© 2007 Institute of Current World Affairs
The Institute awards long-term fellowships to develop a deep understanding of an issue, country, or region outside the US and to share that understanding with a wider public.
Institute of Current World Affairs - Home Page

Below is a hobbled text version of a PDF document.
In order to read the actual document please click the link below and register if necessary.
(One-time registration is free and very quick.)
Read article

7/1/1996 - Solving the Sewage Crisis’ Oaxaca City: Between High-tech Machines and Compost Latrines by William F. Foote

Solving Sewage Crisis Oaxaca City Between High techMachinesandCompostLatrines OAXACA Oaxaca July ByWilliam F Foote Howdotheymake quesillo thatstringycheesefoundinquesadillas Goodquestion It sthebest secretinEtlaValley adairyregionlocatedjustnorthofOaxacaCity Not competition lacks recipe Mexico favorite cheese known quesoOaxaca Indeed 90percent ofthe quesilloconsumedherecomesfromtheneighbor state Puebla No Etla cheese vendors worried about local consumers distantcompetitors andit snottheirrecipe secret justoneingredient Until recently dairy producers themselves In during unsuccessful application national origin which would havemadequesilloproductionexclusive state ofOaxaca theyfound Human fecal matter explained Rub6n Langle Iocal veterinarian The labora resultsshowedsignificant traces inthe cheese Tethered stables behind Langle dozen patients mooed unhappily theiruddersinfectedfrom diseasesspawnedbysummerrainsandnodrainage Ac cordingto animal doctor whotreats sickbeasts across valley cheesemak results since So secret lives Dairy farmers still irrigate contaminated water still fecal laden alfalfa VeterinarianRubdnLangle right sittingbesidedairyproducerand sickmilkcows Etla Valley Oaxaca locally produced quesillo still causes diarrhea through outOaxacaCity Having suffered stomach troubles recently I havefewqualmsabout squealingonthe Etla farmers To however their problem reflects larger issues localcontrol namely onset generalized sewagecrisisinandaroundmostofMexico cities Many blame modernization As developing countries demand economic development overridden natural resources manage In water sistent population growth chaotic urbanization industrialization without pollution controlshave choked Mexico rivers untreated human waste chemical contami nants Aroundhere swollenuddersandbelly aches merely daily inconveniences annoyances pared serious consequences rising ofrawsewage In government officially recognized presence cholera water borne disease state Oaxaca following several years denial Last yearsawat least cases across state Hardly prising Oaxaca City dumps daily average nearly cubic meters ofraw sewage Rio Atoyac state sbiggest fiverandprincipalirrigation source Yet everything flushes downstream In recent years toxic seepage through urban riverbanks derground aquifers contaminated wells whence percent state capital drinkingwatercomes Here elsewhere water related worries public officials environmentalists awake night Across Mexico debate raging wayto offset anationwide paucity ofsewage treatment programs It began Congress passed tough toothless clean water legislation Today theaftermathoftheDecember1994peso devaluation question remains cities clean times ofcholeraandcrisis In Oaxaca City opinions diverge general directions Onone urbanwaterauthorities sophisticated technology giant centralized sewage treatment plants On other growing number civic groups private nesses government agencies argue simpler solutions alternative technologies These range tinkering conventional methods smaller multiple sewage treatment plants rejecting traditional First World treatment instead dressing waste water problem source waterless compostlatrines This newslet explores options currently under consideration Oaxaca Admittedly sewage related problems their solutions during month I merely splashed surface In doing however become clear least spect Oaxaca water experts standoncommonground agree urbanization produced Yet theirfundamentaldisagreementas fight clean upalternatives cripplingprospects forchange Also given taboo issue sewage misinfor mation abounds In order forward local water authorities should toilet talks public Put other average Jos6 should participate process selecting right ingredients sewage treatment It Jos6 waste after And discussed later advantages informed active zenry already evident successful initiatives Oaxaca latrinesprogram In final analysis whether small success atonement Mexico indifference sewage problems hinge securingcommunityparticipationand