Booklet 01 Make Yourself Ready

Make yourself
1
ready.
A short guide that will teach you how to
make products that can save your life in case
of Natural Disaster.
They will help you:
Cook after a Disaster

Make shelter after a Disaster
Treat water after a Disaster
Get an emergency radio
Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

2
Who made this booklet?

This booklet was made as part of a Master Thesis for the Technical Uni-
versity of Delft, in the Netherlands. It was an assignment from a Product
Design student and was completed in August 2010. This project was
supervised by Professors Iemkje Ruiter and Henk Kuipers and was sup-
ported by Ir. Lard Breebaart from Lard Design.
Contact information
Author: João Rocha
E-mail address: digitalgraphite@gmail.com
Project Client: Ir. Lard Breebaart
E-mail address: XX to be disclosed XX
URL: XX to be disclosed XX
Project Mentor: Prof. Henk Kuipers
Chair Professor: Prof. Iemkje Ruiter
University Information
Name: Technische Universiteit Delft
URL: http://home.tudelft.nl/en/
Address:
Postbus 5
2600 AA Delft
The Netherlands
Faculty Information
Name: Faculteit Industrieel Ontwerpen
URL: http://io.home.tudelft.nl/en/
Address:
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
Landbergstraat 15
2628 CE Delft
E-mail Address: io@tudelft.nl
Tel: 015 278 4750
Fax: 015 278 73 16
Delft, 2010
Introduction
Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

3
Table of Contents
These are the sections in this book
page 5
Introduction
A short explanation of what is this booklet, what does it want to teach and how is
it organized
• 6 What is this booklet?
• 7 What does it want to teach?
• 8 How is this booklet made?
page 9
How to make a cooking stove
Instructions on how to build a simple anc cheap stove that you can use before
and after a Disaster. The stove can be made from several materials and con-
sumes very little wood.
• 11 Introduction
• 13 Cooking Stove
page 23
How to make shelter
Instructions on how to make waterproof shelter material from old plastic bags,
both by using electric tools or fire. Also includes techniques to connect the pieces
of shelter material you make. includes information to estimate cost of making
enough shelter for your family.
• 25 Introduction
• 27 Shelter material (using Electricity)
• 37 Shelter material (using Fire)
• 45 Union (Tarp to Line)
• 51 Union (Tarp to Tarp, fixed)
• 59 Union (Tarp to Tarp, movable)
page 65
How to treat water
Instructions on how to treat water in four different ways. Includes estimation of
daily water needs of a person.
• 67 Introduction
• 71 Boiling water
• 75 Bleach
• 81 SODIS (also known as Solar Disinfection)
• 89 Tincture of Iodine
page 95
How to get a radio device
Information on organizations that can provide you with radios to be used in an
emergency. Includes suggestion of contact and request methods.
• 95 Introduction
• 100 Which instituitions can I contact?
• 105 Request a Radio

4
Introduction

1 Introduction
What is this booklet, what it wants
to teach, how is it organized and
who wrote it.
6
What is this booklet?

This booklet is a source of information for you, your family and your
community to build cheap products that you can use to survive in case
of a Disaster.
Why do I need this booklet?

If you live in an area that is frequently exposed to Natural Disaster (e.g. Flood,
Hurricane, Landslide, Earthquake, Storm, etc) it is possible that you are affected
someday. Maybe you have even already been affected.
We cannot stop Natural Disasters, but we can prepare for them in many ways.
In this booklet, you find instructions on how to prepare for a Disaster, by making
simple products that you can use if your home is destroyed.
There are other steps in that you can take when preparing, you can consult them
in section C, “Disaster Preparedness” of the Educator’s Guide Book, part of this
package
For who are these instructions?

These instructions are for everybody to use. You do not have to have a special
position or job to be able to learn from this booklet. These instructions are for
you, for your family, your neighbors, or your work colleagues. If you are a teacher,
this is also for your students.
Maybe not everybody in your community can read this book, or understand its in-
structions. Maybe you can help them by explaining, showing how to make these
things or even organizing events where you teach a lot of people. You can find
ideas, suggestions and information on the Educator’s Guide Book.
When should make these products?

