Day 2

Day 2 was chaos.  During the course of Day 1, I started to pick up on conversations the Bolivians were having concerning their vision for the project- their vision was significantly different than what we had planned for and agreed to.  During Night 1, I moderated a 2 hour long conversation that my friend Stephen called, "The Negotiation."  We had to understand where the community was coming from with their change request; they needed to understand the limitations we had and the dangers of "Engineering from the hip".  We eventually gained alignment and agreed to construct a demonstration unit for pressurized sprinklers that would minimize materials used, freeing the materials up for an alternate pipeline they had in mind.  We also agreed to survey and assist in routing the future pipeline, as well as constructing the main portion the future line would tie in to.  "The Negotiation" ended with an agreement that Day 2 would strictly involve the Auburn Students surveying and taking data- a.k.a no pressure to start physical work.

We arrived at the site day 2 to find 20 villagers waiting for work.  Rather than send them home, we scrambled to find beneficial work for them while we began a hasty reassessment of the project.  We also took the time to explain to everyone present the scope of the project (with the help of our translator) and to answer any question workers had about the ultimate capability of the pressurized pipeline system.

Members of the community holding up a topographical survey and poster of their mountainside.  It was a cool moment that really got people excited about their future ownership. It also gave people confidence that we had been spending time thinking about the project.

A view of the tank. The PVC pipe shown lower-center is fed by a waterfall several hundred yards away.

By the end of day two, we had completed: an initial trench from the tank to the demonstration terrace, preliminary work at preventing runoff from eroding tank foundations, and preliminary evaluation of future pressurized line expansion along the mountain.