ofcourse suffi cient funding Fornow given country ongoing cession emphasis should probably fallon former In meantime quesillo consu mersandcholera victims nomoresewer secrets TRADITIONALTREATMENT MEXICO EMULATESTHEUNITEDSTATES And shouldn Mexico northern neigh After thirds Americans living communities sewers charged sewage waterways little screening A century later carefully drawn government water regulation citizen action rescued rivers streams turning hopeless causes intoresounding success stories Consider Hudson River Just thirty years little 350omile sewer choked treated domestic waste industrial pollutants cultural runoff Today river stated recentlybytheNewYork Times Fish populations healthier years while cities towns turned their backs river realizing build neweconomyaroundtourismandrecreation What According sewage literature river rebirth U S canbe attributed several factors first World War II sewer building sewage treatment plant construction El Sur Feb El Sur March JoelA Tarr TheWhyandWherefromofSewers inCarolHuppingStoner Goodbye totheFlush Toilet TheNewYorkTimes June WF Federal Clean Water Act which datedtough controlson municipalandindustrial waste provided billions dollars Federal nally credit worthy municipalities which fully pable financing operationand maintenance phisticated waste water technology As result 000sewagetreatment plantsspanthe U S today Impressive about Mexico Following World War II industrializing worry about sewage Unlike U S 1960s experience birth powerful environmen movement dedicated saving rivers lobbying related statutes Dueto Mexico fierce fiscal central moreover financially municipalities assume building operating treatment plants Not surprisingly Mexico constructed sewage cleaning facil ities lessthanonepercent ofthose existinginthe U S It never however Thus reasoned administration former President Carlos Salinas Gortari which introduced sweeping ronmental regulations theway ofNAFTA In Mexico sCongresspassedthe FederalWaterLaw which subjects municipal ernmentsto fines iftheydonotcleantheirrawsewage Three Oax acans opposed Mexico Clean WaterAct of1993 In linewith Salinas market reforms thewater torwaspartiallyopenedto privateinvestment Withinmonths foreigncompanieswere fiercelycom peting Mexico water industry Bythe summer powerful European concerns Thames Severn Trent North West Water Biwater An glian Water UK Lyonnaise Eaux G6n6 Eaux France contracts worth U S billion erect water treatment plants modernize municipal water systems 7Numerous Mexi cities Canc6n Guadalajara Leon Puebla Mata moros Monterrey Toluca hired private companies build operate sewage treatment plants helping toboost totalnumberof facilities inMexico today approximately Where Oaxaca In hired large Spanish construction company Fomento Constru ciones Contratas FCC conduct feasibility study modernization ancient water system Together Mexican partner Tribasa FCC posed among other things construction centralized sewage treatment plant At today prices facility would about P million U S million build Approximately amount would finance sinking giant sewage JoelA Tarr TheWhyandWherefromofSewers inCarolHuppingStoner Goodbye totheFlush Toilet Figures U S Mexican sewage treatment plants providedby local water industry executive Leopoldo Cabilleses ingan interview Oaxaca City The Financial Times June Interestingly enough virtually U S companies participated spate water services privatizations Mexico Ac cordingtoindustryexperts isduetothe factthat90percentofwaterandwaste watertreatmentintheU S ismanagedby municipalities other governmental agencies little incentive export their expertise In United Kingdom contrast water waste water treatment entirely private France percent private International Business Magazine Theproposedplantwouldhavethecapacitytotreat1 litersofwastewaterpersecond Institute Current World Affairs pipes alongside rivers routing waste water central plant Despite local water authorities allegedly excited studying proposal Then Mexico devalued andeverythingchanged Privatization would extremely difficult today saidRub6nDarioHerrera directorofOaxaca sInstituto EstataldelAgua StateWaterInstitute IEA Justback abusiness engineer greetedmeone recent eveninginsidehisplush office Itwaspouringrainout I soaked You wouldn think watershortages wouldyou chuckling Ihungmycoat Oaxaca maximum water authority Dario Herrera travels often Inthe hehasvisitedmost sewage plants built private companies before Mexico recession That stated depressing experience To illustrate current problems pointed Puebla which