How to Explain a Process or Device in an Intercultural Engineering Project
Summary: THis module tells how to explain a process or device to a person from another culture who has little technical background. It also discusses the use of warnings and general-to-specific structure.
Contents:Reading • Assignments • Student Engineers’ Samples
READING
Your Impact as a Young Engineer
Some of the people who may benefit most from learning your explanations are young people. You will likely be a role-model for young people in villages you visit. Here are some tips about talking with young people from the Peace Corps booklet, Learning Local Environmental Knowledge, available at http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/publications/culture/.
- Avoid focusing exclusively on “problems” but rather focus on issues, challenges, opportunities, and assets
- Build on the assets of youth such as enthusiasm, energy, optimism, and hope
- Create opportunities for youth to contribute to their community in constructive ways, even if modest
- Encourage young people to take responsibility for their actions and ideas
- Strengthen feelings of belonging and service to the community
- Use young people’s personal experiences as a tool for teaching
- Start small and work up to larger expectations
- Build competencies and develop self-esteem
- Involve committed parents and other adults to work with youth
- Link youth efforts with larger community development and change efforts
READING
Situations that require an explanation of a process or device
You may need to explain a process or device when you are analyzing a problem, making a proposal, or giving instructions to someone. These are common events during an engineering trip.
Listeners have different needs. Someone who is going to be an observer wants to know, in general, how something will be done, but someone who is going to make the bricks or cut lumber will need more details. Don’t launch into a detailed explanation of your design or equipment in front of people who just want the basic idea. You’ve all heard professors who spoke at much greater length than you wanted them to. If you’re going to err, do so by listening too long, not by speaking too long.
Intercultural explanations require special sensitivity to listeners’ needs. If you and the listener share a limited vocabulary, you need to be resourceful about using visual aids or demonstrating an action you want performed. On the other hand, you shouldn’t assume the listener is unintelligent. Think about the challenge of explaining a device as a kind of mutual search for a common path. Build an explanation through research or through trial and error. Talk informally at first to find an explanation that fits the culture or environment; slowly modify this explanation by pulling from local examples or language or ways of thinking. To do this: listen. And perhaps find a colleague or counterpart who can help build the explanation before actually employing it.
Organizing information about a process or device
Naturally, the first step in any explanation is the purpose. Listeners need to know why you are explaining something. Perhaps the purpose is to define the source of a problem or the way to achieve some desire benefits. The listeners’ role in the situation will affect your choices.
Remember to insert an overview.
It’s tempting to jump right in with a step-by-step account: “Well, you throw that switch over there, and then you add about two liters here, and you need to wait a few minutes, and then . . . then. . . then. . . .” Unfortunately, such an account doesn’t lead to comprehensive understanding.
Psychologists have studied how people learn from explanations, giving different kinds of descriptions of an apartment to different groups. One version involved a “step-by-step” description such as this:
“Well, you enter the apartment from the first door on the right of the elevator, and then you turn right, which will get you into the kitchen. It has all the appliances you’d need, and then if you go through the door on your left, you’ll enter the dining room, which has a table that can seat six easily enough. The door on the far side of the dining room leads out into the hall, which will get you into the living room at the end of the hall. . . .”
Participants who heard this kind of explanation were not as able to draw the layout of the apartment as well as those who got an “overview first” type:
“This two-bedroom apartment is a rectangle split down the middle by a hall that leads to a large living room overlooking the patio. Two bedrooms and the bath are on the left of the hall. A kitchen and dining room are on the right.”
The lesson to be remembered is that an overview orients the listener and sets up expectations, a set of mental “hooks” on which you can provide greater detail later on. A listener can more easily add the information that the dining room “contains a table that can seat six easily enough” if he or she knows where the dining room is located in the overall layout first.
Follow a “general to specific” or “broad to detailed” pattern in your description.
Most process descriptions follow this pattern:
- Overview or Purpose
- Benefits and importance of accomplishing the goal
- Summary of key steps or major parts
- Explanation of principles (if needed)
- Detailed steps (features and how they work, level of details adjusted to audience needs)
Sometimes people will not be motivated to hear what functions the device performs and what features carry out the functions unless they first believe the benefits make the listening worthwhile. You also need to decide whether to discuss benefits to the environment, to the community, to individuals, or to all of these.