Most of these products can be produced with very little material and could be
made even after the Disaster. But this is not the right way of doing it. The reason
why we suggest you make these things is to be PREPARED, so it is better if you
make them BEFORE a Disaster comes.
Are these the only things I need to be ready for a Disaster?

No. If you make these products, you will be more prepared for a Disaster, but this
is only the start. We know it is difficult to buy or make all the things your family
needs to be ready for a Disaster, so we decided that we can show you the start.
With only these products, you are not completely prepared for Disaster, but you
are in a much better situation that if you had nothing.
If you want to know a more complete list of things you must know and have to be
ready for a Disaster, check section C, “Disaster Preparedness” in the Educator’s
Guide Book, part of this package.
Can I copy this book?

Yes, we encourage you to copy this book and spread it around in your commu-
nity. We only ask you to keep the sections together, so if you want to copy the
Introduction
shelter section, copy the whole section. In this way, you always have the contact
information from the authors together with the instructions, and this can help you
if you have problems. If you have trouble making something, or have a sugges-
tion, it is easier to communicate with us, if you keep the contact information with
the sections you print.

7
What does it want

to teach?
This Booklet teaches you how to make a cooking stove, how to make
material to make a shelter, how to treat contaminated water and how get
access to an emergency radio.
What kind of products does this booklet teach?

This booklet only has information on products and techniques that are very
simple and cheap to make and use. All the products can be produced with very
few tools and all the techniques are easy to understand.
This booklet is full of smart, simple tricks.
This booklet teaches is “How to...”:
• Make a cooking stove

• Make shelter
• Make shelter material using electricity
• Make shelter material using fire
• Make unions with the shelter material (fixed, movable and with line)
• Treat water
• by boiling it
• with bleach
• by exposing it to the sun (SODIS)
• with Tincture of Iodine
• Get an emergency radio
Can I adapt these techniques and products?

It depends. We strongly advise you not to change the water treating techniques
because it is possible that if you treat water in a different way, it does not become
pure and you get sick by drinking it.
If you want to adapt the other techniques (especially the cooking stove and the
shelter material), we encourage you to do so. When we wrote this booklet, we did
not know who was going to read it, so it is possible that you know techniques and
products that are better for your situation, with the materials you have. Please
feel free to experiment safely.
How do teach these techniques to the people in my community?

The instructions you have read were made in a way to be as simple as possible,
so the most people can understand them. In spite of this, if you want to teach
people how to make these products, it is much easier for them to learn if you
help them by showing and contributing with your experience. Not everybody will
Introduction
understand these instructions, and the help of an experienced person (e.g. you,
after trying for yourself) will greatly improve their learning.
For ideas on how to teach these contents, check the Educator’s Guide Book, full
of advise on how to teach and prepare educational activities.

8
How is this booklet

made?
This booklet was designed to be of the best use for people interested
in making their own Disaster survival material. It is organized in semi-
independent sections that you can copy independently and is written and
illustrated in a way to maximise understanding.
Are the suggested materials the only possible?

Maybe. Again, we advise you not to adapt methods and techniques related to
treating water, but for the other topics, you can use other materials that are avail-
able to you and have the same function.
To do this, it is important to understand what is desired of each material. For ex-
ample, in the instructions for treating water with bleach, we suggest you measure
the water using 3 emply 0,33cl Soda cans. Naturally you can use other ways of
measuring the water, what is important is to make sure that the functions of the
materials stay the same.
What kind of measurements are used?

We used liters for liquids and body measurements for sizes. When we wrote
this book, we knew that maybe people in your community do not use the same
type of measuring units as we do (e.g. inches, centimeters, yards, feet, meters
and so on). Because the measurements that are related to the size of objects do
not have to be perfectly accurate, we used simple body measurements such as
inches, fingers and hands.
For measurements used for the water treatment techniques, we used liters, but
provided a way of measuring a liter, by using 3 common 0,33cl Soda cans, for
example.
Is there more information that is not in this booklet?