before devaluation agreed private concessionaire pesos cubic meter water treated Today costs ofimported nology which usually indexed foreign curren price jumped nearly percent around pesos cubic meter Across Mexico municipalities simply afford concession airesanymore saidDarioHerrera addingthat virtu allyevery plant I seenisout ofoperation Despite priced troubles IEA director defend single plant Oaxaca City Notwithstanding crisis colleagues continue study theFCCproposal future implementation At thesametime theyarecontemplatingalternatives TogetherwiththeUniversityofNewMexico Dario Herrera experimenting called constructed wetlands Unf ortunately natural sewage treatment designed small rural communitieswithampleland Asfaras noneof thelow technologywaste watersystems canhandle levels contamination generated Hence large conventional plant It really choice That itwouldseem isdebatable Accordingtoafor merofficialoftheComisi6nNacionaldeAgua National WaterCommission CNA singlesewageplantwould mistake Frankly Octavio Galindo Hernan Cruz works irrigation sector I tthinkDarioHerrerahasanyideawhat about He politicalappointee Before hadnoexperiencewhatsoeverinthewater sector Galindo Hernandez spent years CNA water engineer currently advising Costa Rican government sewage policy His waste water treat formula country capital Oaxaca City namely small conventional sewage WF Sewageexpert Octavio GalindoHernandez Cruz plants scattered across We sewage discharge mains located along riverbanks Eachshouldhaveitsownfacility His logic makes On multiple facili would minimize nothing risks single plant After designed operated machines infallible Large highly tralized operations subject power failures equip breakdowns employee strikes which result inthe discharge ofuntreated sewage On other Galindo Hernandez reckons investments smaller plants citywouldbe freed having indefinitely million dollars windfall financing which never Small plants clearly answer concluded water bahsjust listen Why Because saving money solving problems necessarily priorities Mexico water sector Galindo Hernandez suggested The pricier added rubbing fingers against imagi dollar richerthebureaucrat Local businessmen think small beautiful Last Saturday I private lesson advantages treatmentplantsfromtwoentrepreneurswhobuild living One partners Oscar Cicares Rarnirez yellow colonial house across Santo Domingo Church Oaxaca historic center Its aircourtyardburstswith color blossomed biscus trees filed roofs green limestone arches perfectplaceto talksewage You thinkwewere Maoist China quipped Le opoldo Cabilleses Cicares partner Rip pingeverythingdowntofix buildingmammothcol lector mains behemoth treatment plant Sewage treatmentplant buildersandbusiness partners LeopoldoCabilleses Oscar Cdcares deRamirez right crazy What should thinking infrastructure already built Clearly plants sewage valves would achieve objec Cicares demurred Drawing years experience chemical engineer argued pessimistically Mexican cities always mishandle fancywaste technology bigor small The country believes simply lacks sources human financial operate andmaintainsophisticatedsewageplants Toil lustrate point described wheezing units hiscompanyhasbeen hired resuscitate We nails pumps hangers secure latches everything imagin adding doesn poorly trained operators jerry place Someplants arehandicappedfrombirth Inan effort costs public officials whittle budgets point project designs become useless according Cicares That happened Flores Mag6n public project located Oaxaca City In theCNAbuilta diminutivesewage plant income neighbor Cicaresattendedtheinau guration Itwaspathetic recalled The plant turedonly smallportionofthesewage leaving housing project Once treated dumped right downstream treated waste water Needless mayorcutthe ribbon I Ona visit Flores Mag6n verified plant better worse operational That other Crippledom birth Thetroubledsewagetreatment plant FloresMag6n Oaxaca City Institute Current World Affairs rinky plants Oaxaca City waste water facilities scatteredaround state Preliminary conclusion machines savingMex sewage problem The foreign water compa spooked crisis The imported technology behind cases doesn Meanwhile thewastewaters return cholerahasmadeamedievalmockeryofMexico ernizationprocess Indesperation somecall forextrememeasures Oneir igation official suggested jokingly someone shouldorganizethefarmersdown river sneakthemup Rio Atoyac Oaxaca City sewage charges concrete Likewise former director Oaxaca Public Works Ministry allegedly wanted cover rivers cement burying problem In things