Whether the person needs to know the scientific principles largely depends on his or her role as a spectator or participant, now or in the future. Someone who is going to be responsible for operating or maintaining a device may need a better grasp of the principles.
In intercultural situations, your listeners may not use the same mental models for natural phenomena or health that you have learned, and their vocabulary may not readily express the concepts or devices you want to describe. For example, a tool shaped like the “J” in the western alphabet formerly was used in setting drilling equipment in deep water. The “J” tool had to be renamed when a Houston manufacturer sold it to Persian Gulf companies because the Arabic alphabet has no “J.”
To find common ground and vocabulary on which to build your overview, listen first. Ask for an explanation of the problem or phenomenon from a villager or guide. Ask for definitions for terms you don’t understand or think are key words. Ask the listener to check your understanding as you repeat or paraphrase what you think you heard. Ask the listener to tell you about other tools or containers or supplies that might be used in that process as well. Ask about times, sizes, and “who does what” (roles) too. Learn all you can about the way the people who will be your partners are already thinking.
Once you’ve found out how the process or problem occurs in their view, you can supplement or change that explanation by choosing the most relevant overview and details. Or, you might suggest how a different device, such as a solar panel, might accomplish the goal. Then start again, with the overview, followed by a step-by-step account, giving as much detail as that particular listener needs.
You can think of an explanation as occurring in layers. The top, most accessible level, is the general overview. The next layer gives the basic categories or series of steps. The next layer down has more details about each step or components of the device or process.
Give your audience signals that help them tie information at one level to what they have already heard or know: “As I said, the dining room has a table large enough to seat six people (known information), but if you remove the chairs to the living room and push the table against the wall, you can accommodate a buffet dinner party for 12 to 20 people, using the living room for those who wish to sit down (new information).”
Choosing Words
Adjusting to your audience’s level of context-dependency. In the US, we are used to including all the details necessary for a stranger to be able to successfully carry out an action; even when writing for other engineers, US professionals put in all the details that a reader is likely to need if the document is retrieved several years into the future.
In many other countries, listeners think you are treating them as children if you repeat details that they already know about equipment or a technique. Try to find out your listeners’ familiarity with the process or device you are about to explain. If you are dealing with a culture that relies heavily on previous knowledge, try to select details judiciously and limit your explanation to what they don’t already know. Ask them to explain it to you as though they were telling someone else. You will learn about how they explain concepts and how the process is thought of in that culture. However, be careful; your informants or driver may not be willing to tell you that they do not know how to use a device or perform a process. Smiling or nodding doesn’t mean the listener necessarily understands.
One solution is to use indirection, to tell a story about using a device or carrying out a procedure:
- Say, “I’d like to tell you about how this was done on another project we did to see if you think this would work here.”
- Or, you might say, “Here is what my teacher told me when I learned to do this.” Then ask, “Did I forget anything?” “Would others want to know anything more? Did I use names for things that are different here?”
Choosing the right words. In going from the upper, general level to the lower, detailed levels, you will naturally choose more specific words. If you’re trying to provide those details at a more specific level in another language, the likelihood increases that you and your local audience use different vocabularies. To learn specialized vocabulary in another language, you might check a manufacturer’s Web site or brochure, which may have a list of product features in more than one language.
Some Web sites contain specialized vocabularies:
The Cain Project web site has a glossary of engineering and construction terms in Spanish at
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~cainproj/Diccionario.html
The Orange County Government Website in Orange County, Florida has a glossary of construction terms that might be useful:
https://www.orangecountyfl.net/cms/DEPT/growth/housing/glossary.htm
KUDOZ Open Glossaries contain mechanical engineering definitions and translations provided by individuals whose names are listed
http://www.proz.com/index.php3?sp=kog
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States has glossaries in English, Spanish, Arabic, and French of Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture at
http://www.fao.org/biotech/index_glossary.asp
A General Technical English to Spanish dictionary for students is offered by a Sapiensman.com, which sells technical products, at
http://www.sapiensman.com/ESDictionary/index.htm
Check on names for tools or components. If your audience doesn’t understand, they may bring the wrong supplies. The low-tech solution is holding up components and asking for local terms may be helpful if the components are familiar.
