2010: Patty Chuang Reporting From the Philippines

On good days, I like to think of myself as an aspiring engineer or scientist — or maybe just a nutty person obsessed with water. This is science in the most elementary of definitions — spending hours on end in the laboratory, reading until your brain hurts, etc. This is a science of utmost familiarity. But these past four weeks have been a hodgepodge of new concepts that leaves my methodical behavior in the dust. Fieldwork is nothing like research in a laboratory, and the language barrier has put an interesting twist on the entire study. It has shown me that communication and teaching is just as hard, if not harder, than conducting repetitive experiments on my own. I certainly lack the patience to be any kind of proper instructor, but others here (Susan and the rest of the group) have helped in so many ways. I have learned an incredible amount regarding field research, and I could not imagine a better way to spend the month of January.

We sat down with one of the Sanitary Inspectors, Sheila, for an impromptu sampling training session. She was incredibly receptive and such a great sport!

Today is our last full day in Roxas City. We have our uber-important-super-huge-presentation-thing today (very descriptive, I know) summarizing and presenting the information our CAWS team has collected thus far. A bit intimidating, as it is much too early to even speculate any type of results from what we have thus far. However, we have made some progress in our time here, and we are happy to present it for such an enthusiastic audience.

And as much as I miss the comforts of home, I wish I could stay longer here. Besides the obvious reasons (e.g. sunny weather, proximity to sandy beaches, abundance of mangos), I wish I could stay on a couple more weeks because I simply have not finished my job here. It is only just now that I see that there is so much left to be done for my portion of the research project, and I will be unable to be here for it.The incubator apron still needs modification, in fabric choice and design in particular (needs to include slots for the Colilert tubes, not just the Petrifilm).  At least it gets the general idea across, and I think it is certainly warmer in the apron than in the belt. Unfortunately, I will be unable to experiment much further here before we fly out tomorrow.

For those of you unfamiliar with the EC-Kit, I took the liberty of snapping a few quick photos of what it is. The tubes indicate presence or absence of total coliform bacteria (clear = absence, yellow = presence). One of the difficulties is that the liquid may experience only a slight yellow tint (such as in the photo below), so it can be hard to say when the tube truly experiences a color change.

Then we check to see if the tubes fluoresce under UV light. If it does, it indicates E.coli bacteria within the sample. Plus, I think the photo looks cool:

Mostly, I just wanted to post this photo because it looked like something from a sci-fi movie.

As far as the EC-Kit goes, I would have liked to become more involved with how it is used throughout the province for the duration of the study, and perhaps even partake in instructing a training session for the EC-Kit. In addition, we could pursue the use of GPS for mapping locations of water sampling, as I have done for the past three weeks. Alas, the clock is ticking.

Susan Murcott, our advisor, arrived safely from Ghana on Monday, and we were so glad to see her. She must have some extra energy reserves because she was equally excited to see us as well, despite the lengthy flights. Jarvis Punsalan arrived today, the Provincial Health Officer here in Capiz Province. Our group had conversed with Jarvis on Skype during the fall semester, and now we have a face to match the voice.

A candid photo of the group (minus Molly, who was taking the photo) eating at our favorite place (Alma's Restaurant next to Baybay Beach).

The third week of our research is coming to an end, and thus begins the countdown to our final presentation date next Thursday. I realize that, on this blog, I never actually clarified what the EC-Kit is and what I am doing specifically (aside from taking water samples and going to neat places), so I will do so briefly here.

The EC-Kit has two tests for assessing water quality: the Colilert tubes and Petrifilms. The Colilert tubes have a reagent powder that indicates the presence or absence of total coliforms and fecal coliforms (e.g. E. coli) in 10 mL of water. Petrifilm is the cheaper alternative to membrane filtration, and allows for quantitative counts of E. coli and total coliform colonies in 1 mL of sample. Like most microbiological tests, the Colilert test and Petrifilm tests need incubation. However, the incredibly neat aspect to the EC-Kit is that you can incubate the tests using your body heat! Thus, removing the need for expensive incubator machines — and opening up the possibility of widespread use in developing countries.