downstream istherenobetterway DRYLATRINES NOMOREFLUSHANDFORGET Doyou regardhumanexcreta valuable resource asanunpleasantanddangerouswaste product Ifyousubscribetothe latterconcept thenanydiscus human feces probably makes squirm Chances government spends billions oftax dollars dispose ofthe taboo waste Youprobably toiletwhichuses about gallons freshwa tereachyeartomoveamere 165gallonsofbodywaste Buthey snotyourconcern Youflush youforget If however subscribe former concept probably Americas Indeed maycomefrom acompos tingcountryand feelcomforta discussing fecal matters Perhaps Chinese where thecompostingofhuman excretahasbeenprac ticed forthousands ofyears In forexample anesti mated percent human excrement produced thatcountrywascollectedandusedas fertilizer That theVietnamese Health Ministry further designing waterless compost trine Itwouldlaterbehailedasthesinglemostimpor factor prevention disease promo health country history Built double vaulted composters modern sewage problem source through reduction discharges excreta water bodies ground water In Health Third World Dr JoanMcMichaelsummarized importance oftheprogram It strikes rootcauseofmanyofthe intract diseases developing countries cholera dysentery typhoid It solves least problems offertili since theyearlyamount ofsterilizedorganicmanure thatcan beobtained estimatedat Thus spread Thirty years later around world Mexican medical student learned Vietnamese experience In Enrique Vignau attended international conference sanitation inMexico City Atthe event experts criticizedMexico modern water carriage system drainage How speaker asked could countrywith severe water shortages where millions people depend public spigots percent household water flush toilet Condemning cruel convenience panelists called themoderntoiletnot cleanandsafe dirtyand dangerous From audience Vignau recalled stinking CommittedtoweaningMexicooffflush toilets Enrique Vignau displays rustic urinal inside offices ofEspacios Culturales A C downtown Oaxaca City Statementmadeduringprivateconversationbetweenthepublicoffici alandOscarCicaresdeRamirezin UnoWinbladWenKilama SanitationWithoutWater WHO Ibid Quoted Ibid WF waterways downstream disease nessed while doing field research Seeing irrational decided right thenandthere helpwean Mexico water toilets It those defining moments could saidVignau The hemovedto Oaxaca Cityand founded Espacios Culturales A C governmental organiza dedicated grass roots application alterna environmental technology Since worked nearly promoting slightly modified version Vietnamese latrine We chose model others Hindu Chinese Swiss German Vignau explained holdingup rustic urinal ofthe latrine building display inside office Our major adjustment hasbeen addition erntoiletbowl Mexicansdon tliketosquat The designis simple T hesanitario called Spanish operates three basic principles First arates urine fecal matter Diverted through hoses andpipes theurine iscollected dilutedwithwaterand irrigation deposited gravel Second fresh fecal matter always covered mixture earth ashes This accelerates compositionwhile killing dangerous bacteria inatingodorsandflies Third latrine built entirely above ground house consisting vaults brick underneath toilet Once first receptacle sealed completely months shutting light water The toilet bowlis positioned above second empty vault Once least months later recepta sealed first chamber opened emptied fertilizer If understands these rules Vignau latrine works perfectly flies disease andlots ofsafemanure In however Oaxaca public officials impressed Looking sponsors Vignau visited merous government offices PublicWorks Ministry NationalWater Commission Oaxaca public department Four years later despite several cessful pilot projects authorities continued appeals Then something happened In sudden turnaround state government built compost latrines followedby As budgeted What explains change One person really Vignau The ernor swife The First Lady Yes affirmed She largely responsible elevating campaign pilot project state program drawing local federalandinternationalfunding Notjustanygovernor swife ClaraScherer inherDIF office fightscholeraandsaves liveswithdylatrines Clara Scherer whose husband Di6doro Carrasco governed Oaxaca returned officialtriptoSpainwhen paidavisitinlateJune Her office inside state headquarters Desa Inte galdelaFamilia FamilyServicesAgency DIF Loung waiting observed cluttered photos governor portrait twirling Oaxacan poorZapotec childrenstudyingtheirABC I personal credit latrines First Lady leaningbackin chair twiddlingwith pencil She