It has been an incredibly productive day here in Ubujan. We started off the day collecting water samples from the different sources in the community. There were 11 sites of interest, spread apart through thick jungle, rice fields, and the main road. We trekked on foot to each location, giving us a real sense of what the entire landscape looked like. When we got to a site, we would clean the water source first, before filling a container and carefully sealing it. To get to the water from the wells, we tied a heavy rock to a container, followed by a fishing wire; slowly lowering it down. After a few hours of hard work and beautiful views, we had collected all of our samples. Some of the samples were then taken to the city to test for bacteria presence, whilst the rest of the water samples were set aside for an afternoon of testing.
After a delicious lunch, the crew headed to the town center or “Barangay Hall” to set up for water testing. We decided to do it outside on the stage in front of the building, allowing members of the Water Council to participate and learn how to do the test, as well as giving the opportunity for community members to oversee what we were doing. The water testing was tedious and often repetitive, but we all stayed motivated after seeing the excitement and eagerness in the eyes of the Water Council members who came to help. After school ended, we were suddenly surrounded by a sea of children, curious to see what bizarre and unusual thing we had come to do today. As we performed titrations and mixed reagents, the kids started with awe, as if watching the most fascinating movie. Eventually, we even got them to count for us in Visayan when we needed a timer! So far all of the testing (arsenic, pH, hardness, etc.) produced results that were not out of the ordinary.
Peace, <3, EWB,
Melissa