The EC-Kit will be compared with the Quanti-Tray, which is a widely used and accepted test — but it is very expensive. There are, of course, limitations to both these tests. My goal for this month has been to conduct water quality tests using both EC-Kit and Quanti-Tray, and also explore the limitations (if any) to the EC-Kit by observing the use among the Sanitary Inspectors at the municipal health offices here.

For the past week and a half, I have been working on a revised incubator vest/apron structure for the Petrifilms.  It is a work in progress, and I have no idea how it will turn out. The first trial was a bit of a mess, so I made some revisions and will pick up my second version at the tailor's today. If the template is perfect, then I will invest in more expensive cloth today and have the tailor make 40 more, enough to supply each municipal health office and an extra two for the folks here in Capiz.

Things are far from perfect, and I am skeptical about finishing everything before the end of next week. Yet, I am so content, as I have never worked with a better team of people. I have been truly lucky this month.

Molly at the market with one of the local fishermen who gave us a kilo of salted fish!

Patty and Stephanie on the mountains in Mambusao!

This week has held a whirlwind of events, and there’s still so much to come! Our first weekend in the Philippines was spent on the beaches of Boracay Island. We spent less than a day there, since the transportation took up most of the weekend. Saturday morning began with some much needed caffeine before we headed out.

Sitting happily in a van, before they crammed the entire population of the Philippines in the seats. Okay, I exaggerate – but they managed to fit fourteen people (with bags and all) in this vehicle!

After a topsy-turvy four hour van ride, a ferry, and a tricycle ride, we were greeted by the sight of sandy white beaches and translucent turquoise waters. To reward ourselves for surviving the van ride, and to harden our spirits for the return trek, we began the evening with refreshments and enjoyed the sunset.

Plenty of tourists at Boracay, but luckily there was also plenty of beach.

San Miguel Pale Pilsen, the #1 beer of the Philippines. Also the #1 beer of visiting M.Eng. students.

Sunday was certainly our day of rest; we enjoyed mango shakes on the shore and dabbled about in the ocean. To avoid the general lethargy that emerges from lounging in the sun all day, I opted to go for the skimboarding lessons offered along the beach (at the price of 250 pesos for an hour or so). Many of the teachers were born in Boracay, and probably knew how to swim before they could walk. Quick tip for those visiting for longer than a day, they also offer lessons in kiteboarding, surfing, scuba diving, and many other aquatic activities.

Anyway, after we absorbed our sufficient fill of Vitamin D, we returned to Roxas City and the reality that exists outside of beach resorts. A reality that is full of fieldwork but also exhilaratingly new as well! John and Molly went with Stephanie and me to several of the sampling sites, so it was nice to get a glimpse into their projects as well.

Some of the highlights of this week included visiting Suhot Springs, which consisted of a lagoon-esque area adjacent to a yawning cave in the mountain. I had no idea such a place could exist…the cave’s air exuded the fragrance of unexplored territory, and stretched out over the tranquil waters and mossy steps.

Trying to capture Suhot Springs on camera was an impossible task, but here is my amateur attempt.

Third day of fieldwork. Although Molly felt worse yesterday evening, but luckily felt a bit better this morning and managed to stomach a few bland items during the day. A weaker person would have been confined to bed for longer, I'm sure, so we are very lucky that Molly has recovered at such a good rate. John went to the office to delve into the hefty reading he acquired from the day before. Per usual, Stephanie and I set off together to collect water samples in the municipalities of Maayon, President Roxas (again), and Pilar. We also picked up the results from yesterday's EC-Kits (the Sanitary Inspectors were the ones to incubate the tests since I was unable to read them while sampling in the morning).