glamorous volunteer expected white sleeveless shirt plain silverbracelets messybrownhair Surroundedby woven textiles walls anthropology professor politician In continued cholerahadarrived children dying We needed solution Espacios Cultu taleshadit Actually Scherer being modest The latrine program forms international paign sponsoredbyUNICEFtoreduce infant mortality In Mexico officially signed Three years later state Oaxaca began participating through local DIF office Thanks Scherer however awareness plight Mexican children administration prioritized latrine program For males latrine separates liquid wastes using urinal attached outside For females system involves specially molded toiletbowl featuring division inside basin urine frontmand solid waste Institute Current World Affairs Jer6nimoPerezstandingon thestepsofhisdT latrine As avowed The governor committed provid safemeans forthe deposit ofexcreta foreveryOaxa canhousehold Due limited resources however campaign targeted those communities between inhabitants places where cholera struck Wherever latrines built Scherer boasted cholera disappeared If people skeptical drylatrinesbefo rebeggingforthemnow But about Oaxaca City What about Vignau successful trial undertaken periph slums With scarce drainage dense populations concentrated misery shouldn those irregular human settlements latrines Yes First Lady replied As however prioritize targeting those regions Oaxacawith highest levels ofpoverty That Schcrerproceededto offera series ofjustifi cations denying residents latrines Her tention providing urban services general counterproductive caughtmyattention We going reduce rural urban migration attending urban neighborhoods explained To trary ifweprovideservicesinthecountryside people stopmovingto That questionable Yet Scherer general message WF finds government offices across Oaxaca City A spokesman Ecological Institute Pu Works Ministry example claimed recent arrivals Oaxaca City accept flush toilets nothing When offer alternative services trines Cuitlahuac Hernandez people complain rebeingtreated second class citizens Likewise StateWaterInstitute directorDarioHerrera opposescompostlatrines forurbancommunities Hecrit icized system failing resolve soapy water problem acknowledged limited benefits It start engineer still baked solution addressing problem perhaps least criticalone Idecidednottoaskifhereallybelievedthat soapsudsaremoreinfectiousthanhumanwaste Regardingcosts stressed urbanitesalways drainage taking showers washing clothes addition alternative technologies trines Unfortunately state cannot afford lapping investments Besides concluded municipality sjurisdictionanyway Cit officials bristle comments That hypocrisy blurted director Municipal Ecol Office I recited IEA Stressing latrines state capital Manuel Gonzalez Zarate regretted coffers empty partisan politics According since January stategovernmenthaswithheld percent ofthemunici budget P million U S million The PRI Mexico ruling party wants undermine credibility mayorbecause belongs thePAN center right opposition party Gonzalez Zarate Theabandonedsugarhacienda San Luis Beltrdn Oaxaca AviewjS slopes ofthejerT built neighborhoodofVistaHermosa Oaxaca City Julietta Cruz Chavezandherchildren stand beside their newly builtcompost latrine As pocketbook prisoners letalonebuild latrines Hencethequestionremains Docompost latrines solution albeit partial urban sewage Or strictly rural remedies Granted wealthy urbanites easily forsake flush toilets But about theurban peoplewholive wants steep polluted normal habitation If willing throwup makeshift hovels ofwhatever sticks fronds cardboard paper gasoline wouldn receptive trines After spending their tends tothinkthey ALOOWITHAVIEW The government offered drainage years oldJer6nimo Perez aweatheredcon struction worker We sanitarios secos thankyou Bendingbeside hisdrylatrine Perezscooped powder rusty bucket Walking cement stairs tossed mixture earth ashes intothe toiletbowl That showitworks verysimple explained turning around appreciate grandkids rolling around drive dabble flaxen stalks loose chickens ragtag houses across urbansprawlcrammingthevalleybelow Acentury SanLuis Beltrin whichhas250inhab itants mountain slopes northeast corner Oaxaca City sugar hacienda In recent decades state capital gobbled adjoining farmlands Since three settlements creptup hillsidejustbeneath San Luis Beltrin Per6z whosegrandfatherlaboredonthe sugarplan tation looks those newcomers literally figuratively In representativesfrom thePublicWorksMinis visited offering install drainage system