Remember, too that vocabulary may change from region to region, especially for tools, which may be given special names. Cepillo means brush, but it also means a “carpenter’s plane” and a “brush for removing crumbs or dirt from cloth.” A paint brush is a brocha; an artist’s brush is a pincel. A toothbrush is a cepillo de dientes. Always be especially careful to learn the local name for any part of a device or process that is dangerous so that you can give appropriate warnings.
Explaining dangerous or important conditions before commanding actions.
Sometimes it is critical for people to judge conditions before taking actions. You should not tell someone to do something and afterward mention a danger or a necessary condition that might already have done them harm. For example, do not say, “Open the exterior door manually after the electrical system has been turned off.” Opening the door while the system was turned on might be dangerous. Use a dependent clause or two commands in sequence to give the instruction:
(Condition) After the electrical system has been turned off, (Action) open the exterior door manually.
or
(Command one) First, turn off the electrical system with the orange switch. (Command two) Next, open the exterior door manually.
Helping users be safe. Help the user remember safety issues by giving the warning at the place in the action that will help the user stay safe. A warning must be sufficient to command the listener’s attention at the point of action or decision-making. For instance, say, “The next part is dangerous. You must keep your hands away from the blade before you turn on the switch.”
Put warnings in the right places. Don’t bunch all the warnings together at the beginning or end of your talk. Mention how to stay safe at those points in the explanation when you are talking about where a danger or possible harm might occur.
Use warnings that the listeners will follow. It would be insufficient to say, “Stay off the grass” if the grass were full of snakes. “Stay off the grass” for most North American listeners is a warning mothers give their children not to keep them safe but to protect the lawn and keep the children’s clothing and shoes clean. On the other hand, too severe a warning about a minor caution may make listeners think you are too frightened and decide to ignore your advice.
A good warning has four components:
- The nature of the hazard (fire, shock)
- The degree of hazard (danger, hazard, caution)
- The consequences of not following advice (such as falling)
- How to stay safe (Walk carefully)
Incorporate these elements into the explanation at the point in the process that the person must attend to the information in order to be safe. Speak as though the audience were a cautious person, one who would always choose the safer option if he or she knew what that might be. In legal terms, this change means using the “prudent person” standard in preparing your warning instead of using the “reasonable person” standard.
If a technology or process needs to be reported by locals after the engineers depart, practicing with oversight will help ensure the sustainability of the project.
SUMMARY This module offers several strategies to successfully communicate information about a device or process. They include understanding your audience, following a general to specific path, and working towards a mutual understanding.
ASSIGNMENT
The three parts of this assignment ask you to sharpen your mastery of intercultural communication principles as follows:
Part One invites you to experience the challenge of listening or reading an explanation given by the member of a culture that relies on a listener’s previous knowledge.
Part Two asks you to give an explanation of the Onil Stove for either an “observer” or a “general” audience (do either situation A or situation B).
Part Three asks you to plan new instructions or explanations for a device or process you’ve used before on one of your projects.
Part One
Choose either Option A or Option B.
Option A: Practice being a listener learning a new process. Choose a friend from another country or culture, and ask about a food or a device that is associated with that friend’s culture. Then ask about how the food is prepared or how the device is used. Be sure to get the names of any unusual ingredients or components.
Note:
Lots of experienced cooks forget to tell novices intermediate steps or details of technique. “Bake till done” may be a sufficient hint for an experienced listener, but for a listener who has never used a corncob stove or a round-bottomed pot, the words may be seriously insufficient. As a result, novice cooks may make errors.Using the “overview plus detailed steps” pattern, write a description of the process your friend described (no more than three paragraphs or a paragraph and bullet points). Give the description back to your friend for comments.
Did you leave out any techniques or details? Did you make any errors in time, method, or equipment? Did your friend spot any differences in assumptions you may have made because he or she left out an explicit detail?
