Appropriate Technology

Appropriate technology is seeking to care for the earth as natural resources are consumed, and introducing work techniques that are maintainable. Using appropriate technology, our development projects have involved getting potable water into communities, building latrines, energy-efficient stoves, feeding centers / schools, and obtaining water for drinking, cooking, washing, and cleaning. In the U.S., we just turn on a faucet to have water, but many people in Nicaragua can't. Therefore, cleanliness is a big problem, so people get sick with diarrhea - then there's not enough water to keep them from getting dehydrated and they die.

Without latrines, sanitation is impossible and people get sick. Little children are so malnourished that their bellies are bloated and their hair is like straw. Anti-parasitic medicine and vitamins help to combat the malnutrition that takes the lives of so many children, or at the very least retards their development.

We helped design and install a pumping system that uses minimal electricity to get water to the coffee cooperative of El Porvenir (see Sustainable Agriculture). We worked with Engineers Without Borders to build a storage tank to store large amounts of water for the health and dental clinics (imagine a clinic without water!).

Thanks to assistance from a group of Whitman College students, we are excited to now have a bio-diesel project turning used cooking oil into fuel for our vehicles. Biodiesel is cheap to produce, burns cleanly, and the only by-product is glycerin which can be used to make medicinal soaps for the clinic. We are constantly looking for good sources of used cooking oil to recycle in this way, and understand the importance of not diverting food crop production into crops for bio-diesel.

One in three Nicaraguan children are malnourished - their families simply cannot afford to buy enough nutritious food. Using the skills of a volunteer who knows about growing fish, we are currently working on a pilot project that will give Nicaraguan families access to a better diet. Our volunteer, Jason Kwalick, has designed and installed a demonstration aquaponics system at our center and will later be installing these systems for families in Ciudad Sandino. This system combines aquaculture (growing fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in an environment without soil) in a self-sustaining closed system. Fish are raised in a tank and the dirty water with amonia and fish waste is pumped into gravel-filled grow beds. There, plants pull nutrients from the water before the now-clean water is gravity-fed back into the fish tank. Worms are used to feed the fish and aerate the gravel plant beds. The system is cheap to set up - under $300 - and can produce 50 - 100 pounds of fish and 200 - 400 pounds of vegetables every six months, significantly improving a family's intake of protein and vitamins.

And finally, the CDCA is also paired with a small woodworking workshop, seeking to teach sustainable foresty management while producing quality products. Slightly Twisted Spoons proceeds return to the CDCA.

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