Tag Archives: Infulene

Results of the household survey – a comic strip

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by Lena

In the past few months we were quite busy finalizing the technical report discussing the household survey that we did together with WSP at the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015. I wrote about it here and here and you can now grab a copy of the final report here. By the way, this work was the basis our WEDC paper and for my MSc thesis – very productive! Continue reading →

Conference AQUASHARE 2016

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by André

I participated in the first edition of AQUASHARE, in 2016, and it was of my objectives for this year to participate in the second edition as speaker. Thus, a couple of months ago I approached Manuel Alvarinho, President of CRA and one of the organizers of AQUASHARE 2016. Alvarinho then told me then that sponsoring the conference would give us the possibility of having a two-hour workshop on the last day and present to and discuss our project with the water and sanitation sector in Mozambique. This was only possible with the financial support of TU Delft’s program Delft | Global Initiative. Thank you so much. Continue reading →

Liliche!

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by Iana

Good morning! Or “Lichile!” in Shangana, one of the local languages spoken in Mozambique. It has been three weeks in Maputo and, as time goes by, the taste of the unknown has become somehow familiar and enjoyable in our neighborhood. Simone, the Italian, early mornings, stops by the coffee place and updates us about the cultural activities in Maputo; José, the owner of the Café, Mozambican and son of Portuguese, talks about the most varied subjects, from pastry recipes to the Portuguese colonization. Fernando, who studies medicine and lives in the same building, is always around the residence, almost ubiquitously, unless at the end of the afternoon, when he goes to the mosque, because it is Ramadan. All the street vendors, who sell anything that you can imagine (expect for a laptop charger I really needed) are already part of our daily landscape. Greeting and recognizing people in public places are starting to be regular. Yes, we realize Maputo city is small and welcoming. Continue reading →

In the Pursuit of “Lobolo”

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by Nessia Fausta

1. The Candidates
I was a bit surprising when I realized that I have been in Maputo for a month. What have I obtained in a month? Have I met some ideas and willingness from other parties worth fighting for? For the whole first month I took my time investigating the construction companies; their locations, their monthly water consumption, their source of water and their future plans. At the end of my interviews, I always proposed to them for being our partners to build the pilot project of wastewater treatment plant for concrete production. Does it seem like I am searching for a spouse? It is analogically similar. I looked for their locations, asked them for a speed date, talked about their current conditions and finally showed them my intention by saying, “Will you ‘marry’ me?” Haha. Thus, perhaps it is the time for me to prepare the “lobolo”. Based on the information from my new friends here, lobolo is the term of traditional marriage proposal for the people in Southern Mozambique. In this event, the family of the groom should give some valuable gifts for the family of the bride. It usually includes a set of clothes, kapulanas (traditional cloth, usually used as a skirt or a headscarf), crops, cattle, some amount of money as a symbol of the gratitude for the bride’s parents for giving birth, educate and taking care of her, and some additional requirements which have been listed by the family of the bride. The event continues to a very big party, where people dance and celebrate the union of the couple. Continue reading →

Water reuse for construction in Maputo (in Portuguese)

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by Henrique Miotelli

É a minha primeira viagem fora do Brasil, e a minha primeira vez em Maputo. Cheguei na cidade no dia 13 de agosto de 2015, e ficarei até o dia 22 de dezembro de 2015. Minha vinda tem como objetivo realizar meu trabalho de conclusão de curso em Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental, sendo um intercâmbio entre a Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina e a Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Em conversa com meus supervisores Noor Jehan Gulamussem e Nelson Pedro Matsinhe, definiu-se o tema do trabalho buscar os potenciais reutilizadores de água residual tratada, e a viabilidade da aplicação na produção de blocos de concreto na cidade de Maputo. Continue reading →

Safe use of wastewater in agriculture

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by André

I just came across with this very interesting and informative video produced by the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development that covers issues with reuse of untreated wastewater for irrigation. More information about this project can be found here. Unsurprisingly, the case-studies (Lima, Jakarta and Tehran) presented in the movie share many characteristics with the situation in Maputo, where farmers use the effluent of the wastewater treatment plant that was studied by Irene Caltran in 2014 – make sure to check her report. Continue reading →

First group meeting

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by André

We organized our first project meeting since the appointment of the four PhD candidates. The two-day meeting took place in Delft on the last week of September and everybody was presented, the PhD candidates and their supervisors and promotors; we were very happy to host Maria Rusca traveling from the UK and Nelson Matsinhe and Sandra Manuel from Mozambique. We would also like to thank Michel Riemersma for taking to time to be present during the first day and presenting the ideas that RoyalHaskoningDHV has for future developments in Maputo. Continue reading →