Yes. When this booklet was made, we tried to keep it simple so more people
could understand it and learn from it. Also, we think that is better to have some
information that is easily accessible, than to have all the possible information in a
non accessible way. So we made this book smaller but easier to understand.
Useful Information However, because we know there is much additional information that can be use-
ful, we have included ways of getting that information. We did this by including
Name of Source:
small text boxes on the left of the text, like the one you can see on this page.
Address of Source
Example:
“
World Health Organi-
zation Information
Http://www.who.int/
water_sanitation_
Introduction
health/en/

How to...
2 ...Make a
Cooking
stove
10
Cooking Stove

11
Introduction
This chapter has instructions on how to make a cooking stove from
simple and cheap (maybe even free materials). This stove works with
firewood and, because of the way it works, it requires very little wood
to work. These instructions are for a family stove, capable of preparing
meals for around 4 - 6 people (depending, naturally on the size of pots
and pans used)
What type of Stove

The stove described in this chapter is a “Rocket Stove”. The Rocket Stove was
invented by Dr. Larry Winiarski, while working for the Aprovecho Research Cen-
ter organization.
This stove was invented precisely to be simple to make and cheap to use, so it is
very adequate for Disaster Preparedness.
The way the stove works is based on the insulation of the chimney. If the chim-
ney is insulated, it will heat up faster and stay hot for longer. A hot chimney allows
Useful Information for a better burning of the fuel and reduces the smoke from the fire. A well made
Approvecho Research Rocket Stove can have no smoke and can be used inside the house with no
problems.
Center
http://www.
aprovecho.net/index. How to make the stove
html The stove is very simple to make with simple materials. You just need to make
a chimney with a shape like an “L” and protect the chimney, so it does not lose
Instructions on other heat.
types of stoves
When the stove is ready, you put wood in the short side of the “L” shaped chim-
http://rocketstoves.
ney and put a pan or pot on top of the taller side, the chimney.
org/capturing_heat/
Cooking Stove
pdf/capturing_heat.
pdf Which materials are needed
The only requirement for the stove materials is that they resist heat and are as
light as possible. Metal sheet is the best material and can be found in many
places, including in food cans or piping tube. You can also use sheet metal and
bend it into the shapes you need, but it is much easier to use materials that are

12
already in the shape you need (a tube)
Naturally, using better materials leads to better results. The best material for the
chimney is chimney pipe. If you make your Rocket Stove with chimney pipe, it
can really last for a very long time.
If you make a Rocket Stove with food cans, it will last approximately two months
and then you have to make it again.
How much will it cost

The cost of a Rocket Stove can change a lot, depending on which materials you
use. If you make it from reused materials (e.g. food cans), it can be very, very
cheap. If you use the best material (e.g. chimney pipe), it is more expensive, but
not even that much.
A Rocket Stove, made with chimney pipe can cost around US

20$. If made with food cans, it can cost nothing.
If you find this too expensive, you might try to negotiate a price for mateirials in
large quantities for everybody in the community that is interested in making a
stove. Buying in large quantities is almost always cheaper than buying
individually.
What else can I use it for

The Rocket Stove was developed for cooking, but you can use it in other ways.
You can obviously use it to treat water by boiling it and you can use it to warm up
your house. However, if you want to use it to warm up your house, the best way
is not to just start a fire and let it burn.
If you want to warm up a room, a more efficient way is to put a medium rock (e.g.
as big as a small chicken) on the stove and let the stove warm up the rock for a
while. The rock will become hot and then release the heat gradually.
When doing this, you should let the rock to heat up until you cannot touch it and
then, extremely carefully, put the rock in a safe place (e.g. somewhere from
which the rock will not fall, or children can get burnt).
This method will release heat for a few hours, without consuming so much fire-
wood.
Testing and adapting this stove

From our experience, this stove is simple enough to be fabricated with no previ-
ous experience. Despite this, you will notice that as you get more familiar with it
(after producing a few or using one for a long time), it becomes easier to under-
stand how it works and how you can adapt it. We encourage you to try to adapt
this stove to your needs. The most important factors you must remember is that
the chimney must be insulated and the entry point for the wood should allow the
air to enter and be pre-heated.
Simple modifications are:

