Hydroelectric Plant in Ipiales

Today we visited El Sactuario de Las Lajas in Ipiales, Colombia. It is a typical border town. It is smelly, expensive, polluted and the people are not very nice. However, this amazing piece of architecture makes staying in this place vale la pena. Built on the river under the cathedral is a hydroelectric plant! Amazing!

Water like wine to a traveler

The first question a traveler always asks when she arrives at her destination is about the quality of the water. If locals recommend drinking the water, the traveler might fill her reusable plastic bottle and observe the color and the size of the particles swimming around the bottom of the bottle. She will swirl the liquid around the edge of the bottle one more time before taking a whiff and a cautious sip. After tasting the local fair, the traveler must decide if this fine water is a liquid she is willing to stomach. Like wine, the risk is high, for you might regret it in the morning.

Cali, Coconuco, Pasto

I landed in Cali on Saturday morning. The plan was to spend the rest of the weekend dancing in the salsa capital of the world. Unfortunately, ley seca ruined that opportunity. During election weekends in Colombia all the discos shut down. Not a great weekend to be in Cali.
Water-Drinkable

Instead of hanging out in a quiet Cali we traveled first to Popoyan and then on to Coconuco. This tiny village boasts hot springs fed by an active volcano. The pools of steamy sulfur water are a greenish yellow and smell like a New York City bathroom but were fantastic for soaking. A family from Cali told us that we had to soak in the sulfur pools for 5 minutes and then shower in cold water from the spring before getting back in the hot springs. Bathe, rinse repeat 10 times and you have completed the therapy, for what I am not sure.

Water- untreated spring water and not considered drinkable by local standards.

Pasto water- a little smelly from the nearby volcano but safe to consume.

Proyecto Titi (Cotton Top Tamarin Monkey Conservation)

Projecto Titi is an organization dedicated to preserving the land and ecosystem that is home to Cotton Top Tamarin Monkeys that can only be found in Colombia. The conservation area I visited is located between Barranquilla and Cartagena close to the community of Los Limites.

Is the water drinkable?

No- The forest in this area is only 3% of it's original size. The rest of the land has been cleared for cattle ranches. The run-off from these ranches makes water in this area unsafe to drink. The elevated tank pictured here holds rain water and is used for the sanitary system.

Where do community members get their drinking water?

Water is delivered in 20 gallon tanks from Cartagena. One of these tanks costs 6,000 COP (about 3 USD). Because water is expensive, people also boil water to kill pathogens. However, this has lead to the overuse of wood as fuel and further contributed to deforestation.

Click here to see more pictures and videos or go to this website to find out more about Proyecto Titi

I recently became interested in the impact clean drinking water availability has on the education and quality of life of women and children. Water is something many people take for granted. However, billions of people are without access to clean drinking water and thousands of people die each year because they consume water contaminated with bacteria, viruses and parasites. Most of these fatalities are children. As I travel across Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, I will document the drinking and sanitary water systems that are available to people living in each community I visit. I am traveling from Cali, Colombia to Santa Cruz, Bolivia in June and July by bus and will visit countless communities from the Pacific Coast to the Amazon River Basin. During this time I plan to do the following:

1. Review academic literature related to clean drinking water and education.
2. Reading and critical analysis: I will read 5 books and watch 3 documentaries related to the global water crisis and critically review each of them based on my reading and review of current academic literature.
3. Survey of water systems in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. I will create a photo log and travel blog related to water accessibility, quality and distribution systems.

I plan to read at least 5 of the following 10 books on water and critically analyze each of the texts:

1. Planet Water: Investing in the World's Most Valuable Resource (2009)
2. Water for Sale: How Business and the Market Can Resolve the World's Water Crisis (2005)
3. When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century (2007)
4. Aqua Shock: The Water Crisis in America (2009)
5. Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization (2010)
6. Lines in the Water: Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca (2002)
7. When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century (2007)
8. In the Public Interest: Health, Education, and Water and Sanitation for All (An Oxfam International Research Report-2006)
9. ¡Cochabamba!: Water War in Bolivia (2008)
10. Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit (2002)
11. Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource (2001)

I will watch and analyze the following movies:

1. Blue Gold: World Water Wars (2008)
2. Flow: How did a handful of corporations steal our water (2007)
3. Beyond Global Warming (2008)

Interviews and surveys: As I travel from Cali, Colombia to Santa Cruz, Bolivia I will photograph and document the water systems that exist in each location. I will conduct informal interviews with residents to determine the accessibility of tap water, the quality of the tap water, where people get their drinking water and what systems are in place to dispose of waste water.