J-Term at Carthage

Students, faculty work to improve water infrastructure in Nicaragua

Water systems experts join Carthage on semi-annual J-Term trip to Ometepe


MIKE MOORE, Carthage College
January 22, 2012

As residents of the Nicaraguan island of Ometepe arrived at medical clinics with kidney pain, rashes or diarrhea, Carthage students and professors on the annual January Term study tour did their best to help the medical staff treat those ailments. But they were disheartened to find their impact was often short-lived.

They noticed a large percentage of the illnesses were caused by water-borne parasites. After the free medicine ran out, the problems would resurface.

"It was like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound," said Kelsey Blumer, '13, a biology student from Orangeville, Ill., who traveled there during last year's J-Term.

They returned home determined to attack the roots of the problem. This month, several experts on water systems joined the Carthage contingent in Nicaragua to scout for solutions. The hope is purifying the water will be a kind of preventive medicine.

"If they can have clean, uncontaminated drinking water, hopefully they'll need less medical treatment in the future," said Prof. Pat Pfaffle, chair of the Biology Department, who is one of the leaders of the 14-day study tour.

Accompanying the Carthage contingent are four members of Wisconsin Water for the World, a division of a state professional organization that raises funds for safe drinking water in developing nations. While the organization as a whole has focused its efforts on another Central American nation, Guatemala, some of its members were moved enough to offer their professional assistance in Ometepe.

One of them is Katie Karow, a 1992 Carthage graduate who is water superintendent for the Janesville utility. Although she never got to go on a J-Term trip while she studied here, she and John Andersen, chairman of Wisconsin Water for the World, visited the site in Nicaragua last June during the summer version of the semi-annual journey.

Andersen said they and the Carthage group are looking to partner with another nonprofit organization that provides filters to remove bacteria from drinking water. Educating the residents about the urgent need for such devices is the first step.

"They don't realize the connection between sickness and their water, so they think everything's cool," said Andersen, who is director of geographic information systems for the Kenosha Water Utility.

It's possible some of the 55-gallon sand filters could then be installed at homes during the next visit in June, or a larger purification system could be put in at the medical clinics. In the meantime, students are expected to collect data and participate in training sessions on the use of the filters.

Profs. Pfaffle and Matthew Zorn, chair of the Geography and Earth Science Department, took 32 students this year. The largest share are biology majors with plans to enter health-care fields, but the tour has attracted students in many disciplines since it was first offered more than a decade ago. When they're not giving injections, putting in stitches or assisting with other treatments at the clinic, students are introduced to the land and its culture.

That's where they notice the stark contrast that tends to stick with them, according to Prof. Pfaffle. Seeing thatched-roof homes and volcanoes on the same hike will do that.

"You have such poverty but (also) phenomenal beauty in the landscape," he said.

Then there are the kids. Kelsey vividly remembers the local children clinging to the Carthage students, including a 5-year-old boy who loved to play baseball. To her dismay, the boy had a rash attributed to a parasitic illness. One of her goals is to make it back to Nicaragua on her own after graduation.

She was among dozens of students who banded together to form a group now known as Carthage World Relief. It has raised more than $3,000 through sales of bracelets, jewelry and other items, with the largest portion set aside for whatever water purification solution is deemed best.

Many of those saw both the wonders and dangers of Ometepe up close. Others simply were moved by the stories they heard.

Either way, the impassioned response is exactly the type of personal transformation the two professors hope this unique experience elicits.