Participant Institution: Franklin & Marshall College Project Name: Overcoming Economic, Social, and Health Challenges Through Purifying Water and Hydroponics Project Leader: Yara Ibrahim Project Dates: May 28 – July 15, 2018 Project Location: Upper Egypt- Asyut Governorate Partnership with NGO Life From Water Foundation (LFW) Introduction: Building and sustaining peace is impossible to be achieved without meeting the primary needs of human beings such as the need to drink fresh, clean water. Peace in Egypt cannot be attained when some citizens are consuming polluted water and as a result, are facing serious health issues. Polluted water in Egypt has led to serious economic and social unrest. The primary goal of this project is to provide clean water to underserved communities in Upper Egypt to decrease serious health issues- that children and elderly face- by implementing a water purification station. The secondary goal of this project is to economically empower low-income families in underserved communities in Upper Egypt by implementing hydroponic units and enable them to grow and sell crops. By the end of this project, locals in Upper Egypt will not only have access to clean water but also a source of income through the hydroponic units. Children and elderly will no longer face serious water-borne diseases or water poisoning, and their economic stance will improve gradually. Background: As mentioned by Ezz and Nada Arafat for Mada Masr, “Egypt once celebrated as the ‘gift of the Nile’, is in the grips of a serious water crisis.” Egypt is suffering from severe water scarcity and it is already below the United Nations’ water poverty threshold. Furthermore, by 2025 the UN warns Egypt will be approaching a state of “absolute water crisis” and will, in fact, run out of water. As a result of the water scarcity dilemma, only 20 cubic meters per person of internal renewable freshwater resources remain accessible. The country’s annual water supply dropped to an average of 660 cubic meters a person in 2013, down from over 2500 cubic meters in 1947, according to the Guardian (2015). The severe water scarcity dilemma is a result of the rapid population growth that has increased by 41 percent since the1990s (Dakkak). The population is also expected to grow from 91 million to 110 million by 2025 (Dakkak). In addition to the water scarcity dilemma, some Egyptian citizens consume polluted water daily, especially those who live in underserved communities in Upper Egypt. The Nile water quality is characterized by high nutrients concentrations of ammonia, nitrite, phosphates, sulfates, and silicates at some locations in Egypt. (Ali, Dessouki, Soliman, and El Shenawy, 2014). Contaminated water can lead to serious illnesses such as water-borne diseases, water poisoning, kidney failure, Typhoid, Guinea worm diseases, and Dysentery. The polluted water in some areas in Egypt is caused by the dumping of hazardous waste in the Nile River- which is considered to be the source of water in Egypt- such as releases of industrial solid wastes, the dumping of phosphates by various companies, and the dumping of dead animals (Dakkak). However, the polluted water in places such as Asyut is caused mainly by the lack of appropriate sewage treatment plants and infrastructures. The deterioration of water quality along with weak sanitation services or lack thereof, undoubtedly cause many health issues to the population especially the elderly and youths. Goals: I-Tackling Violence Through Water Purification Station:- In addition to the tremendous amount of political violence that Egypt has faced following the 2011 revolution, in 2015, residents in Ismailia have threatened to cut off the commercial highways from the Suez Canal after living without water for a week (Arafat and Ezz, 2015). Similar crisis/threats have struck governorates like Sohag, Qena, Kafr-El-Sheikh, and Fayoum. In addition to the violence that occasionally erupt from the lack of water; frustrations and violence are expected to occur when people’s health is affected by the polluted drinking water. People become very frustrated with the government when they suffer from kidney failures or other diseases that evolve from drinking contaminated water. Protests and disruption of public order become the only tool available for civilians to express their frustrations; which inevitably leads to violence. With that being said, implementing a water purification station to eliminate water diseases and to enable citizen to drink clean water will undoubtedly reduce- if not eliminate completely- expected frustrations and violence. II- Health Improvement Through Water Purification Station:- The severity of the situation increases as one travels to governorates- especially small villages- in Upper Egypt such as villages in Asyut. Without enough money, most governmental water projects have been put on hold; which pushes people- in areas like Ezbiet al taweel- to accept the reality and consume contaminated water or resort