specific areas continue to suffer from the combined effects of Shining Path terrorists and counter-terrorists conflict over the past three decades, as well as contemporary narco-trafficker activity. As a result, education, capital, and infrastructure levels are low. The scope of our project here is to two-fold: to both monitor the level of food insecurity in the region, and work with clients to collect impact reports ...

The ¨pristine myth¨ of virgin Amazonian wilderness has been debunked. As Charles Mann describes in 1491, humans had been constructing their natural environment --what we deem "wilderness"-- for centuries before the arrival of Columbus.  What does this mean for preservationist tactics that have been at the forefront of  the 20th century western conservation stategy? With the support from the UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies through their student project grants program and the UC Davis International Relations department, I have travelled to the community of Santa Cruz del Valle Ameno in the municipio Apolo, within the borders of the ¨Integrated Manegement Natural Area - Madidi National Park¨ in North-east Bolivia. The town has a rich history as a center of missionary activity for the whole area. The mixing of cultures through missionary activity has left the town´s 65 families with a complex relationship and blending of their indigenous identities....

I have been working with the non-profit Global Brigades on a series of home infrastructure projects! Students from UC Davis, UCLA and Maryland united forces to become the "Bruggies" and work with the rural community of Zurzular. We’ve been pouring cement floors in homes to alleviate the prevalence of Chaggas disease, building special stoves to help combat respiratory problems, building latrines and pilas for water storage, and teaching classes in Spanish about the human body to the children. In Honduras, I found enjoyment in simple pleasures: long bus rides across Honduras’ beautiful, mountainous terrain, dancing to the tunes of Latin reggaeton, making friendship bracelets for new friends, plantains as a guest-star in every meal and in a new form. The sun rose, I spent the day doing construction, and then the sun set. The Internet and the rush of daily life felt so far away. My time with the community of Zurzular was brief, but action-packed. I met great people, learne...

Currently, the Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh produces just enough food for its population of 190 million. Poor irrigation methods and crop management are rapidly depleting the state’s water table. Most smallholder farmers cannot afford new wells and are looking for alternative methods to reduce their water consumption but still improve their livelihoods. The goal of our project is to find mechanisms for improving agricultural production, increase farmer incomes, and foster sustainable agricultural practices through reduced water consumption and improved land management. We are seeking to match or enhance the expected performance while further reducing costs of irrigation systems that are currently marketed to smallholder farmers throughout the developing world. We hope to develop a model that can be used by development organizations to recommend the most appropriate systems for their client farmers. In June, we traveled to Uttar Pradesh, India for field work. We are collabor...

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), “women are most often the collectors, users and managers of water in the household as well as farmers of crops.”   More than half of the 1.2 billion people who do not have access to water are women and girls.   When water sources are contaminated or unavailable, women may be required to expend more labor collecting, storing, and protecting their water source.   The UN estimates that in some parts of Africa , women and children spend up to eight hours per day collecting water.   This summer I am a “fellow” in the Global Women’s Water Initiative.   This program has been running since 2008 and this year it is centered in Uganda .   It supports women who are bringing water technologies to their communities.   I will be here for seven weeks. Training near Kampala , Uganda The overall program uses the United Nations WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) training program.   It ...