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WakaWater refers to how Italian architect Arturo Vittori visited a village in Ethiopia and witnessed the shocking sight of children and villagers carrying dirty water containers and walking for more than six hours a day. Moreover, the places where they fetched water were contaminated with dirty, muddy water, and the villagers who drank that water suffered from serious illnesses. So he conceived ''WakaWater'' by constructing a frame from the Warka tree, which is commonly found in Africa, and covering it with a mesh so that dew would form from the temperature differences between day and night and collect clean water. The water gathered this way is said to be about 100 liters per day.
-Fun education that changes the world, WakaWater |
A while ago I saw an impressive Facebook post about appropriate technologies that help Africa..Just'' You can solve Africa''s water shortage problem with your own talent like this'' and I dismissed it., Seeing that Korea Gap Year was running a WakaWater project this time, I decided to participate and try it out indirectly..
WakaWater refers to how Italian architect Arturo Vittori visited a village in Ethiopia and the children and villagers carried dirty water containers and every day6and walked for more than six hours, he witnessed the shocking sight.. Moreover, the places where they fetched water were contaminated with dirty, muddy water, and the villagers who drank that water suffered from serious illnesses.. So he built a frame from the Warka tree, which is commonly available in Africa, and covered it with a mesh so that dew would form from the day-and-night temperature differences and clean water would collect'' WakaWater'' was conceived.. The water collected in this way amounts to100Lper day..
Korea Gap Year said it is running the WakaWater project to indirectly build such WakaWater in Korea so participants can gain an understanding of appropriate technology and once again feel the seriousness of Africa''s water shortage problem..
Until then I had only heard about appropriate technology, so thinking that I would participate myself made me a little excited and expectant..I had thought that appropriate technology was something created by outstanding experts in the field through unique ideas and endless research,,to think I''d actually make one myself!
WataWater participation day.For several days beforehand I was worried because the weather forecast predicted rain nationwide on the day we would be making WakaWater,,I had a vague hope that maybe it wouldn''t rain, and since the Korea Gap Year organizers hadn''t contacted us, I felt reassured,.Sure enough, on the day of participation the weather was overcast and it had been raining lightly since the morning..However, this rain couldn''t stop what I intended to do.!
When I arrived at the Scout Association where the WakaWater project was taking place, there were scout middle- and high-school students who would be participating in the project today..We briefly introduced ourselves and then had time to listen to the instructor''s explanation about appropriate technology..After that, we divided into teams,,and an instructor was assigned to each team..On our team, desert marathoner Yoon Seung-chul joined as the instructor..He is still a university student, yet he is the world''s youngest desert marathoner and has even tried a solo uninhabited-island experience,,he also runs a share house, and there was so much to learn from him in many ways..
In our country there are no waka-water trees, so the project proceeded using bamboo as a substitute..Bamboo doesn''t bend well and is hard to shape compared to waka-water, but since we were using bamboo it would be eco-friendly and very sturdy, they said.!So first we started by cutting the bamboo to the required lengths..Cutting the bamboo one by one to length and making holes was really labor-intensive..Meanwhile, the light rain gradually started to fall more and more as time passed..
Fortunately, since it was a campsite with many large trees, the work of making the waka-water continued under the trees to avoid the rain..On one side, people were cutting bamboo, while other team members were making nets to collect rainwater..We made hoses to fit the size of the waka-water and attached nets to those hoses, working very carefully so the nets wouldn''t tear even if a lot of water accumulated..After cutting bamboo and making nets like that, before we knew it the morning had come to an end..
And finally, the long-awaited lunchtime.!We ate lunch boxes and fruit with the team members and shared stories we hadn''t had a chance to talk about,.After a short break, we started the afternoon work again..In the afternoon, we set up and interwove the bamboo poles we had cut in the morning..The bamboo was much taller than me..They said the bamboo structure we were working on would become a single layer..I overlapped several bamboo poles to form a shape and carefully tied knots one by one..At first, I tied the knots casually, only as tightly as I thought was secure.,The Scout Association friends demonstrated various knotting methods and, with very flashy hand movements, the proper knotting technique(?)taught me..
