Ms. Ada Oko-Williams Wins Water Prize!

We are proud to announce that Ms. Ada Oko-Williams was named the 2013 OU International Water Prize winner on Friday, September 21, on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus at the OU WaTER Symposium. Six respected jurors from the water and sanitation field - Rita Colwell, Marc Parlange, Christine Moe, Idrissa Doucoure, Dennis Warner, and Ravi Jayakaran - selected Ada as the top winer among six worthy candidates. 

Ada Oko-Williams is a true WaSH practitioner
with 14 years of hands-on experience in developing countries.

Ms. Oko-Williams is currently the associate director of Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA) and has more than a decade of experience in the development sector on that continent. Her significant contributions to WSA include bringing about positive change in the lives of many communities in her native country of Nigeria and the West African region.

Ada is responsible for training hundreds of practitioners in the
CLTS (community-led total sanitation) approach to sanitation improvement in West Africa. 

Oko-Williams has been described as a resourceful and dynamic professional with considerable success managing programs designed to improve standards of water, sanitation and hygiene in developing countries, particularly in the West African Region. She is currently engaged in facilitating sanitation strategies, development and programs delivery in seven countries in West Africa.  She is highly experienced in program design and delivery with a special focus on innovation, designing to context and out-of-the-box techniques.

As the recipient of the 2013 OU International Water Prize, Ms. Oko-Williams will deliver the plenary lecture at the 3rd Biennial OU International Water Conference, scheduled for September 23-25, 2013, in Norman, Oklahoma, USA.

Hong Publishes Book and Hosts Workshop in Kenya

CEES faculty and WaTER Center Director Dr. Yang Hong has published a new book titled "Multiscale Hydrologic Remote Sensing: Perspectives and Applications". The book integrates advances in hydrologic science and innovative remote sensing technologies. Raising the visibility of interdisciplinary research on water resources, it offers a suite of tools and platforms for investigating spatially and temporally continuous hydrological variables and processes. Organized into five parts, the book explores hydrologic remote sensing at the local, urban, watershed, and regional scales, as well as the continental and global scale.

The book is a useful reference for students, professionals, scientists, and policy makers involved in the study of global change, hydrologic science, meteorology, climatology, biology, ecology, and the agricultural and forest sciences. It shows how hydrologic remote sensing technologies can be used more effectively to explore global change impacts and improve the design of hydrologic observatories. The book is published by CRC Press and is available from all major retail book outlets. 

Dr. Yang Hong's research has a particular interest in bridging the gap among the
water-weather-climate-human systems across scales in space and time.

Dr. Xianwu Xue, OU Postdoctoral Fellow, is greeted by
Kenyan scientists at the modeling workshop

The National Weather Center's Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing Laboratory (HyDROS), jointly with the NASA-SERVIR Mission, hosted a week-long CREST Hydrological Modeling Workshop in Kenya this year. Dr. Xianwu Xue, a CEES Postdoctoral Fellow working under Dr. Hong, was among representatives from 13 African and Asian countries' Ministries of Hydrometeorology or Disaster Management Agencies in attendance. The goal of the training is to provide technical expertise to participants on CREST- Grid based Distributed Hydrological Model for quantifying stream flow, soil moisture and evapotranspiration by use of NASA satellite rainfall datasets. This is the first workshop of many to transfer NASA and OU jointly developed technology to developing countries.

New Ethiopian Graduate Student

Welcome to Teshome L. Yami, a new graduate student from Ethiopia, who has come to complete his PhD in water treatment in developing countries. His research will center on excess fluoride removal technologies using locally-available materials. Current treatment processes, such as Nalgonda, bone char adsorption, electro-defluoridation, will be compared on the basis of social acceptability and affordability.

Teshome is pictured here with his two daughters, Naty and Melat.
The girls are excited to be enrolled in U.S. schools.

Teshome's undergraduate studies were at the Arba Minch Water Technology Institute in Ethiopia where he earned a B.Sc. He then served the Ethiopian government for 10 years in planning and construction of water supply, irrigation and other rural infrastructure. Then he earned his Master's degree in Hyrdraulics Engineering in corporation with UNESCO - IHE (the Institute for Infrastructure, Hydraulics and Environment) in Delft, Netherlands. 

Teshome show Dr. Lowell Busenitz, OU Business professor, one of the
fluoride treatment tanks set up in a rural village in Ethiopia. 

