Digging trenches for a water project in Daldal

After two and a half weeks in Shell (3000ft altitude) we all traveled to the mountain community of (12000ft) to help dig 14km of trenches for their water project. It was a stark contrast from the jungle, but very beautiful nonetheless


Below: Head engineer Bruce Rydbeck inspects the most recently installed collector tank. It's very simplistic so that the locals can keep it running, yet just technological enough to do the job. Pretty sweet.


Below: Engineer Ephraim leads our group to the next collector box. HCJB likes to hire Ecuadorians such as Ephraim, who grew up just a short distance from Daldal, as they know more about the land and people and culture than any gringo could.


Below: We also worked with the kids in the community as well. We were very intentional on teaching them hygiene, by making them wash their hands before they were given their snack. Clean water can't help anyone without proper hygiene and sanitation.

Location:Daldal, Ecuador

i-TEC

Just across the street from the HCJB community development office in Shell is Steve Saint's i-TEC organization which utilizes modern technology to equip jungle missionaries and doctors that serve in remote regions. The foldable chair in the pictures below are a great example. The chair folds into a 30ish pound backpack that can be easily transported by the missionaries who are dropped by plane into the Amazon. Sort of like the Swiss Army Knife for missionaries, this chair can act as a dentist chair, stretcher, or operating table that is perfect for doctors looking to help the romote communities. Villagers in Woarani, Shwar, Quechua and other jungle communities will now have access to a sort of medical attention the likes they have never even dreamed of before. Now that is what I call engineering.

i-TEC

A Pleasant Surprise

Sort of by accident, I got a brief break from autoCAD today just in time to join our Media Interns as they interviewed Mincaye, the infamous warrior from the Waorani tribe featured in "End of the Spear". It was incredible to see as from the outside it would have seemed that we the most opposite people in the world, yet because of the selfless act of missionaries (Nate Saint, Jim Elliott, etc.) back in 1956, Mincaye (now a christian) I felt as if I was reuniting with an old friend. 

Renee Lau, Ryan Hough and myself, the engineering interns in Shell, spent one our weeks surveying in the jungle just outside of the community of Amazonas. These pics just barely scratch the surface of the adventures we had while mapping out the river. The concrete box below is the community's current water tank, which at this time contains contaminated water (when we first opened the lid, we were greeted by a wonderful crawfish about the size of a hand). We surveyed further up the river where we found another spring that can be used to pipe in clean water into the tank - after we get rid of the crawfish...

Shell, Ecuador

Below: Outside Hospital Vozandes Del Orient in Shell

Below: Engineer Alfredo Leon (Ecuador) shows us around the hospital. The hatchets in the back were discovered during construction

Below: Inside the hospital. This is John 3:
16 in the Waorani language

Six of us HCJB interns have spent the last week and a half in Shell, Ecuador (The real-life missionary base for the "End of the Spear" story). We are right on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, and incredibly beautiful.

I have been working with two other students and four other full time engineers (each from a different country, representing Ecuador, the U.K, USA, and the Netherlands). We have been working on calculating water usage for the nearby hospital and doing some surveying work for the nearby Amazonas community. Even though I am covered with insect bites, this is truly an incredible opportunity for us to serve. Were I given the chance to go anywhere in the world and do anything, my work this past week would probably be at the top of that list.