Bassin Zim 2017

This month I took my ecology 201 class (freshmen) on its annual trip to Bassin Zim near Hinche.  Classes are getting larger each year, so we had to divide the group up between two Saturdays.  There is now a sign at Bassin Zim with entrance fees, so we didn’t have the usual dramatic haggle of price negotiation.  Maybe someone saw last year’s blog post complaining about that?  The fee is $5 for foreigners, and 50 gds (78 cents) for Haitians, and they give us a reduce price!  The goal of the trip was for students to experience performing a bioassessment of the site, comparing the basin below the falls (where people swim, wash, etc.) to the small stream that comes out of the cave above the falls.  There is a remnant of a forest along this river – perhaps because of the spiritual taboo of cutting trees around cave entrances.  

We looked at land use, tested water quality (bacteria, nitrate, phosphate, pH, DO), and used sPer environmental meters* to measure air temp, humidity, light, and wind.  No one killed anything this time, and students picked up their liter.  I tried to give the young ‘guides’ (kids who live near the park and grab your hand to ‘help’ you, hoping for a tip) some suggestions for protecting the park, like use the paved paths.  See the Audubon Center blog for comparison of results over the years.

*Thanks to the 2016 Amazon Workshop for introducing me to these meters and guiding us through activities in how to engage students in environmental science.  Click here to sign up for their workshop in the Peruvian Amazon.

Biodiversity of Riviere Glace

Riviere Glace is a beautiful river than runs near the village of Duchity, a town about an hour's drive north of Les Cayes Haiti.  Along the river the highway is being widened and paved, and right before Duchity there is a new bridge.  Stop at this bridge and hike upstream along and through the river about 100 m and at a bend in the river you will come to a series of clear cool pools perfect for swimming on a hot day.  Unfortunately the road construction along this stretch threatens this pristine river.  Here are some photos of what the area looked like on 22 March 2015.

Epilobocera haytensis Rathbun, 1893

Deep pool at the bend (note the gabion) and riffles upstream (no gabion).

Gabion at the bridge.

Mayfly larvae on a rock in the river.

The deep pool at the bend in the river.

Two tadpoles and a damselfly larvae.

The view upstream from the pool.  Road-side bank is on the left and has no gabion.

View walking upstream from the bridge.  Note the calf (and cow) by the river!

Great workshop at AUC

We had a great 2-day workshop for the sophomores at AUC.  The first day was in the classroom, where Dr. Donald Huggins and I discussed the biological, chemical, and physical components of watersheds and water quality.  Students asked a lot of thoughtful questions.  The second day we all went to a river crossing in Simon where we applied all the classroom concepts by filling out a stream evaluation form and measuring the in situ chemistry of the stream.  Dr. Huggins even found a dragonfly nymph to demonstrate how they catch prey.  Thanks to the University of Kansas for helping with funding and to AUC for hosting us!

Aquatic Ecology workshop for AUC students

Here is the schedule for the Aquatic Ecology workshop that Dr. Donald Huggins and I are presenting at the American University of the Caribbean in Les Cayes Haiti.  This is for the SOPHOMORE class at AUC, since they took Tropical Ecology last fall but we never got to go in the field.  There is room for 30 students.  Other students may come if there is space, but no more than 30 total may be in the workshop. 

Tuesday May 7th
9am - 12:30pm Classroom lecture about water quality and importance of watersheds

Wednesday May 8th
8:30 - 10:00 am Half the class will meet to learn about equipment and how to evaluate the stream behind campus.
10:15 - 11:45am The other half of the class with meet to repeat this.

3:00pm  Dr. Huggins will give a talk to everyone at AUC about environmental engineering.

Thursday May 9th
 8:30 - 10:00 am Half the class will meet at AUC to walk to the canal near SEED to learn how to evaluate it.
10:15 - 11:45am The other half of the class with meet to repeat this.

Dr. Huggins will also speak at the Botanical Garden at 4pm on Friday May 3 about why we need to protect Haiti's watersheds.  Dr. Huggins is a scientist in the aquatic ecology unit at the Kansas Biological Survey in the USA. 

Thanks to the University of Kansas for contributing travel funding for this trip!

Use of water quality test kits in Haitian ecology conference

At both ecology conferences I taught about bacteria using the portable microbiology labs that Dr. Bob Metcalf of California State University developed for use in Africa. The kits detect both coliform bacteria that usually occur in the environment and do not cause human health risks, and a type of coliform called E. coli that come from human and livestock kaka (the universal term for poop).  One type of E. coli makes us sick, but even the presence of non-harmful E. coli indicates that our kaka is in the water and probably other things such as cholera and dysentery that makes us sick. Contaminated water needs to be boiled before drinking. It seems that people already treat their water, so I presented this as a way to track down sources of contamination. The coliform bacteria in the water sample will grow as red spots on the petri plates and make the water in the tubes turn yellow. If these coliform are E. coli from kaka, they will be blue on the plates and fluoresce when a black light is shone of the tubes. The tubes and plates need to be incubated for 12 hours the bacteria to grow. In lieu of an electric incubator one can incubate them against the body under the waistband.