Cooking Stove
- increasing chimney lenght (stove will be less efficient, but will produce much
less smoke (it is possible it does not produce ANY smoke)
- Making stove from other materials (The same principle of this stove can be
achieved even if it is made of clay or bricks)
- Adapt stove to be a bread oven (This is more complex, but it is possible to
extend the chimney and use the empty space between chimney and casing as an
oven for bread)

13
Cooking
Stove
Having a cooking stove lets people prepare better
meals and this helps the return to normal life after
a Disaster. However, after a Disaster, it is com-
mon that people loose their cooking conditions
and go back to simple methods (e.g. simple fires).
This cooking stove can be made with very simple
materials and requires very little wood to work,
being cheaper to operate. The described stove is
appropriate for a family of up to 4-6 people and is
easily adaptable for more.
What you will need D
A
• A - 1 Small metal
barrel
• B - 2 medium food
cans
• C - 1 medium food B C
can, taller than wide
• D - 1 0,33cl soda
can E
G
Cooking Stove
• E - Tin scissors
• F - Can opener
• G - Aluminium foil
• H - Wood ashes H
I F
• I - Marker

14
1 of 24
Measure parts
Before you start, make
sure the three most
important components
are suited to make a
Rocket Stove:
stack the medium
cans and put them
next to the small metal
barrel.
The stacked cans
should be slightly
shorter (around 4
fingers).
2 of 24
Name the parts
For the rest of the in-
structions, it is easier
to name the major
components:
• 2 medium cans:
A&B
• 1 slim, tall can: C
• 1 soda can: D
Use the marker to

write the letters on the
cans
3 of 24
Open Can A on both
sides
We will start by
making a part of the
chimney.
Using the can opener
or another tool, re-
move the top and the
bottom of can A.
Cooking Stove
This can should now

be a tube.

15
4 of 24
Open can B
Can B is the lower
part of the chimney.
move ONLY the top of
can B.
The can should now
look like a bucket.
5 of 24
Mark side of can B for
cutting
The can B needs to
be cut, but before, we
have to mark where
to cut.
Place can C on the
side of can B and, with
the marker, trace its
countour on can B.
Now you should have
a can B with a circle
drawn into it.
6 of 24
Cut side of can B
With the cutline
drawn, the can B can
now be cut.
Using the tin scissors,
carefully cut along the
line you made in the
previous step (5).
If it is difficult to start
the cutting, try to
Cooking Stove
make a little starting

hole in the can B, with
a small nail or other
sharp object. Insert
the scissor in the hole
and cut.

16
7 of 24
Cut top of barrel
The small metal barrel
will be the outer cas-
ing of this stove. You
need to open it.
Using the tin scissors
or the can opener,
remove the top of the
small metal barrel.
KEEP the cover!
8 of 24
Mark top of barrel
We will use the top of
the barrel as the cover
for the stove, so we
must cut a hole into it.
But first, we need to
draw the line for the
hole.
Take can A and put it
on top of the cut barrel
cover, in the center.
Using the marker,
trace a line around the
base of the can A.
9 of 24
Cut top of barrel
The top of the barrel
you cut in step 7 and
marked on step 8 will
be used as a cover for
the stove.
Using the tin scissors,
cut in one inch inside
of the line.
Cooking Stove
You will end up with

a disc with hole in the
center that is slightly
smaller than the diam-
eter of can A.

17
10 of 24
Compare barrel with
can B and mark it
Later in the process,
you will need to align
the hole on the side of
can B with a hole on
the side of the barrel.
Put can B next to the
barrel and place can
C against barrel, at
the same height of
the hole in the side of
can B.
Using a marker, draw
the circumference of
can C in the barrel.
11 of 24
Cut side of barrel
Using the drawing of
can C, made on the
previous step, you
now can cut an hole
on the side of the
barrel.
Use tin scissors and
cut around the drawn
circle, slightly on the
inside.
12 of 24
Cut can C
Using the can opener,
cut the top AND the
bottom of can C.
You should be left with
a tube shape.
Cooking Stove

18
13 of 24
Crimp can C
Can C will have to be
inserted through the
holes in can B and the
small metal barrel.
To make it fit, make
a 1 inch cut along
the one of the sides
and press the can to
become more funnel-
shapped on that side.
The reduced side will
be easier to insert in
the made holes.
14 of 24
Insert can C in barrel
Take can C and insert
it in the small metal
barrel.
Do not insert it all the
way, just 1 inch or so,
to secure it in place.
15 of 24
Use cans A and B and
make chimney
To make the chimney
for the Rocket Stove,
place can A (the tube)
on top of can B (the
bucket) and connect
them in place.
There are two ways of
Cooking Stove
doing this:
-wrapping the cans
tightly in aluminium foil
-covering the connec-
tion in a thin layer of
clay.