He then went to work for CARE International in Ethiopia as the Country Coordinator for water and sanitation programs. His valuable experience included coordinating the Milleniam Water Alliance's (MWA) water and sanitation consortium in Ethiopia.

Now Teshome is a full-fledged Sooner!!! His time is currently divided between his family, his research, and "going back to studies" in aquatic chemistry and environmental biology/ecology. His wife's name is Selamawit, and he has three children - daughters Natanim (16 yrs old) and Melat (10 yrs old) and son Daniel (2 1/2 yrs old). The girls are adjusting to life in U.S. public schools, and they especially like music, reading (like their father) and swimming.  Teshome is a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which has an active congregation in nearby Oklahoma City.

Teshome is pictured here on the OU campus with a few of his "bosses" -
Laura Brunson (PhD candidate), Dr. Jim Chamberlain and Dr. David Sabatini

Teshome wishes to express his gratitude to the University, the WaTER Center, and to the Hoving Foundation which is supporting his study in the States. 

Staff Engineer Goes to Drill Camp

Jim Chamberlain, WaTER Staff Research Engineer, attended the 3-day Living Water International drill camp, September 24-26, in Danbury, Texas, south of Houston. Jim and 20 other participants, including some from Tanzania, Guatemala, and Australia, learned the fundamentals of well drilling with the LS100 mud rotary drill rig. Under the expert guidance of their "drill instructor", campers learned how to mobilize and demobilize the rig, how to drill to depths of up to 100 feet, troubleshooting tips and advice, and the essentials of well completion and development. Installation of the hand-operated Bush pump and base assembly followed on the last day.

Chamberlain digs out the mud pit for the circulation of drilling mud.

Jim's team included members from Zimbabwe, Florida and Texas.

The LS100 is the right tool for certain jobs - specifically, drilling a 6-inch borehole at depths of up to 100 feet in soft to medium formations. It will not drill through boulders or loose gravel formations (due to borehole cave-in), and is best utilized in places where people are already using hand-dug wells. Jim quips, with a wink, "Now I can tell people that I have drilled water wells in two emerging regions - Oklahoma and Texas!". But he also looks forward to the day when he can assist or lead a cooperative team of students, volunteers and local villagers in drilling and installing a new well in an area of great need. The LS100 mud rotary rig is a prominent module in the Field Methods course that Jim teaches at the beginning of each summer at the University of Oklahoma.

The finished, installed pump delivers clean water with the stroke of the handle.

Living Water International is a Christian, faith-based NGO that has drilled over 10,000 wells since its founding in 1990.  Their very successful business model is to train, consult, and equip local people in-country to implement sustainable solutions. Their training includes pump repair as well as drill training on three sizes of mud rotary rigs. More information is found here.

Symposium and Announcement of Prize Winner

YOU ARE INVITED!

The OU WaTER Center will host its third biennial WaTER Symposium on water and sanitation issues in developing countries. The event will be held Friday, Sept. 21 from 1:30 to 5 p.m. on the University of Oklahoma Norman Campus in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom of the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Concluding the Symposium, the 2012 Water Prize winner will be announced!

The distinguished jury panel includes: 

• Rita Colwell, Ph.D., Chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc. and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, former Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), and recipient of the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize; 
• Idrissa Doucoure, Director of Water and Sanitation for Africa; 
• Ravi Jayakaran, Ph.D., Vice President of Global Programs, MAP International; 
• Christine Moe, Ph.D., Eugene J. Gangarosa Professor of Safe Water and Sanitation and the Director of the Center for Global Safe Water at Emory University; 
• Marc Parlange, Ph.D., Professor and Dean at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering; and 
• Dennis Warner, Ph.D., Senior Technical Advisor for water supply, sanitation and water resources development for Catholic Relief Services.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

     1:30-1:45     Overview of Water and Sanitation Issues and Panel Introduction

     1:45-2:45     Opening Statements from Panelists (Jurors)

     2:45-3:00     BREAK

     3:00-4:30     Question and Answer Session with Panelists, Students and Participants - Moderated by Dr. Suzette Grillot (OU College of International Studies)

     4:30-5:00     Announcement of the 2012 University of Oklahoma Water Prize Recipient

This event is free and open to the public. 

Please register here or from the OU WaTER Center website by Thursday, September 20

Free parking is available in the lot east of Sarkeys Energy Center on the corner of Boyd St. and Trout Ave. Overflow parking will be available in the lot south of Sarkeys Energy Center off University Pl.