If you would prefer a more social version of the assignment, add on a demonstration. Cook the food or operate the device as well. Ask your friend to taste the results or watch you and then give you feedback. Turn in your written version or your friend’s comments.
Option B: If you do not have an acquaintance from another country or culture, analyze one of the recipes given below and write marginal notes to indicate what devices, ingredients, or techniques you would need to ask questions about in order to prepare the dish.
The recipes below are from Mexico (from Erna Fergussson’s Mexican Cookbook, Dolphin Books)
Quelites
- 2 pounds quelites
- 1 onion
- 1 tablespoon fat
- 1 green chile
- Carefully pick over the quelites. Drop into boiling salted water and cook. Drain well.
- Brown onion and chile in fat. Add to quelites.
- Brown onion and chile in fat. Add to quelites.
Posole
| 6 pigs feet | 1 clove garlic, chopped | 12 red chile pulp |
| 1 onion | 1 tablespoon fat | 1 tsp. Salt |
| seeds of 4 chiles | 1/2 teaspoon oregano | 1 quart nixtamal |
Tie pigs feet in a cheesecloth bag and cook until tender. Brown onion and garlic in fat, add to the pigs feet. Add chile, oregano, salt, and nixtamal. Simmer until nixtamal is done.
Part Two: The Stove Demo
Choose either Situation A or Situation B.
In the “Stoves for Guatemala” File, you will find an “Overview,” a “Slide Show,” and “How It Works” (an animated Flash diagram of the stove design that was created for people in Guatemala). LINK TO BE ADDED
A summary and slide show explain the problem the Onil Stove design was created to solve and the consequences of using the new stoves. The “How It Works” ends with a slide that summarizes the stove’s benefits from a US perspective. The stove reduces emissions, increases the cooking surface height and reduces injuries, and reduces fuel use and deforestation. These benefits are ones that a society recognizes as benefits for the larger social and ecological system. If you were explaining how this stove works to a local village audience, you would want to include the benefits to individuals and families as well as the local village.
Become familiar with either or both the English and Spanish version of the Onil Stove Demo “How It Works” Flash file. Learn the vocabulary for the various parts of the stove. You will not be able to change the order in which the images appear, but you can change what you say about them in each of the two situations below.
Situation A. Depending on your familiarity with Spanish, choose either an English or a Spanish version of the Onil Stove explanation. Plan how you would explain the benefits and functions of the stove design to a group of three village leaders in a village you have visited. They have already told you that during the rainy season transportation may be interrupted by flooding, dry wood is hard to find nearby, and food becomes scarce. They have access to a building with a large room now used once a month for a visiting nurse and for other group activities. They would like to use this place for group food preparation.
The purpose of your explanation is to tell them about a stove that costs less than $50 (for the large version) and can be used for group cooking or for a village bakery. Plan an explanation of how the stove works and how it might benefit the village if two were built side-by-side. You can decide whether you want to suggest the bakery. Decide whether to put benefits at the beginning or the end. Use an overview and detailed steps to organize your explanation.
The photos below show a man with an Onil stoves that has just been installed, and women cooking with an Onil stove. Two stoves can be installed side by side for a larger cooking function.(http://www.onilstove.com/photos.htm). You'll see some construction supplies are still visible in one photo.
| Onil Stove Photos |
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Situation B. In this section you should imagine that the village you are working with has decided to install a Onil Stove, which has been donated by a generous person in Houston, so that your team can help the village undertake a bakery project. Four village volunteers have offered to assist your team in setting up the stove and installing the pipe or flue that will carry away combustion gases.
In either English or Spanish, write out the talk you will give before the equipment arrives to the men who volunteered. Choose two other members of the class as your fictional Engineers without Borders student team. Imagine they are present also as you give this explanation. The bricks for the stove base will have to be made locally, using a set of molds for the bricks that will be sent. note id=”bricksnote” type=”note” You don’t have to give directions for making bricks. Just mention that this will have to be done. /note Your volunteers may want to ask others to help with the brick making. The rest of the components will be shipped to you in a nearby town. You will bring them to the village in your van.
Writing isn’t the same as speaking, we realize. However, write as conversationally as you can, thinking about how you will give an overview first and then detail the steps for assembling the stove.