And fortunately the rain stopped in the afternoon, so I could work a bit more comfortably...Tying the knots was really no joke..Because I tried to tie each knot meticulously, it took a lot of time,,That said, I couldn''t ruin this big project by doing it sloppily on my own, so I really did my best to tie the knots..Thus the afternoon quickly passed, and for each team a total of4Wakawater layers were completed..Now what remains is to combine these built layers into one.!I was really curious about how they would stack these large layers up high.,The method was simpler than I expected..Not by stacking from the bottom up, but by starting from the top layer and gradually coming down to stack underneath.!It sounds very simple when said this way, but in reality it was by no means an easy task. bb
At first 4floor and 3connecting the floors, a problem occurred in the middle. Since it was our first time doing this work, we should have woven the bamboo in one direction, some bamboo pieces were oriented the opposite way, so the connection didn''t work properly. So we disassembled the woven bamboo and reworked just that part. Watching the knots we''d worked hard on come undone, our excitement also faded a bit, but, still, if it''s for a more perfect Waka Water! After undoing several knots and reconnecting the bamboo, 4floor and 3the floors could be connected. And in the same way 2the 2nd floor was connected, and 1connection completed up to the 1st floor!
The exhilaration and sense of accomplishment when all the levels were connected were truly indescribable..And the height was immense..You had to tilt your head all the way back to barely see the top..But they say the real Waka Water is much larger than this.!!!They said that since they used bamboo, it was heavy and difficult to shape, so they built a scaled-down version.,I couldn''t imagine how big the real Waka Water would be..
Although it was carried out in Korea,It was a Waka Water slightly modified to suit Korea rather than the original, but I gained a lot from the process..I couldn''t believe that the water I drink and use so casually requires so much effort in Africa..And I realized that with just a slight shift in thinking, my skills could help many people..It gave me an opportunity to rethink appropriate technology, which I had thought was vague, specialized work unrelated to me..
Also,Bringing together people of various ages and from different fields to unite around a single purpose and create a project was much more wonderful than I had imagined..People who had been awkward to even speak to that morning were genuinely happy together when the Waka Water was completed, and they took commemorative photos in front of it..I am grateful to have gained another unforgettable memory and precious connections..And I also want to say that I am really grateful to Korea Gap Year for providing this opportunity..
WakaWater refers to how Italian architect Arturo Vittori visited a village in Ethiopia and witnessed the shocking sight of children and villagers carrying dirty water containers and walking for more than six hours a day. Moreover, the places where they fetched water were contaminated with dirty, muddy water, and the villagers who drank that water suffered from serious illnesses. So he conceived ''WakaWater'' by constructing a frame from the Warka tree, which is commonly found in Africa, and covering it with a mesh so that dew would form from the temperature differences between day and night and collect clean water. The water gathered this way is said to be about 100 liters per day.
-Fun education that changes the world, WakaWater |
A while ago I saw an impressive Facebook post about appropriate technologies that help Africa..Just'' You can solve Africa''s water shortage problem with your own talent like this'' and I dismissed it., Seeing that Korea Gap Year was running a WakaWater project this time, I decided to participate and try it out indirectly..
WakaWater refers to how Italian architect Arturo Vittori visited a village in Ethiopia and the children and villagers carried dirty water containers and every day6and walked for more than six hours, he witnessed the shocking sight.. Moreover, the places where they fetched water were contaminated with dirty, muddy water, and the villagers who drank that water suffered from serious illnesses.. So he built a frame from the Warka tree, which is commonly available in Africa, and covered it with a mesh so that dew would form from the day-and-night temperature differences and clean water would collect'' WakaWater'' was conceived.. The water collected in this way amounts to100Lper day..
Korea Gap Year said it is running the WakaWater project to indirectly build such WakaWater in Korea so participants can gain an understanding of appropriate technology and once again feel the seriousness of Africa''s water shortage problem..
Until then I had only heard about appropriate technology, so thinking that I would participate myself made me a little excited and expectant..I had thought that appropriate technology was something created by outstanding experts in the field through unique ideas and endless research,,to think I''d actually make one myself!
WataWater participation day.For several days beforehand I was worried because the weather forecast predicted rain nationwide on the day we would be making WakaWater,,I had a vague hope that maybe it wouldn''t rain, and since the Korea Gap Year organizers hadn''t contacted us, I felt reassured,.Sure enough, on the day of participation the weather was overcast and it had been raining lightly since the morning..However, this rain couldn''t stop what I intended to do.!