19
16 of 24
Place chimney inside
barrel
In the previous step
(15), you connected
the medium cans and
made a chimney, now
you insert the chim-
ney inside the casing,
aligning the holes on
side.
Make sure it is cen-
tered with the small
metal barrel. This is
why, on step 14, you
did not insert can C all
the way in the metal
barrel.
17 of 24
Insert can C through
barrel and chimney
Having the chimney
inside the case and
aligned with it, you
can now push the can
C into the chimney.
Take plenty of care not
to damage the chimey,
but do insert the can C
into it.
This concludes the ba-
sic chimney structure.
18 of 24
Cut tabs on barrel
Because a Rocket
Stove has to have an
insulated chimney, we
will need to cover the
metal barrel casing.
To prepare for this,
make 8 cuts down the
side of the barrel, with
around 2 inches in
Cooking Stove
lenght.
This will create 8 tabs
that can be folded
down, later on.

20
19 of 24
Fill barrel with
insulation
The chimney of a
Rocket Stove has to
be insulated and there
are several ways of
doing this. You can
leave it with no insula-
tion, just the trapped
air between chimney
and casing, or fill that
space with something.
We recommend wood
ash because it is light,
cheap and highly insu-
lating. Fill it to the top
of the chimney.
20 of 24
Bend half the tabs to
the inside
To prepare for the
securing of the cover,
fold down half of the
tabs you made by cut-
ting the barrel in step
18. Fold every other
tab.
The bent tabs should
be at the same level
or higher than the bor-
der of the chimney.
21 of 24
Place barrel top cover
and bend tabs
Take the barrel cover
you cut on step 9 and
place it on top of the
bent tabs.
If it does not fit, cut a
bit around it with tin
scissors.
Cooking Stove
Make sure its central

hole is also centered
with the chimney and
fold down the rest of
the tabs. This locks
the cover in place.

21
22 of 24
Cut can D
Although the Stove
is almost done, you
still need to make a
tray for the putting of
firewood.
Use can D and cut its
top and bottom and
also along it, so you
end up with a single
flat piece of thin metal.
23 of 24
Make tray from can D
Using the metal from
the previous step (22),
make a tray.
First make to cuts,
one on each side,
of roughly one inch
in lenght and 1 inch
away from the border
(see illustration).
Next, take the longer
tabs made by the side
cuts and fold them
down. You should
have a “T” shaped
tray.
24 of 24
Put tray in place
The last step in mak-
ing the Rocket Stove
is to insert the newly
made tray into the can
C, which is the fire-
port, where you put
the fire wood from.
To use the stove,
place wood on top
Cooking Stove
of the small tray you

made and leave clear
the space under the
tray.

22
Cooking Stove

How to...
3 ...Make
shelter
24
Shelter

25
Introduction
This chapter is about protecting yourself and your family from bad
weather and other environment conditions. We think that making shelter
is the best way to do it and in here, you will find several techniques that
you can use at very little or no cost. With these techniques you will be
able to make your own shelter material and make the best of it.
What type of Shelter Material
The shelter material that you can learn in this chapter is made from old plastic
bags. It is quite light and does not let water in. It is very easy to make and repair
and, if you can get enough plastic bags, can be also very cheap. Because each
person makes his/her own shelter material, you can adapt the methods we sug-
gest and even invent a new way to making this shelter material, also known as
“plastic tarp”.
How to make the Shelter Material

