Brooke Tyndell Ahrens has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Clemson University and is currently working on her M.S. in Environmental Engineering. She began her Peace Corps service as a water/sanitation engineer, began program fall, 2001.
I completed my undergraduate work at Clemson University, only a few miles from my home in South Carolina to study civil engineering and environmental policy. I took several broad classes ranging from construction planning to wastewater management, but didn't get truly interested in water resources until I attended Michigan Tech as a Master's International student. It seemed to be the perfect solution for joining Peace Corps and furthering my education and career experience. Plus, it was a perfect opportunity to play in the snow in the winter and explore wetlands in the summer! I extended my time in Michigan in order to complete work at Jeffers High School through a grant with the National Science Foundation to bring technology to local students. I have now been in Mali for three months and officially moved to site where I will continue adapting to the culture (and learning several languages since Malians usually speak 3 or more!) and beginning work with a local sanitation organization, DRACPN (Direcion d'Regional Assanisment et du Controle et Pollutant et du Nuisances). My work will mostly comprise of research and collaboration with local groups on the construction of soak pits and city sanitation. I am working with a local engineer, Moriba Diallo, who is interested in industrial pollution and solid waste management and writing policies for several government groups. I also hope to collaborate with other volunteers on a local radio show involving information on HIV/AIDS and health. In the meantime, you can find me out in the middle of Timbuktu drinking tea and eating rice!

Research

A Comparison of Wash Area and Soak Pit Construction: The Changing Nature of Urban, Rural, and Peri-Urban Linkages in Sikasso, Mali, , Brooke T. Ahrens, February, 2005.
Mali is a developing country with large water supply and sanitation needs and constraints. My Peace Corps service from August 2002 through October 2004 focused on improving the health of Malians through improved sanitation with the construction of wash areas and soak pits and hygiene education. While living in Sikasso amongst its 150,000 residents, I learned how cultural and non-technical constraints affected sanitation improvements. Wash area and soak pit project implementation may involve a variety of people and factors, each influenced by their geographic locations: urban, rural, or peri-urban. By having the opportunity to work at all three locations with residents, government workers, business owners, women, and youth, the implementation differences became apparent. These locations have different geographic, socio-economic, organizational, and political factors that contribute to the policy makers, private sector, and beneficiary roles. In this report, the relationship between geographic location, project implementation process, and ten factors were analyzed. In the urban case study, major influential factors included the presence of aid money, education, and concentration of pollution. The greater part of the urban project is carried out by the policy makers, indicating a “top-down” approach to development. In the rural case study, the major influential factors were the presence of aid money, decentralization, and the mobility of people. In contrast, the beneficiaries take the larger role of project facilitation in a more “bottom-up” method. Like the rural setting, the peri-urban case study also indicated a “bottom-up” approach to work affected by factors, such as ownership of property, the standards and costs of living, and education. In addition to policy makers, private sector, and beneficiary roles and relationships, manual of practice and funding is also discussed in the context of implementation of sanitation engineering projects.
Review Abstract (PDF File)
Complete Report (1 Mb PDF File)