I handed out 3 bags of 4 kits (plate + tube) to people at the first conference on the second day of the conference, then wizened up for the second conference at Riske de Cayahonde and handed them out the 1^st day so that people could bring them back and I could help them interpret the results. These observations are from the 2^nd conference (see pics). I showed three people how to use the kits (with the rest of the class watching), but didn’t have a spare plate to show for real how to put the water on the plates. That was a mistake – only one person got it right! I don’t know what the old man did – he had time to do only 2 of the tests and it looks like he just put a couple drops of water on the plates. The tubes were still clear which means he didn’t incubate anything. He also didn’t label anything. He later spoke up and commended the woman who did everything perfectly and said it’s a lesson in taking education seriously. The class gave her three rounds of applaud. Three people worked together on the third batch of kits. The water wasn’t distributed evenly on the plates so I don’t think they got enough water on it (1ml which is measured with the supplied pipette). But everything was labeled and incubated properly. Next time I need to color code the pairs of tubes and plates since I have difficulty reading the Haitian handwriting. Then at least I know how to pair up the tubes and plates even if I can’t figure out the writing.

Another thing that was difficult was seeing the fluorescence of the tubes with the black light. I didn’t realize that it needed to be very dark to see this. I put the tubes in a cardboard box and peeked in and could tell which tubes fluoresced, but it was too difficult to show this to the class. Next time I’ll use a black bag we can stick our heads in. (Also I didn’t try to explain fluorescence, I called it glowing).

The results are in the pictures of the white board. If the tube is clear and no bacteria grow on the plates, the water is sterile – none were like this of course. If the tube is yellow and the bacteria colonies on the plates are red, then there is coliform but not the E. coli kind. Four of the 8 water samples were like this. Two samples fluoresced but had no blue colonies, thus a moderate risk of getting sick from kaka-carried diseases. Two samples did not fluoresce but did have a couple blue colonies, also a moderate risk of getting sick from kaka carried diseases.

I will translate some of the instructions and interpretation of results into Creole for next year. People need to record the dat (date), lokasyon (location), if the tube turned jòn (yellow), if the colonies were ble (blue), and if this means a risk of maladi (illness). Non = no, wi = yes. Locations included sous (spring), gwo rivye (big river), and a ravin (ravine). Locations in the 2^nd board are place names or descriptions: ti pye = little tree, not sure what the other two are. These kits are great tools for teaching about health and water quality, and I learned a lot about how to better structure the teaching to help people get better results.

Two-day ecology conference

This week I taught the first two-day ecology conference for adults at UCI in Caiman Haiti. There were about 40 men and 2 women. Most of the men were pastors, which here in Haiti are community leaders. One man came for the 1st day on the back of a motorcycle from Hinche, about 2 hours away. Each day started around 8:30am and ended around noon with lunch. I set the teaching materials on the walls around the worship center so people could try them out while we waited and during breaks. Diranot was the translator.

I followed the outline below. The participants were really into discussion and giving examples, sometimes rehashing the same concept (they need to plant more trees, how bad the land is without trees, rats are bad, etc.) without any conclusion. My goal was to convey the science behind the environmental degradation, and I often suggested that some Haitians need to step forward and begin making the changes they want to see in their environment. In lieu of the government stepping in and making laws, I think more education will motivate people to take action.

Day 1 – Water and the landscape
LOCAL SCALE
1. Turbidity – what causes it in the streams and how it kills fish.
2. pH – acidic car batteries and basic soap in the rivers will kill the fish.

LANDSCAPE SCALE
3. Deforestation
a. How does this affect water clarity?
b. In turn – how does it affect fish?
4. Watershed
a. Pointed to surrounding hills and ask where water goes.
b. How would it be different if trees were there?
c. What if neighbor upstream was dumping batteries in the water?
We had a discussion about livestock in the area getting sick and dying, while in another town the livestock are fenced in and water brought to them. I suggested they keep an eye out for pollution in the water that might be harming their livestock.

DRINKING WATER QUALITY - Microbiology and fecal coliform test kits. Using drinking water I demonstrated how to use the ecoli kit, and later tested the sink in the dorm bathroom and the cistern where the women do laundry. The cistern was the only one that showed a fecal coliform colony, which indicates contamination by ‘kaka,’ human or another mammal. This in turns means there’s a moderate risk of a disease like cholera or dysentery in the water. This raised a lot of questions about health and water treatment, most of which I could give only vague answers. There’s plenty of opportunity for someone to teach about this.