Useful Information The general idea behind the indicated techniques is that plastic melts easily.
Because most plastic bags in the world are made of the same type of plastic
Oxfam and Interna- (Polyethylene), it is quite easy to melt different plastic bags together. When we
tional Federation of melt a lot of plastic bags together, we can make a bigger piece of plastic that can
the Red Cross be used for many things like shelter and water collection and storage.
“Plastic Sheeting - In this booklet you will find two ways of making the plastic material (e.g. with a
clothes iron and with a cooking pan filled with coal). However, what you need to
information on the
melt plastic bags together is only heat (e.g. like the clothes iron and the fire in the
specification and use pan) and pressure (e.g. pressing down the clothes iron or the cooking pan).
of plastic sheeting in
You can, naturally, invent your own ways of giving heat and pressure to the
humanitarian relief” plastic bags.
http://plastic-sheet-
ing.org/
Which materials are needed
Shelter
As you can imagine, plastic sheet is absolutely necessary to make shelter mate-
rial. Plastic bags are made of plastic sheet and because plastic bags are found
basically everywhere, we suggest you use plastic bags.
There are other things you will need (e.g. the source of heat and pressure and
26
something to prevent the sticking of hot plastic to the hot surface), but most of
them are quite adaptable. As an example, if you do not have oven paper (also
known as “parchment paper”), you can use cotton or linen fabric as an anti-stick-
ing material between plastic and the iron or the pan.

This technique is quite cheap, and from our calculations, it is usually cheaper
than buying plastic sheeting first hand. To help you understand how much it may
cost you, we estimate that it costs around EUR 0,46 to produce one square me-
ter of shelter material, if you are using the method of the cooking pan with fire in-
side. If you use the clothes iron method, the costs become around EUR 0,33 per
square meter. Naturally, you can see that using a clothes iron is a cheaper way.
If you manage to use free plastic bags, either price will drop EUR 0,33.
Other Non-Governmental Organizations often recommend that when a family
plans on buying or making shelter, a good estimate is to count XX square meters
per person.
It has been suggested that 3,5m2 is the required plastic sheeting for one person.
(Number of persons X 3,5m2) X Price per Square meter

If you find this too expensive, you might try to negotiate a price in large quanti-
ties for everybody in the community that is interested in making shelter. Buying in
large quantities is almost always cheaper than buying individually.
What else can I use it for

The shelter material that you will produce is basically a light, flexible and water-
proof material. We suggest it for shelter because it can be very useful for that.
But there are other applications where this type of material can be useful.
If you use this material to make something shaped as a bag, you can fill it with
water, for example. You can then make products to collect and to store water.
However, it must be said, the described techniques sometimes leave very very
small holes that are not a problem if the material is used for shelter, but impede
its use for water storage.
The material can also be used to improve normal, Pre-Disaster living conditions
and even to produce diverse simple products, like bags and impermeable cloth-
ing.
What are the other techniques

In this booklet you can also find techniques to connect and fix different parts of
plastic tarp. We are confident that you probably are already familiar with your own
ways of making shelter. However, we believe that this knowledge can be useful
for you to adapt on.
Shelter

27
Shelter
material
Using Electricity
The most efficient way of making shelter mate-
rial is to use a clothes iron to press on the plastic
bags, in this section, you can find instructions on
how to do so.
What you will need C

A B
• A - Plastic bags
• B - Clothes iron
• C - Scissors
• D - Anti-Sticky
Material (can be oven
paper or cotton fab- D
ric) around 4 hands in
length and 2 in width.
• E - Soap
• F - Water in a big E
bowl
Shelter

28
1 of 22
Turn on clothes iron
Set the temperature
on the clothes iron for
200ºC or ***.
200°C
2 of 22
Test anti-sticking
material
Lay anti-sticking mate-
rial on a flat, clean,
even surface. Lay it
flat and let the already
hot clothes iron on it.
Wait 3 minutes.
If your chosen anti-

sticking material is not
burned after the three
minutes, you can use
it for the remainder of
this process.
3 of 22
Turn off clothes iron
Assuming your chosen
anti-sticking material
is safe to use, turn off
the clothes iron. 0°C
Never leave a clothes
iron on, if you are not
near and paying atten-
tion to it.
Shelter

