30 HEALTH AND SANITATION
Spirit of collaboration empowers a community
Community Plumbing Challenge 2017 ( CPC2017 ) grows in scope and size to benefit Indonesian school and surrounding village .
By Mike Flenniken
Russ Chaney
In the spirit of the sharing of unique experiences that shape the plumbing industries in our respective nations , the following article looks at the retooled Community Plumbing Challenge 2017 , which brought improved plumbing and sanitation to an Indonesian village . Written by IAPMO staff writer Mike Flenniken , it is the next in a regular series of similar articles that will run in this magazine .
Teamwork was the name of the game for Community Plumbing Challenge 2017 as , for the first time , all participants in the annual event collaborated as one international team ; this time , with the goal to improve the drinking water and sanitation facilities at a public elementary school in Indonesia .
Also , for the first time , CPC2017 was delivered in two parts : Design Week from 31 July to 3 August , and Construction Week from 9 – 15 November . For Design Week , a team of plumbers , plumbing engineers , and architects from Indonesia , India , Australia , and the United States surveyed Sekolah Dasar Negeri ( SDN ) Cicau 02 in Cicau Village , Cikarang , to come up with a sustainable plan for improving the school ’ s water supply , wastewater management , and hand-washing situation . They also presented a series of games and activities to teach the schoolchildren about personal hygiene and hand-washing , demonstrating the link to both plumbing and design .
The Community Plumbing Challenge initiative is led by the International Water , Sanitation and Hygiene Foundation ( IWSH ), and aims to contribute to improving public health in areas where communities are still threatened by the lack of basic sanitation and safe drinking water systems . The first implementation of the programme took place in India in 2015 , and the second in South Africa in 2016 .
The CPC2017 organising team consisted of IAPMO / IWSH project managers Grant Stewart of Australia and Seán Kearney of Ireland ; IAPMO India project manager Swathi Saralaya ; Adrian Welke of Troppo Architects / Healthabitat O / S ; and Roy August of PT IAPMO Group Indonesia . Outgoing IWSH managing director Megan Lehtonen attended as the foundation ’ s lead representative .
Because the village is located near PT IAPMO Group Indonesia ’ s headquarters in Cikarang , the office served as the ideal CPC hub , Kearney said , providing a place to host meetings , store tools and equipment , present training activities for local teachers and members of the international team , and provide suitable workspaces for off-site metal fabrication work and media production .
The office also hosted a press conference on the final day of Construction Week , announcing the formation of a new Indonesian Plumbing Association that included various industry groups and government departments . Ken Wijaya , executive vice-president of IAPMO R & T Lab , and Shirley Dewi , senior vice-president of Quality Assurance and Client Services of IAPMO R & T , were in attendance .
Kearney said that by holding CPC2017 in a neighbouring village , IWSH and PT IAPMO Group Indonesia are now in a position to form long-term relationships that help maintain and develop the project in the surrounding region , in partnership with the newly formed Plumbing Association group . “ All over the world , organisations often run programmes and projects that , once finished , filmed , and photographed , do not last , and fall into disrepair ,” Kearney said . “ So often , the necessary skills or understanding to maintain or upgrade newly installed systems haven ’ t been exchanged , and this can have an adverse effect that actually creates more problems for local residents , in time .
“ With each Community Plumbing Challenge , we are working hard to keep that training and education aspect front and centre , wherever a project is presented . Following our experience in Indonesia during 2017 , we are confident that the programme can grow there in the years ahead , and that the right partners and supporters will be involved that can ensure this sustainability .”
Stewart , who oversaw construction activities on the ground , said feedback from previous Community Plumbing Challenges led to the decision not to have separate national teams , as had previously been the case with CPC2015 and CPC2016 .
“ This is a collaboration , not a competition ,” he said . “ It ’ s working together to exchange skills , essentially , with each other , and with local people , to learn and teach . At the end of the day , it ’ s a massive skills exchange .”
For Construction Week , the international team consisted of plumbing professionals — plus trades including bricklaying , welding , and carpentry — from Indonesia , Australia , the United States , and Singapore . The team
March 2018 Volume 24 I Number 1 www . plumbingafrica . co . za