Part Three
Be sure to do this section.
Choose a component for a water system such as a solar panel, a pump, or a purification system with which you are familiar. Imagine that you are explaining the purpose and functions of the item to your local partners (not your engineering team members) in a village you have visited. Select the details of the setting that you consider relevant. The goal of this assignment is to improve the explanation you have given in the past or draft a new explanation.
Use the “overview plus details” pattern discussed earlier. Decide whether benefits will be most motivating if placed at the beginning or at the end. Write out your explanation.
In the same manner you may have used to examine the recipe, go over your draft to see whether you have left out details that your audience might need. Revise your first draft to adjust your explanation.
Again, we realize that writing is not speaking, and that it is hard to write as you speak. However, we ask that you try so that your explanation can be shared.
STUDENT SAMPLES
- Candace Marbury: The Biosand Filters Case
- Candace Marbury: Preparing to Demonstrate Technologies
- Jessie Gill: Advice on Preparing Tea in India or for Indian Guests
- Claire Krebs: An Outline of Tactics for Presenting a Stove Demonstration
- Roque Sanchez: How to Construct the Horno Onil en Espanol
- Roque Sanchez: A Preview of the Water System
Candace Marbury: The Biosand Filters Case
Over this last Spring break, I went with the Mexico project team of Engineers Without Borders to Piedritas, Mexico. The main focus of this visit was to implement biosand filters in the community. To prepare for this trip, we outsourced the construction of steel forms to be used as the concrete molds for the filter. Once finished, we rushed to construct a filter (at Rice University) before our departure.
After a few bumps in the construction process, we successfully created a concrete biosand filter and were fairly confident in our abilities to duplicate such results in Mexico. Although it would be impossible for us to construct one for each household, our goal was to build as many as possible while there (with the community helping) then leave the necessary materials behind so that they could continue to construct on their own.
Creating the first filter began the very next day after our arrival. We used the same materials we used in Houston and followed the same directions in its construction. There was not much community involvement at this time because we wanted to construct one filter quickly, in the field, and make any little revisions necessary before beginning mass-scale implementation. Furthermore we hoped to incorporate the community for subsequent filters which would use the communities’ native materials (sand and gravel).
A few individuals of the community did join our small group though and helped us mix the materials and pour the mold. Their major expressed concern was the texture of the concrete mix. It was a lot drier than normally used. We were fully aware of this and responded that we were following developed and tested instructions. Besides, we were confident in its stiff consistency because we had successfully created a filter at Rice using these specifications. After pouring the mold, the concrete is supposed to sit in the mold for 18 to 24 hours and kept wet. Once again, following the same procedure we employed in Houston, we assumed the filter would turn out well. Why would it not?
After about 22 hours, we decided it was time to remove the mold. Our same helpers arrived again to watch and volunteer where needed. Excited and energetic we began to remove the steel forms. This process is not without strain. Turning the crank on the extractor takes a bit of muscle, muscle we were able to provide back in Houston. Employing the same technique as used successfully before, we tried to extract the inner mold. To our dismay, it was not working. One of the men from the community, much bigger and stronger than we us, volunteered to help us and was able to muscle the inner form out. Removing the side molds was a bit easier but still a challenge due to sticking. All the force required to remove the forms exerted a lot of stress on the concrete structure resulting in unforgiving cracks throughout its body. The most frustrating part was the nose of the filter. This front face contains a copper pipe that projects out of the filter making this area particularly susceptible to fracture. The nose almost separated from the rest of the body which would have not been repairable. Thankfully, this filter could be salvaged, but it definitely needed some careful patching.
As the days went by, our filters did not improve. Some had to be broken out of the mold. We had a major problem on our hands. Something was not working and it needed to be identified and resolved. We soon realized the directions had to be modified to fit our new materials and most importantly climate. One major difference in the way we were constructing these filters was in the location. At Rice, we used an air-conditioned lab. In Piedritas, we were welcomed by the hot desert climate. We quickly came to the conclusion that the concrete was drying much faster here (steel absorbs a lot of heat). Adjusting the amount of water in the mix as well as being more active in keeping the mold wet during the concrete’s curing time would be essential.