Day 2 – Zoology
BIRDS – Louiders talked about his job as bird guide. We talked about hawks killing the rats that kill the chickens. This caused a lot of discussion about the hawks killing chickens. I pointed out that the rats kill more chickens, we just don’t see it, and they would lose even more to rats if there were no hawks. They kept returning to this topic later when I was trying to move on about bats.

Discussion about humming birds led to a lesson in the pollinization of plants. I wanted to cover more topics about birds but time was running short since they kept bringing up the hawks and rats!

BATS – I finally managed to get through the lesson on bats. They thought that bats come from the metamorphosis of old mice – just like caterpillars, the mice go through a stage in which they grow wings. When I heard about this belief last year I thought it must be an old folktale so I asked how they learned it. They are taught it in school! So this will be my focus when I teach in the schools starting on Friday. There is also a fear of bats from their association with voodoo (not sure what their role is in voodoo, something about spirits taking the form of bats). And they thought bats are ugly so I went over the functions of the features on the bats’ faces.

Thanks to everyone who provided the materials I used for teaching – they were put to good use, and I’ll leave it here in a tub for others to use.

Water quality education

This blog will serve as a place to keep track of water quality teaching and testing resources geared toward Haiti. I will teach adult ecology conferences this November. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment!

Watersheds

I would like a portable watershed model (can fit in my backpack) to demonstrate water running downhill, washing away soil if there is no ground cover, etc. Something like these large models: http://www.enviroscapes.com/. Let me know if you know of a place to purchase these, or if you are creative and want to make and donate one. A poster would also serve the purpose of illustrating what to consider in the watershed (riparian veg, cows in the stream, erosion, etc.)

I made this out of a foam modeling clay from the craft store. It’s not waterproof though, but metal beads get the point across about water flowing to the lowest points. One half is a forested watershed, and half is deforested.

Water quality

It was during a water quality lesson at my first conference in 2009 that I realized how much understanding science empowers people. As I was describing how the high pH of laundry soap changes the pH of the river water the women wash in which could kill the fish, a man announced he thought it was voodoo causing their environmental oppression, and he was excited to learn there is a reason that they can do something about. Here I’ll compile resources for teaching about water quality.

World Water Monitoring Day kits – very simple kits to teach and test temperature, DO, pH, and turbidity. http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/ See my previous post about this kit.

Portable Microbiology Laboratory (PML) – I’ll try this out for the first time in Nov. http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Portable_Microbiology_Laboratory

Related materials from the developer of the PML.

http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=3056

http://imageevent.com/bobmetcalf

Water quality groups or resources in Haiti – I’ll keep adding to this list as I come across groups or resources

CARE - We place special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty.

Haiti Outreach - Our work to date has been in the three major areas of clean water, education, and economic development.

Heifer International - also offers youth and adult workshops at their US ranches.

Living Water International - They also offer training in the US in hygiene and well drilling - http://www.water.cc/take-action/training/

Pure Water for the World - is a non-profit (501c3) that works to prevent children from suffering from water-borne diseases that cause pain as a result of improper hygiene habits and consuming contaminated water.

Samaritan's Purse - For over 40 years, Samaritan's Purse has done our utmost to follow Christ's command by going to the aid of the world's poor, sick, and suffering.

SOIL - Sanitation and latrines. Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting soil resources, empowering communities and transforming wastes into resources in Haiti.

Water Missions International - uses low-maintenance, appropriate water technologies for drinking water treatment and distribution, wastewater management, and storm water control.

water.org - Water.org is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization committed to providing safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries.

Clorination options - Five options for household chlorination are available in Haiti: Gadyen Dlo, Dlo Lavi, Klorfasil, Aquatabs, and household bleach.

Potters for Peace - is not directly involved in relief efforts on the ground in Haiti because we have not been approached by any Haitian organizations. What we are doing is working on a project with a local organization (I.D.E.A.C.) in the Dominican Republic that is helping a local filter producer to re-tool and increase production. Through these efforts they will soon be able to expand their distribution to Haiti.

World Water Monitoring Day

The World Water Monitoring Day organization sent me 4 water testing kits and 50 pamphlets written in French. Louiders, his sister Soyrina, and I have tested water at 4 sites, plus the tap water from the UCI cistern. (The plan was to distribute the kits among the schools that I visited, but schools and meetings are canceled due to the earthquake). We tested the tap water here at UCI where I could more thoroughly explain the kit to Louiders, and he in turn used the kit to teach 7-year old Myriam (in yellow) about water quality. Myriam is from one of the families displaced by the earthquake. She is very smart, can read English even if she doesn't know the meaning. I have been teaching her ecology using the worksheets that I intended to distribute at the schools. I have also been sharing my other teaching resources (books, binoculars, coloring activities) with the kids who are now living here.

The photos show the river crossing north of the Bohoc market, and a well from which people get their water.