Some highlights of the day included trying sugar cane for the first time. The family that let us try the sugar cane were nice enough to let me hack at the sugar cane with their machete! They are just as much fun as they look. It is unfortunate that it would be utterly ridiculous to have one of my own. Then again, I am completely OK with being utterly ridiculous.

Cutting down sugarcane with a machete.

Anyway, the day ended after we processed samples at the office around 7 PM. We are going into the office early Saturday morning to read the samples. We are going to spend the weekend at Boracay Island with Jane and Pancho (if he can make it), which is supposedly one of the best beaches in the world! I am really excited as we have yet to make it to the beach during the day, only night visits since we are testing all day. More updates on this when I return on Sunday.

Today was the first day of our fieldwork in Capiz. We truly are so lucky to have partnered up with the Capiz Provincial Health Office, as it would have been impossible for us to navigate on our own. The day began with a courtesy call to the governor of Capiz Province, Victor Tanco. I was incredibly intimidated, as we walked past masses of people waiting in line to meet Governor Tanco, and here I was - a mere mortal - cutting in line for our 10:30 AM meeting! I'm sure the other people have much more important things to say than I do, but Victor (Vic) was incredibly welcoming and quite the diplomat. He was excited to have our group working with the Health Office, and interested in the results. To have the governor take time out of his busy schedule to meet with our group really made me realize that this is not just my little project for my masters degree, but it is a part of a bigger picture. It will - ideally - provide the data necessary for interventions in the next year for residents in Capiz Province. Possessing such an influence is a scary thought, but certainly something that I know I would like to continue in the future. When you have an opportunity to make a small change in the world, how can you say no?

After a quick lunch, we began fieldwork. Having one car and four separate projects that need to be in a wide range of locations each day is a logistical nightmare. Furthermore, each of us needs to be paired with a translator or resident in order to communicate with the folks here, as well as get directions. Stephanie and I are basically partnered up, assessing the same water sources with various tests (me: EC-Kit, Stephanie: H2S). 

We have conducted tests in the laboratory in Cambridge using Charles River Water, rainwater, and pond water (many thanks to Susan for braving the cold in the early AM to collect this water!). It was exciting to finally get a chance to use our test kits in the field. The municipality we drove to was Sapian, which was gorgeous (how many times am I going to say gorgeous in this blog?). Sapian actually won one of the beautification awards, and I was appreciative of their creative uses of decor (for example, they painted old tires yellow and buried them halfway along the sides of the road, so sunshine semicircles line the roads as you drive through the sea of green vegetation). I had to pull myself away from tourist mode and focus on the task at hand. I worked with one of the Sanitary Inspectors, Angie, to collect the water samples for the day. We collected a total of 10 water samples, mostly from jetmatic pumps, although we were surprised to encounter a spring source (without distribution). 

A collection of 10 water samples may not appear to be an efficient use of a day, but the locations were not only far apart (separated by rice fields and farmland), but the rural roads take longer to navigate. Our group did not return to the office until we finished around 6 PM, and the work does not stop there! At the office, we had to process the samples using Quanti-Tray and EC-Kit. Processing took at least an hour to an hour and a half, but the data is well worth it.

Aside from data collection, the day also involved several new experiences for me. Since I am spending less than a month here, I intend to maximize my experience by trying as many new things as possible. Research-wise, I was able to use my first jetmatic pump, ever! Stephanie and I tried pumping the water out of the wells at several of the sampling sites, and I must insist that you believe me when I claim that it is not a task for those lacking upper arm strength. I am pretty sure most of the local residents were laughing at my attempts. Unrelated to research, we had fresh buco (coconut) from the tree! In the midst of sampling, we were thirsty and stopped at a local place for a snack and drink (buco and buco juice). With a pole, a man knocked down several bucos, and hacked away at it with a machete in such an impressive manner, that I wanted a machete of my own. The buco juice and buco meat are perfect for quenching thirst, and I still could not believe that I was sitting in the Philippines eating a coconut from the tree. Paradise in a nutshell.