The most difficult part about constructing these filters was the communities’ perception. After the first filter was constructed we actively solicited the help of the community. This was an opportunity for us to train them on how to build the filters. Eager helpers arrived but with skepticism because of our previous failure. It is difficult to justify something that had not worked. In particular, the community members kept saying our mix was too dry, thus the concrete was drying too fast and sticking to the molds. They also wanted to use car grease instead of vegetable oil on the forms. Although car grease is a much better lubricant, it is toxic. What could we do? We did not want to dismiss their opinion or insult them by not trying their suggestion even though we knew using a wet mix would reduce the structural stability of the filter and car grease is toxic and expensive (unsustainable). These are difficult arguments to make when our techniques had not proven themselves effective.
So, we decided to build a few filters their way. Although they removed from the forms relatively easily, the walls were crumbly and weak. Also, the wet concrete mix clogged the outlet pipe rendering the filter useless. With only a few days remaining, we had to make a decision regarding the construction of the forms. After much group discussion we decided to create a compromise between our techniques and the community’s techniques. First, we made the concrete mix a little wetter than previously used. To prevent the use of car grease, we used tape on the inner edges of the mold to smooth the imperfections and prevent bonding and manteca (lard) to lubricate the surfaces. We also made sure to keep the top of the mold wet throughout its curing process inside the forms. Our last adjustment was to remove the mold a few hours earlier.
The success of this filter was pivotal. We did not have much time before our visit was over and final instruction on how to assemble the filters had to be left. Fortunately, the filter turned out beautifully and we were able to make the necessary revisions to the construction documents.
The following day, we were able to review the instructions with confidence and assurance. We explained to the community (at a final community meeting) that the ratios of sand, gravel, cement and water were developed to optimize the strength and durability of the filters. With a few minor adjustments to account for their unique materials and climate, we have developed detailed instructions so that they can continue to construct filters after we leave.
The community appeared to understand our reasoning for being adamant in the way the filters were constructed and also expressed gratitude for our efforts. There did not appear to be a loss of confidence in our abilities but I think that is mostly due to our ability to finally produce a “perfect” filter in the end.
Afterword. Looking back on the trip and the ordeal with constructing the biosand filter, I believe we could have handled the situation a bit better. Before construction ever began, we could have really stressed that our construction of these filters was a work in progress. Hopefully, this would put the community’s mind at ease early in the process that not everything was expected to work. In addition to preparing the community for failure so that it does not look accidental, we could have stressed the importance of some of the building parameters (such as the stiffness of concrete mix) to avoid confusion. However, we did not expect to have difficulty constructing the filters; therefore we did not take precautions. I have realized that it is so easy to take one success (one that has been long awaited for) and run with it. The filter construction went well in Houston, why not Piedritas? Better preparation for the trip would have involved developing answers to this question. Perhaps then we would have realized the impact of temperature, materials and lubrication.
Candace Marbury: Preparing to Demonstrate Technologies
It is exciting to work with other cultures because we are exposed to something “out of the norm.” On the other hand, this interaction can be disastrous if we are ill-prepared. Primarily, this class has helped me to realize the wide breath of considerations one should and must take into consideration when interacting with another culture. I just returned from the national Engineers Without Borders conference where we discussed similar issues. Across all project teams working in over 50 countries, there was the issue of effective communication and collaboration. In all our projects in diverse countries with their own unique cultures, we must learn to adapt (appropriately and quickly) in order to be successful in our endeavors.
This requires preparedness. One must consider all these factors such as, physical environment, food, music, leadership structure, etc. before ever interacting with that community. Once this is understood, one can begin preparing to forge a partnership.
The stove demonstration in the assignment (based on the “Stoves for Guatemala” file created by the Houston Chronicle) was an interesting activity to show us the difficulty in taking our knowledge of a culture to generate support for a technology. I have the mindset of an American, which means I am geared toward continuous improvement. I go to grade school, then high school, then college, then graduate school, then an entry-level position in an office, then management, then CEO, then entrepreneur, etc. This also translates into my physical environment with continuous “upgrades” of my television, computer, or car. We are always looking to advance.
