Barbara Rothengass of the USA volunteered September 1-30, 2008 to perform a variety of Public Health assessments with schools and public and private medical facilities in order to help Galapagos ICE plan for priority future programming. Initially interested in conducting a needs assessment for sexual risk behavior, Barbara soon learned that safe drinking water was a more pressing concern for community members, so she shifted her focus to testing and promoting Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) as a low-cost, sustainable solution. Basically, SODIS utilizes sanitized, re-used plastic bottles to collect water, and the bottles are then exposed to sunlight to kill bacteria. The method has proven highly effective in at least 20 developing nations. (For more detailed information, see www.sodis.ch.) Galapagos ICE and current volunteers are continuing to work on this project with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Galapagos National Park, to educate local residents about SODIS and the health benefits of consuming cleaner water.
