Field Laboratory 101

I had my first day of field testing yesterday and it went quite well. We went to visit the Ghana School Dam on the southern side of Tamale. A dam is typically a large hole that has been dug in the ground to collect water during the wet season and store it during the dry season. It is what we would consider a man-made lake.

We asked the women and children collecting water at this site whether or not they would drink it, and they responded, “Yes.” No household treatment, maybe a little sedimentation, but this water will be consumed practically as is. There was a small field on the side of the dam with grass and I asked whether animals graze there. The answer was, “Yes.” It was pretty unbelievable.

I am impressed by these women that are able to carry water to and from their homes each day. This cannot be easy.
I love that my taxi driver didn’t want me to get dirty, so he kicked off his sandals, rolled up his pants, and filled my water bucket.
I just met my 3 hour time limit for testing the water and made myself lunch in the house around noon. I come back to my room and realize that the power has gone out and I had just put my samples in the incubator an hour before. This is the first time the power has gone out since I arrived and I thought what perfect timing! To my relief, power was restored about 15 minutes later and I don’t believe my samples were harmed!

Here’s a quick view of my little laboratory in my room. Unfortunately, I have to suffer the heat b/c I can’t have the fan on with a lit candle during the testing. Oh well…the joys of doing field work!