This is not necessarily the sentiment of other cultures. The Guatemalan community may not perceive the stoves as necessary, especially if there is an associated cost. Perhaps, the tradition of cooking over open flames will outweigh all the conveniences a stove would provide. To me, the increased safety and convenience of a flat cooking surface make the stove a viable improvement. To a native, this might rid them of an opportunity to share in gathering wood, perhaps a well-liked time of togetherness. Although this was not the case for the Guatemalan community, it could be for others. We must take the time to ensure the community’s desires are being met and appropriately so.
The goal of all our partnerships with developing communities is sustainability not just improvement. The only way to ensure this is to create a viable partnership where both sides understand each other and can work toward a common goal harmoniously. We all have our own preferences, assumptions, and rationale. Imposing one culture on another can be detrimental to the project’s success.
Jessie Gill: Advice on Preparing Tea in India or for Indian Guests
A good Indian hostess always offers her guests tea when they visit. A sign of a good cook is how well she prepares special tea, or masala chai, which is made with whole milk, fresh, whole, spices (never powdered), loose tea leaves and sweetener.
Note:
The key to making masalachai is to allow each ingredient to boil long enough to bring out the flavors without burning and to end up with a drink that is half flavored water and half milk.- For each serving of tea, pour 2 cups of cold water into a heavy-bottomed pan
- Add the following fresh spices to the water: 1 stick of cinnamon; a pinch of fennel seeds; and a thin slice of fresh ginger root (more or less to taste)
- For each serving of tea, add the following additional fresh spices: 1 whole, green cardamom, broken open so that the seeds fall out; 4-5 whole cloves, pinching off the bud and bruising it slightly by crushing it in your fingers
- Bring the water to a boil and simmer on medium for about 10 minutes or until water is slightly brown; watch the water carefully so that it does not evaporate and burn the spices; add water, if necessary, to maintain its level
- When the water is slightly brown, add 1 level teaspoon of loose Darjeeling tea leaves for each serving of tea; different brands of tea leaves have different strengths so you may have to adjust the amount of leaves for taste
- Continue simmering the water and spices for about 5 minutes being careful not to allow the water to evaporate or boil the tea leaves over the edge of the pan
- Add 1 teaspoon of sugar (or sugar substitute) per serving to the pan; NOTE: honey is a good sweetener as well but is better added after the tea is finished cooking;
- For each serving of tea, add 2 cups whole milk to the pan and allow the tea to come to a full boil, watching to be sure that the tea does not boil over; once the tea starts to boil, it will bubble up to the pan surface very quickly;
- If you are using an electric stove, remove the pan from the burner once it start to boil up in order to keep it from boiling over as the burner cools down
- Strain the tea and spices from the pan and serve hot with savory snacks or sweets.
Claire Krebs: An Outline of Tactics for Presenting a Stove Demonstration
Note:
Focus on benefits to the women and children to sell the stove. Omit the bakery idea for this community until later so that acceptance of the stove does not hinge on acceptance of the bakery.Re-introductions
Enquire about the families of the village leaders. Remember to incorporate facts learned in the past meeting, such as children’s names, education, soccer accomplishments, etc. Make sure that if any mention is made of family illnesses to comment. (respiratory illnesses reinforce a need for a stove)
Enquire about certain members of the community. Briefly ask about prominent community members if they will come up later in the conversation (such as the brick maker who might make bricks for the stove, female community leaders who might organize usage of the building)
Share things that have happened to me in the meantime, especially as it relates to my close families. For example—this is a true example I could use—“I told my family about the wonderful pupusas that your wife makes, but when we tried to make them, we could never get them to taste as good. I am so glad to be back so I can learn her secrets!”
End with a focus on the wife to make the transition to stoves easier.
II. Getting to the point
Restate the reasons you are here. “So last time you mentioned that you wanted help setting up a communal food preparation building.” Try to be somewhat vague to set up part b.
See if their plans have changed any since you last visited. Do this by “Is that right” or “If I remember correctly” statements.