to illegal solutions to get fresh water when the water gets cut off. “When water gets cut off in Ezbiet al Taweel; alternative water brought from trucks is often heavily contaminated. Farmers looking to make a quick profit often transport liquid in tanks normally used to carry gas. These trucks are filled from the most convenient source, which can often by a nearby wastewater canal.” (Guardian, 2015) Although residents in Ezbet al taweel, or Kafr el sheikh are well aware of the fact that some of their drinking water is coming from polluted sources, they have no other alternative but to drink it. Broadly speaking- whether in Asyut or Ezbet al taweel- 95.5% of the population in Egypt drinks improperly treated water, according to the Egyptian Center for Economics and Social Rights. “The water people drink is highly toxic, containing heavy metals which could lead to cause a wide variety of diseases from diarrhea to Hepatitis A and E.” -Mazin Abdel Aziz, a civilian who works at Kafr-El-Sheikh Hospital (Arafat and Ezz, 2015). To be more specific, according to the LFW foundation, in small villages in Asyut, locals consume polluted water due to the lack of sewage treatment plants, lack of infrastructures as well as the manual implementations of trenches that mix drinking water with sewage water. Trenches usually lead to the development of pus overtime, which then gets mixed with drinking water. Furthermore, in small villages in Asyut, since there is no actual source of water, the implementation of boreholes takes place. However, although boreholes allow access to water, they rely heavily on groundwater- water present beneath the earth’s surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations- which oftentimes gets mixed with sewage water [ground water gets mixed with sewage water]. Groundwater also contains harmful salts and pus that inevitably gets mixed with drinking water. With this project, the health of the locals in Asyut will be highly improved through the implementation of the water purification station. III- Economic empowerment Through Hydroponic Units:- Contaminated water has a direct impact on crops and food cleanliness. Part of this project aims to economically empower low- income families in Asyut by implementing hydroponic units on their building’s roofs. This part of the project enables citizens to start their own entrepreneurial project and provides them with a source of food and income. Hydroponic units will allow farmers to grow and sell crops such as lettuce, basil, and parsley without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent, and with little use of water for irrigation. The nutrients in hydroponics can be taken from fish waste, duck manure or multiple other sources. Agricultural production quality and quantity has been affected by the polluted water that contains bacteria and metals; therefore, hydroponic units -along with clean water provided from the water purification station in the area- will provide farmers with a tool to resume their agricultural routine in a different way. Project outline: Student has been in contact with Life From Water foundation (LFW) for the past 7 months outlining her summer project that will introduce a water purification station and hydroponic units in Asyut governorate- Upper Egypt. Life From Water foundation was established in 2011, and its mission is to provide poor underserved communities with clean water, as well as empowering them to develop projects- such as Hydroponic units- to improve their daily lives. The project is divided into four main phases:- Phase 1: Introduction and outlining- Student will arrive at Cairo and meet LFW team. Student will then work with the team on outlining the entire process of implementing a Water Purification Station and Hydroponic units. The detailed outlining includes but is not limited to primary scouting in the target area for suggested places, analyzing the need and technical scouting to determine the village’s level of need, water analysis, looking for the most affordable deals with water station companies/ hydroponics, and finally water implementations (May 28th- June 5th). Phase 2: Work On-Site- Student will travel with LFW team to Asyut to investigate target areas, determine village’s level of need, do water analysis of target area, talk to the locals, train the locals on how to use hydroponic units and help them understand what is expected from them to maximize their profits and meet their needs as well as investigate the area, and the needs of the people. (June 6th-June 20th). Phase 3: Implementing the Water Purification Station and hydroponic units - Student will analyze and monitor the implementation of the stations and the hydroponic units to ensure everything is going as planned and to face any difficulties posed while implementing the projects. (June 20th- July 11th). Phase 4: Student will reflect on the project with LFW team and ensures the team continues to supervise the station when student returns back to the U.S.