exchange strip community which build As often periphery tender sparked fierce protests settlers Without drainage selves compliment San Luis Beltrin latter sewagewouldhaveendedupin theirbackya Fortu nately squawkingendedwhenSan Luis Beltrin clined offer mystifying government officials placatingthedown slope dwellers Per6z explained their logic What ruins neighbor asked rhetorically flipping cupbackinto bucket Soapy water Shower No uncon trolled excreta flies worms stench With sanitarios secos already cleaned sowhyaskformoreproblems AccordingtoEspacios Culturales SanLuisBeltrinwas first place entire state build latrines In Vignau arrived minuscule public funding Institute Current World Affairs Neighborhood toilet talks ElenaHernandez middle discusses sewageproblems withJulietta Cruz Chavez andHectorAguilar right inVistaHermosa andbuilt25waterless units ofwhichwas Per6z Most ofthe neighbors scoffed experiment Vig formed special latrine committee As president Per6zwasput incharge ofpromotingthe sanitarios monitoring their every I boasted I catch little forgetting covertheircacawiththepowder andwehadto fixlots ofleaks His efforts Within months people previously shunned considered bejust another outhouse observed odorless system noted fliesandexaminedthe fertilizer Soon theywereaskingmehowtobuildone recalledPer6z grinning appeals expert advice Today virtually everyone hillside communityhas terless FROMFILTHTOFLOWERS About minutes drive Per6z house across townandupanevensteepermount liesthejerry built neighborhood Vista Hermosa Beautiful View Look straight across valleyfromhere soaring ruins Monte Albin which Oaxacan Indians suffer urban shape these surrounding shacks Julietta Cruz Chavez lives circum stance however swhyshebuilt adrylatrine Iwantmychildren togrowup healthy daughter darted behind mother skirt Juan leaned against their house chewing chicken We built sanitario months Julietta explained pointing gravelhillatthecement blockstructure Ithinkit If Jer6nimo Perez oldest compost latrine WF Oaxaca newest Yet first Espacios Culturales helped build latrines about San Luis Beltrin Six years later construction Julietta attests portance organization underlying create informed active citizenry Indeed whenJulietta couldnolongerstand stench ofher house neitherpublic officialsnornon governmentalacti vists offeredhera solution Aneighbor Elena Hernandez taught Julietta latrine lives house bandbuilt 17years To there wefollowed footpath winding along parched ravine On Ilostmyfootinginthetroubledsoilwheredefo restationhas leftnaryaweedgrowing Hencemy prisewhenwe opened Elena courtyard vealinga carnival colorsandcascadingflowersbeds Iplantedeverythingwithmycompost thewoman declared giddy pride gestured toward EX CO Mexico garden Every blossom every petal grown ferti lizerfrom thebathroom Like Per6z San Luis Belrin Elena firstpeople tobuild sanitario Vista Hermosa Asa matter introduced person oversaw construction Hector Aguilar worked Espacios Culturales since Vignau founded coming since We asserted Elena young friend The pottytrained sheadded guffawing AguilarandIdroveback downtowntogether Onthe secretly dreams opening neighborhood microenterprises across where people Elena Julietta could collectively flowers using compost their latrines Farther volunteered another dream governor decree declaring morator construction further drainage systems across state Oaxaca Aguilar argued would require private citizens assume responsibility theirhouseholdwastesandlead widescale plication cheap effective sewage reduction technologies Freezing expansion drainage network would longwaytoward solving sewage stated Yethe quicklylamented decree probably never For blamed water authorities bureaucracy control They generate revenues laying drainage pipes selling water latrines threat income Howso For starters sanitarios secos decrease drainage construction ofwhich creates chain profits concerned neighborhood contractors water engineers public officials Elena Hernandez shows compostflower garden beside HectorAguilar Espacios Culturales At income settlements lying outside reach basic services Vista Hermosa residents water trucks communal Since trines reduce trips spigot decrease revenuesmadefromwater sales It Mafia Aguilar About people currently salaries water bureaucracy They interest people Elena Julietta learning themselves So there answer concluded dropped corner office Oaxaca City latrines because suitable rural villages urban because bureaucratic That night I early tired travel feeling under weather As summer rains pelted IimaginedJuliettaandherchildrenupinVistaHer