Bring up the stove. “You know, while I was back in the States, I met with the head of a group who introduced a new stove to a community not far from here. It is much cleaner than the stoves you have now and uses much less wood. I think it could be a very good thing for you, especially during the rainy season.”
III. Slideshow pictures Part I: Introduction to Stove
Asking permission. “If you would let me, I have some pictures I would like to show you and tell you a little about the stove.
Intro slides. The first pictures you would flip through briefly to show the village leaders the community that already has stoves, trying to include the backgrounds of the people in the photos.
Show Process slides. Tell the leaders briefly how the bricks are made, mention that the local brick maker might be able to do this job. Be sure to explain that the quantity of bricks needed would not be as much as in the previous project. Use this point to casually mention that they might consider this implementation as a trial for maybe future implementation in all homes.
IV. Building Description: How It Works
How it Works: Describe the base of bricks, chamber, tray, cover, chimney and plancha. This description should be cursory. Once the leaders agree to the stove, a more in-depth explanation can be made.
Cost Estimate. “Knowing the number of people you are hoping to support, you should probably consider building two.”
Roque Sanchez: How to Construct the Horno Onil (en español)
Entonces, gracias a todos por voluntar para la construción del horno Onil. Gracias, también, al donoador en Houston por poviendo los fondos para fundar la panadería en el canton. Entonces, voy a revisar la estructura del horno un poco, y luego dividiré los pasos de la fabrica del horno.
El horno, como recuerdan de la visita a la panadería en Naranjo, está hecha de bloques de concreto: bloques para la base, un bloque para la caja de fuego, y un bloque para apoyar la plancha. Un otro grupo de voluntarios hacerá los bloques en Naranjo y llevarélos al conton en mi minibus, y entonces todo que necesitamos hacer es ensamblar los bloques, la plancha, y el tubo.
Despues de desayuno el lunes proximo congregaremos en la panadería y descargaremos los bloques, la plancha, y el tubo de mi minibus. Un equipo de voluntarios trabajará en arreglando los bloques de la base, y el otro grupo empezará instalar el tubo del techo al horno. Cunado la base que eleva el horno está construida, arreglaremos nosotros los bloques de la caja de fuego y el bloque con la plancha. Mientras conetaremos la caja de fuego al bloque de la plancha, un grupo de voluntarios puede conectar el tubo al bloque de la placha.
Con suerte terminaremos esto antes de almuerzo, y Sra. Quilepope donará pupusas revueltas. Mientras que comemos, Sr. Gustavo repartirá algunas bolsas de piedra pómez para insular la caja de fuego. Despues de almuerzo, insularemos la piedra pómez a la caja de fuego, añadir la plancha al horno, y poderemos instrucción sobre el uso del horno Onil. Gracia para su tiempo, que les veré el lunes.
Roque Sanchez: A Preview of the Water System (overview plus details)
Some of you have been asking about how the new water system for the community will work, so I want to give a brief overview of the different parts of the system. We will be using the ANDA spring that the community has worked so hard to acquire, for the water. Right now, the lower half of El Pital receives water from the ANDA spring, but it has enough water for the entire community if it is used wisely. Since the ANDA pipes don’t work very well and only reach a few houses, we will build a new tank at the ANDA spring to store water for the lower half of El Pital. Large water pipes will carry water through lower El Pital, and there will be hose connections placed along the pipes that will allow houses to connect to the system. The new connections will be close to the houses, and there will be enough connections that households will not have to share.
For the top half of El Pital, we will build a large water tank at the top of the hill to store ANDA spring water. We will install a pump at the ANDA spring that will pump water to the upper tank, and from there it will flow through large water pipes in upper El Pital. Once again, there will be connections for households to connect to the water system. We will pump water into the tanks as they empty, but we will also pump extra water into the tanks at night when no one else is using it so we can assure there will be enough for the next day’s use. The tank is specially situated and large enough that in the case that the pump breaks the community will have several days’ supply of water until the pump can be repaired. The local water board will oversee the maintenance of the entire water system, and they will use the money from usage fees to chlorinate the water.
END
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Last edited by Mr. Daniel Erchick on May 29, 2008 4:37 pm GMT-5.