Concluding the symposium, the 2013 OU International Water Prize Winner will be announced!

Sr. Rosemary to Speak on OU Campus

"An Evening with Sister Rosemary" promises to be an inspiring event in which, in addition to viewing the debut of a film on her life, the CNN Hero will speak of her experiences in Uganda on behalf of the orphan girls for whom she has given her life and ministry.  The event will be held on Thursday, August 23, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m., at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History on the OU campus in Norman, Oklahoma.

Sr. Rosemary has spent her adult life rescuing orphan girls from the ravages of Joseph Kony's army, and then training these girls in beneficial life skills, such as cooking, tailoring, reading, and other matters of education. She was recently honored by the Starkey Hearing Foundation with one of this year's humanitarian awards. The event in Minneapolis (August 4) was filled with stars and honored guests, including President Bill Clinton, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, Maria Bello, and many others. To see more about the lovely event, go to the Starkey Hearing Foundation 12th Annual Awards Gala website.  

Sr. Rosemary is pictured along with Maria Bello (actress), President Bill Clinton,
Forest Whitaker (actor) and Okello Sam (Ugandan artist).

Sr. Rosemary Hyirumbe is a Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and founder of St. Monica's Tailoring School in Gulu, Uganda.

Two students from Sooners Without Borders (SWB) traveled to Uganda this summer to work with Sr. Rosemary and, specifically, to help in the building of an ecolatrine for the children at her school. Cate Lynn (see additional information in this newsletter) and Chris Brazile spent several weeks in northern Uganda engaged in some of the many projects that this little dynamo has begun!

Cate Lynn and Chris Breazile pose with Sr. Rosemary
and one of her Ugandan sisters, proudly sporting their "Pros for Africa" t-shirts.

Event details:

Thursday, August 23

6:00 p.m. ……. reception

7:00 p.m. … film / talk / Q&A

Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

The event is being sponsored by Pros for Africa, OU's School of Civil Engineering & Environmental Science, OU's School of Law, Sooners Without Borders (SWB), 

and the WaTER Center. 

The event is free and open to the public.

Cate Lynn's Summer in Africa

OU senior microbiology major Cate Lynn spent four weeks this summer in Africa. In June she participated in a Pros for Africa trip to the Saint Monica's Girls School in Gulu, Uganda, which was founded by CNN Hero, Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe. During her three weeks in Gulu, Cate participated in planning and supervising the building of an ecolatrine and worked in the free clinic at the school. In July, Cate returned to Africa as an intern for the ONE Campaign sponsored by Chegg. That trip took her to Johannesburg, South Africa and Lusaka, Zambia, where she visited several community centers, schools, and HIV clinics. On both trips Cate had the opportunity to interact with development and health professionals invested in water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Children playing on a water pump that supplies the a community center's water tower in South Africa.

 In the clinic in Gulu, Cate saw many patients who suffered from malnutrition and skin issues. She also saw many cases of malaria. Sadly many of the illnesses she saw could have been prevented by improved water and sanitation.

According to Cate, the most overwhelming part of her experience was realizing how understaffed free clinics like the one at St. Monica's really are. Given her plans to attend medical school, Cate is considering working in a developing country and donating some of her time to a local free clinic. Cate called the trip a unique opportunity to absorb the culture and the influence of everyday life on health-related behavior.

Cate and OU student Chris Breazile with a novice at St. Monica's and a University of Oregon student.

Unfortunately, Cate also had the opportunity to learn what many people in developing countries already know about the effects of contaminated water. She was sick five days of this three week trip from using tap water to brush her teeth. She learned from tests later that although water directly drawn from the well in Gulu was clean, storing water presented challenges for keeping it clean. She is depicted below testing water from the storage tanks at St. Monica's.

On her July trip to South Africa and Zambia, Cate spent a week traveling with eight other interns with interest in developing country work. During this trip, she was able to see a broad range of development and medical settings that will be very influential in helping her choose the type of work she wants to do after medical school. Of meeting the many HIV patients, Cate said she learned the invaluable lesson of the maintaining humanity, humility, and patience.

In addition to the clinics Cate visited, she also saw many community centers that provide a home for widows, many of whom are HIV positive. The centers often provide schools for the children of the widows. These centers are an impressive example of social entrepreneurship as they are sustained by the sales of craft goods produced by the women.

Cate with women at a mostly-female community center in South Africa. These women make their living by selling crafts like the bracelets Cate is holding.