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Damien Wao
Damien and I decided to team up and help the village of Hilisaloo during my 2011 trip to the famously perfect wave at Lagundri Bay, Nias. One day Damo (as I call him) spontaneously mentioned that he wished he could
Aaron James
I am a surfer and philosophy professor at UC Irvine. I fell into the present experiment in direct aid on a surfing trip. I happened to have extra money and found myself both trusting Damien and willing to try out
Public Toilets
Hilisaloo: Completed Having built the water tank in the village of Hilisaloo–see here–its next big need is toilets. The villagers now simply visit the woods behind their homes. Flies easily travel from “bathroom” areas to eating areas and food, so
Rehydration
As you may know, diarrhea is a leading cause of premature death in the developing world, and the poorer villages near Damien are no exception. Many of those deaths are also easily prevented by very cheap “re-hydration” packs consisting of
Water Tanks
Damien and I built a water tank in the village of Hilisaloo, in the early months of 2012. Below are some pictures, before, during, and after construction. There are more details after the photos. Next Water Tank Project Our next water tank
Project updates to come
Boy, I’m very behind in posting about the many projects (and will post more soon). In sum, we’ve now done: three water tanks, two sets of public toilets, several rounds of rehydration pack distribution, two water pipes, which in some
To flush, or not to flush, that is the question
Like a lot of the villages, Hilisaloo really needs toilets. (So to end the current practice of simply doing one’s business in the woods, whereupon flies return from the lightly buried poo piles to the villager food, causing disease, diarrhea,
We’re good to go on a new water tank!
This time in Bawagosali, or rather an offshoot of that village in which the people aren’t close enough to the main village’s water source. This will make clean and drinkable what is now watery hole in the ground. This tank
Good news and bad news
The good news is that Damo successfully organized rehydration pack distributions in the villages of Hilisaloo and Bothosi, for what is now our second round of successful runs in both villages. The people were very happy, and now firmly believe