Braving thunder sonJuan slipped outside slidingdownthewetgravel hilltorelievehimselfinthe sanitario As upset stomach rumbled headed flush toilet Funny though waste water began swirl guilty picturing journey implied wheezing treatment plant swollen RioAtoyac ontosomedownriverdairy anduptheinfectedudderofapoor unsuspectingcow Climbing recalled words veterinarian Etla Valley onewhorevealed about quesillo cheese As leaving stables Rub6n Langle lowered voice I reallylookforward theJune showers Westopped kickmanureoffourboots Ihatetoadmit butinmy ofworkthe sickerthe thebetterthemoney I watched iling whirl listened toilet bowlfill andfeltevenguiltier Institute Current World Affairs The InstituteofCurrentWorldAffairs 4WESTWHEELOCKSTREET HANOVER NEW HAMPSHIRE 03755 ADDRESSCORRECTION REQUESTED Institute Fellows their Activities AdamSmith Albion Aformer research associate Reporter Buenos Aires Herald world leading producer cardiac theInstituteforEastWestStudiesatPragueinthe THEAMERICAS fibrillators butmostrecentlymanageda 7million Czech Republic Adam spending years study developing country revolving Pro writing about Turkey Central Asia Sharon Griffin A feature writer contributing Appropriate Technology Health PATH their importance actors Middle East columnist African affairs San Diego Union Seattle Pramila spending years India former Soviet A Harvard graduate His Tribune Sharon spending southern tracing roots studying social issues involv Adam completed first Africa studying Zulu KwaZulu kingdom religion status women population M Litt degree Russian East European writing about nongovernmental organi AIDS SOUTHASIA languages Oxford University EUROPE zations fulfillment centers national needs RUSSIA developing countries where governments still John B Robinson A Harvard graduate feeling their toward effective administration certificate proficiency Institute KiS Christopher P Ball An economist Chris Ball holds SAHARA wahili Zanzibar Master Fine Arts Crea B A University Alabama Huntsville Writing Brown University attended International Summer John Harris Awould lawyer undergrad Delphine French oceanographer spending School London School Economics He degree History University Chi years Madagascar their young studied Hungarian years Budapest while John reverted international studies after Nicolas Rowland He writing about serving Project Director Hungarian Atlan internship product liability department aspects island nation struggle survive Council As Institute Fellow studying Chicago years industrial natural resource exploitation writing about Hungarian minorities former So graduate Russian University Washington effects rapidly swelling population nations East Central Europe EU Seattle Based Moscow during fellowship SAHARA ROPE RUSS A John studying writing about Russia political parties begin difficult Teresa C Yates Aformer member American William F Foote Formerly financial analyst sition identities based personalities Civil Liberties Union national force Lehman Brothers Emerging Markets Group Willy their leaders positions based national workplace Teresa spending years South Foote examining economic substructure ternational issues EUROPE RUSSIA Africa observing reporting efforts Mexico impact market reforms Mandela government reform national Mexico people society politics Willy holds Pramila Jayapal Born India Pramila tenure system AVassar graduate ajuris doctor Bachelor degree Yale University history through primary secon University Cincinnati College Law Master London School Economics De education Indonesia She graduated Teresa internship Centre Applied velopment Econ omics Latin America studied Georgetown University M B A Legal Studies Johannesburg Basque history San Sebastian Spain He carried Kellogg School Management Evans studying feasibility including social intensive Spanish language studies Guate Illinois She worked corporate nomic rights South African constitution worked editor analyst PaineWebber accounts SAHARA Chosen basis character previous experience promise Institute Fellows young professionals funded spend minimum years carrying designed programs study writing outside United States The Fellows required report their findings experiences field month They write subject formally informally The result unique reporting analysis periodical assessment international events issues Author Foote William F Title ICWA Letters The Americas ISSN Imprint Hanover NH Material Type Serial Language English Frequency Monthly Other Regions Mideast North Africa East Asia South Asia SubSaharan Africa Europe Russia