It is Tuesday and I am in DF (Mexico City) so it must be time for Tacos :)

This great lunch was on 55 Peso's :)

I can say if this little place had a "taco truck" in Seattle or Portland there would be a line around the block.

Global Technology Impact Forum

It now 3.:45 in Geneva Switzerland, and I just finished my presentation about our work we are doing with the Hunger Project to to conference.

I was well received and my talk generated some lively discussion about open source and community commons copy rights.

My presentation was an eye opener to most in the room as to income inequality and how simple technologies can help break the cycle of poverty, and open the door to local enterprises to help reduce economic leakages.  

Relaxing before the 10+ hour flight to Amsterdam

Rick is at SeaTac relaxing before the 10+ hour flight to Amsterdam, and then on to Geneva for a conference. Rick is an invited speaker at the Global Technology Impact Forum 

Rick will be giving a talk about our work in Mexico and Haiti, and talk about the upcoming pilot with the Hunger Project.

New improved cook stove ready for the Hunger Project

For the past month I have been working on improving our design of our high efficiency clean cook stove.  The modification process has been many steps of trial and some success method :)

On the upside the new stove will boil 5 liters of water in about 11-15 minutes on about 500gm of wood, and the second pot (5 liters) gets to about 120F.  When you compare this to the typical 3-stone fire this is a vast improvement.  A 3-stone fire take 45+ minutes to boil 5 liters of water! In a 45 minute simmer test the new stove only consumes about 300 gm of wood.

In addition, the stove produces no inside smoke (other than when lighting it).

During our upcoming pilot implementation we will take lots of photos, but they will not be posted until we return to Mexico City because there is no real internet in remote part of Oaxaca.

Please check back for updates over the next month as Rick is going to Geneva Switzerland for a conference then directly to Oaxaca for the Hunger Project work.

Pilot program with The HUNGER PROJECT- Mexico

I am happy to announce that we will be spending late January most of February 2013 in the remote mountains of Oaxaca working with the Hunger Project-Mexico on the first implementation in the San Jose Tenengo region.  This pilot is our first implementation in this remote region.  Last summer Rick spend several weeks performing a site visit there and we have been working on the implementation proposal ever since.

This pilot will be in the community of Pedra De Luz (a community near the road), but is still a 2 hour dirt road drive from San Jose Tenango.  In Pedra Da Luz we will be building  a 20,000 liter rain harvesting system, composting latrine and clean cook stove in three different houses.

This pilot is the first of a large scale project (5,000-10,000) homes!

Because of the access issues (some communities are 2+ honor hike from a road) we have had to redesign all of our systems to accommodate the access issues.  This pilot will test these new system and feasibility for the more building them in the more remote communities.

San Jose Trenango has only one phone line and no cell service, and the communities don't have any communication (phone, radio), thus, we will have a satellite phone.  This is just a long way to say once we are in the field we are "unplugged".

Rick is going to Geneva for the Global Technology Impact Forum

I have been invite to speak at the Global Technology Impact Forum (GTIF) 2013. The conference is Jan 20-23 to be held at the World Patent Organization head offices in Geneva Switzerland.  I will be giving a 20 minute talk, and be part of a panel discussion.  In addition, There is a concurrent show Invent for Humanity. Here we will have a table with posters and handouts.

I was invited because of our work with the Hunger Project-Mexico, and my involvement with Tech for Trade and UW's 3D-printing prize.

Support our Year end campaign

Consider making a year-end, tax deductible donation to Water for Humans to help provide water and sanitation to five remote, rural villages in the northern mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. 

Water for Humans is working with THE HUNGER PROJECT (THP) in Mexico, which completed a yearlong process of developing community plans for each of the villages. Their top priorities are improving their water and sanitation conditions. We are providing technical expertise to complement excellent social work THP does to empower community members. 

During the dry season (Dec - March), villagers hike up to five hours a day (both ways) through mountainous, treacherous terrain to obtain water. For sanitation, they now use shallow pit toilets which risk ground water contamination and the spread of disease vectors. 

Our solutions include household rainwater harvesting, agricultural rainwater harvesting, water filtration (for drinking) and composting (dry) latrines. 

Your contribution today will benefit the residents of Cerro Alto, Cerro de Trueno, Piedra de la Luz, Rancho Pineda and Rancho Genova by bringing water and better sanitation to these villages. 

Please meet Maria Tejeda Garcia from Cerro Alto. She hikes over 1.5 hours in each direction to get her daily water during the dry season. She cooks on an open fire (three stone) and has a substandard latrine. 

Your donation will help Maria upgrade these outdated systems. 

• Your gift of $60 will provide the conveyance (gutters and downspout) & first flush filter for a household rainwater harvesting system;


• Your gift of $40 will provide a slow, biosand filter to purify the water for drinking;


• Your gift of $350 will provide a complete dry latrine;


• Your gift of $225 will provide a high efficiency long life clean cook stove.

You can make it happen with just a few clicks of your mouse!

  The villagers are looking to you to help with $40, $60, $225 or $350 by clicking here Donate Now. It's that easy.

Will you help us get to the next stage of this important project? We hope your answer is 'yes' and say MUCHAS GRACIAS!

Gratefully,
Rick and Stan

We hope you and your family are enjoying the holidays.


To learn more about Water for Humans and our work in Oaxaca please visit our website:www.waterforhumans.org and check our Blog. Remember to "like us" on Facebook.