When I arrived at the Scout Association where the WakaWater project was taking place, there were scout middle- and high-school students who would be participating in the project today..We briefly introduced ourselves and then had time to listen to the instructor''s explanation about appropriate technology..After that, we divided into teams,,and an instructor was assigned to each team..On our team, desert marathoner Yoon Seung-chul joined as the instructor..He is still a university student, yet he is the world''s youngest desert marathoner and has even tried a solo uninhabited-island experience,,he also runs a share house, and there was so much to learn from him in many ways..
In our country there are no waka-water trees, so the project proceeded using bamboo as a substitute..Bamboo doesn''t bend well and is hard to shape compared to waka-water, but since we were using bamboo it would be eco-friendly and very sturdy, they said.!So first we started by cutting the bamboo to the required lengths..Cutting the bamboo one by one to length and making holes was really labor-intensive..Meanwhile, the light rain gradually started to fall more and more as time passed..
Fortunately, since it was a campsite with many large trees, the work of making the waka-water continued under the trees to avoid the rain..On one side, people were cutting bamboo, while other team members were making nets to collect rainwater..We made hoses to fit the size of the waka-water and attached nets to those hoses, working very carefully so the nets wouldn''t tear even if a lot of water accumulated..After cutting bamboo and making nets like that, before we knew it the morning had come to an end..
And finally, the long-awaited lunchtime.!We ate lunch boxes and fruit with the team members and shared stories we hadn''t had a chance to talk about,.After a short break, we started the afternoon work again..In the afternoon, we set up and interwove the bamboo poles we had cut in the morning..The bamboo was much taller than me..They said the bamboo structure we were working on would become a single layer..I overlapped several bamboo poles to form a shape and carefully tied knots one by one..At first, I tied the knots casually, only as tightly as I thought was secure.,The Scout Association friends demonstrated various knotting methods and, with very flashy hand movements, the proper knotting technique(?)taught me..
And fortunately the rain stopped in the afternoon, so I could work a bit more comfortably...Tying the knots was really no joke..Because I tried to tie each knot meticulously, it took a lot of time,,That said, I couldn''t ruin this big project by doing it sloppily on my own, so I really did my best to tie the knots..Thus the afternoon quickly passed, and for each team a total of4Wakawater layers were completed..Now what remains is to combine these built layers into one.!I was really curious about how they would stack these large layers up high.,The method was simpler than I expected..Not by stacking from the bottom up, but by starting from the top layer and gradually coming down to stack underneath.!It sounds very simple when said this way, but in reality it was by no means an easy task. bb
At first 4floor and 3connecting the floors, a problem occurred in the middle. Since it was our first time doing this work, we should have woven the bamboo in one direction, some bamboo pieces were oriented the opposite way, so the connection didn''t work properly. So we disassembled the woven bamboo and reworked just that part. Watching the knots we''d worked hard on come undone, our excitement also faded a bit, but, still, if it''s for a more perfect Waka Water! After undoing several knots and reconnecting the bamboo, 4floor and 3the floors could be connected. And in the same way 2the 2nd floor was connected, and 1connection completed up to the 1st floor!
The exhilaration and sense of accomplishment when all the levels were connected were truly indescribable..And the height was immense..You had to tilt your head all the way back to barely see the top..But they say the real Waka Water is much larger than this.!!!They said that since they used bamboo, it was heavy and difficult to shape, so they built a scaled-down version.,I couldn''t imagine how big the real Waka Water would be..
Although it was carried out in Korea,It was a Waka Water slightly modified to suit Korea rather than the original, but I gained a lot from the process..I couldn''t believe that the water I drink and use so casually requires so much effort in Africa..And I realized that with just a slight shift in thinking, my skills could help many people..It gave me an opportunity to rethink appropriate technology, which I had thought was vague, specialized work unrelated to me..
Also,Bringing together people of various ages and from different fields to unite around a single purpose and create a project was much more wonderful than I had imagined..People who had been awkward to even speak to that morning were genuinely happy together when the Waka Water was completed, and they took commemorative photos in front of it..I am grateful to have gained another unforgettable memory and precious connections..And I also want to say that I am really grateful to Korea Gap Year for providing this opportunity..
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