Dear group members,
Please allow me to forward to you the travel report by our Xavier
University student Michael Z. Nuesca, who presented his special
problem study "Effect of Vermciomposting on the Presence of Helminth
Ova in Human Faeces" at the "International Conference on Sustainable
Sanitation – Eco-Cities and Villages" in Dongsheng ( for pictures,
please see
http://puvep.xu.edu.ph/snews/ecological_sanitation/michael_nuescas_report/):

"I was thinking: just share. Share what you know. I don't have to know
everything. Just share what you know. I was in an international flight
on my way to Hong Kong and in several days, I would be presenting my
research on vermicomposting to an international delegation of doctors,
professors and government officials. I had mix feelings thinking about
it. I don't know if I'd be nervous or be excited considering that this
trip could surely offer many first for me. First on the list is that
it was my first time to be out of the Philippine archipelago. Second
was this huge plane with my own TV in my seat. The list goes on...

Not several months ago, all I cared about when I made the study was
completing my thesis requirement. I realize now I was blessed when I
took the chance and grabbed the opportunity allowed by Dr. Robert J.
Holmer to do a study in partnership with the Peri-Urban Vegetable
Project regarding vermicomposting in relation to ecological sanitation
impacts, although at the time, I didn't fully appreciate the subject
quite yet. In fact, even, it was only in the conference I realized how
big a deal ecological sanitation is. I mean, it was only then that I
recognized that many big thinkers, agriculturists, community leaders
and organizers from different countries have engaged in the pursuit of
developing and focused on this field of study. The government of China
and in fact the district that sponsored the event is so serious with
their ecological sanitation programme, for example, that they
established a fully functional town model that is compliant with
ecological sanitation guidelines. The conference was essentially a
consortium of researches and update reports of the status and
application of eco sanitation programmes in different countries.

The international conference on sustainable sanitation was held in
Dongsheng which is actually an urban district in the Erdos Plateau in
Inner Mongolia of northern China. There were more than a two hundred
participants from different Asian, African and European nations, many
of whom hardly spoke English. Translators were frequently employed in
the presentations and seminars so that all participants could
understand each other.



The presentation of research studies and reports were done on a
three-day period. Because the topics under discussion varied and there
were numerous studies, the reporting was categorized and was done in
designated rooms and schedule. Pretty much, it was the participant's
choice which room to go into and whose presentation to see depending
on the preferred topic. I was able to attend to presentations of
update reports in India, a discussion of public acceptability of
sanitation programmes, among others.

I was scheduled to present on the third day so I had time to observe
and see other presentations and generally get the feel of it and
prepare myself so by the time I was to present, the tension had pretty
much dissipated. The environment was actually very warm and made one
feel comfortable with sharing one's ideas. There were fifteen people
who came in when I presented my study, several of whom came up to me
after the presentation to congratulate and give appreciation. When I
went outside, there was this African leader who asked me when I would
be presenting because he was interested in the study. When I told him,
I was finished; he asked me if I could do it again one more time. He
was of course kidding but I realized many people there wanted to see
because they were wondering what this kid would be bringing to the
table. I was the only teenager there. Most of the people there had
doctorate degrees or were project and government leaders.



After the presentation of studies, we spent almost two days touring
the treatment facilities and the Sweden-China Erdos Eco town project
in Dongsheng. Erdos is actually a model town built in partnership with
a private construction company under the EcoSanRes programme which
involved the development of a new town with five-storey residential
buildings, a nursery school and commercial centre. The now inhabited
city is testament that it is possible to build and operate an urban
community with sustainable approaches to sanitation, water use, solid
water management and infrastructure. For example, all toilet systems
of the buildings were specially made where the urine stored in these
buildings are collected under ground brick and cement tanks and
subsequently used in local agriculture. Faeces, composted and
sanitized with house hold in the onsite eco-station for reuse as soil
improvement.




The organizers of the event really did a masterful job. The trip was
fully paid by the organizers and we had superb accommodations in
Dongsheng. Of course, there were unexpected things that came up along
the trip like an unexpected flight delay in Beijing which led me to be
a part of a protest done by the mostly Chinese passengers who were
delayed with me. One Chinese lady suddenly stood on a chair and
shouted things and the passengers shouted in response. Even though, I
can't understand them, I joined in also but later on I realized I had
to find somebody who spoke English. Fortunately, I heard several
Indian guys who were talking about Dongsheng so I approached them and
found out they were professors who were presenters themselves. We were
housed on a hotel in Beijing for a night.

When we arrived in Dongsheng, we were welcomed by a horde of lady
dancers dressed in red dresses. There were lined like a platoon in an
open field. I thought then, this could be grand. And it was. We were
housed on the first-class hotel in Dongsheng, Holiday Inn Hotels and
Resorts, where I had a big room complete with the amenities for
myself. The food was also fabulous. For starters, the menu was not
folded boards but a book! My first meal there, I shared tables with
Mr. Ian Caldwell, one of the organizers. He explained that real
Chinese eating required that you have fast hands because the food
would go around and it won't stop for you. You would have to get
something as they pass by and after several minutes, they replaced the
food in the table with different meals. While eating, we were also
entertained by musical presentations and on the opening and closing
dinners, a special dance drama was presented complete with costumes
and all. It was grand.



More importantly, the people that came there were great. Even though
they were accomplished researchers or seasoned leaders, they take time
to listen and mingle with you. They were also very generous with their
advices and insights as well as offers of scholarship, trips, etc. One
professor said I should come by his home at Brazil if I happen to be
in Rio de Janeiro. Another offered support for masteral studies. One
advice which I was fortunate to hear was from a project leader of an
Ecosan program, Professor Taj. He said, once I go back to my home
place, if I want to do something for the environment, a project or
whatever, not to think that it is too small, too localized to make an
impact because all things in the world are related no matter how
small. Promoting sanitation in our localities through small-scale
efforts affects the bigger community eventually. In his words, "act
locally but think globally".

I think that is the essence of the sharing of ideas and experiences
that we did in the conference. We all want a better place to live in
but we need a concerted effort to achieve our goals and these efforts
could only guided by the sharing of prior experiences and learned
mistakes and useful recommendations that is gathered from
multi-sectoral, multi-cultural sources. In some way, even though I may
have been the only undergraduate there, and certainly the youngest, I
am glad I shared..."