29
4 of 22
Select Plastic Bags
Not all the plastic bags
will be good enough
for this technique.
Especially if you use
plastic bags that came
from waste, it is very
likely that some will
not be usable.
Do not use bags that
are too ragged and
destroyed or bags that
are dirty with grease
or oil.
Use only clean, in
good condition bags.
5 of 22
Cut Plastic Bags
Plastic bags have
handles and bottoms
that make it difficult to
melt them together.
You should cut the
top and the bottom of
each selected bag,
which will make it
much easier for later
use.
After cutting, each bag
looks like a tube, with
no top and no bottom.
6 of 22
Wash Plastic Bags
In step 4, we said that
you should only use
clean plastic bags.
Clean plastic bags are
the best start.
However, it is a good
idea to wash your
bags to remove further
bits of dirt and/or
grease and oil.
Use water and soap.
Shelter

30
7 of 22
Dry Plastic Bags
After washing the
bags, you must have
them dry before you
try to melt them
together.
Find a way of drying
your bags, preferably
in the outside, with
wind and sun.
8 of 22
Prepare work surface
During our experi-
ments, we realized
that the quality of
the working space is
very important for the
result.
Please arrange your
working space to have
it clean, as even as
possible, with plenty of
room to use.
Lay down the anti-
sticking protection.
9 of 22
Lay down several
layers of plastic bags
Take a few (2 - 4)
pieces of plastic bag
from the one you
treated before and
lay them down on the
anti-sticking material.
Put them on top of
each other.
The more layers, the
Shelter
more resistant the re-

sulting shelter material
will be, but also the
more difficult to handle
and store.

31
10 of 22
Lay down Anti-Stick
cover
Take another piece of
and put it on top of the
stack of plastic bag
pieces.
Make sure it covers
the entire pile of plas-
tic bag pieces.
11 of 22
Check set-up
At this point you
should have a small
pile of anti-sticking
material, some plastic
bags and another
layer of anti-sticking
material.
On the picture on the
right, you can see the
sideways image of the
layered setup.
12 of 22
Turn on clothes iron
Now that the basic
set-up is set, it is time
to turn on the clothes
iron.
You should set it for
the same tempera-
ture that you used on
step 1. In this case, it
means 200ºC or ***. 200°C
Wait until you can
sense the iron is hot.
Shelter

32
13 of 22
Start ironing
Using one hand to
hold the anti-sticking
material in place and
on top of the plastic
pile, start ironing.
Start in a corner and
move in a way that
does not create air
bubbles in the result-
ing patch.
Use circular move-
ments to go over the
entire plastic bag pile.
14 of 22
Pay attention to
overheating
Using a clothes iron
really makes things
easier, but still, you
must take care no to
overheat the plastic.
If you leave the iron
too long on the same
spot, you run the risk
of overheating and
creating holes in the
plastic.
15 of 22
Observe resulting
patch
At the end of iron-
ing, if you remove the
(it should come off
very easily), you are
left with a more rigid
and water proof plastic
sheet.
If you find defects in
your plastic sheet, you
Shelter
can always fix it with

plastic patches that
you iron on again, on
top of holes.

33
16 of 22
Repeat to make more
patches
By now you know how
the plastic melting
process works, but
you probably do not
have enough to make
shelter.
Before you can extend
the size of the shelter
material you make,
you must repeat previ-
ous steps to make
more pieces of fused
plastic, like shown in
step 15.
17 of 22
Lay 2 or more patches
overlapping each other
When you have
enough plastic pieces,
like the one shown in
step 15, you can con-
nect them.
To connect two or
more plastic patches,
you will iron them
together. All working
conditions are the
same as before.
Lay two plastic pieces,
one overlapping the
other by 2 inches.
18 of 22
Lay down anti-sticky
cover
and put it on top of
the pile of the plastic
bag patches you just
placed in step 17.
Make sure it covers
tic bag patches.
Shelter

34
19 of 22
Iron again
Again, to fuse the
plastic bags together,
we must heat and
press them with the
hot clothes iron.
20 of 22
Pay special attention
to overlapping areas
Because we are
connecting patches of
plastic and not making
new patches of plas-
tic, you do not need to
iron the whole plastic
patch too thoroughly.
You should iron espe-
cially along the con-
nection between the
two plastic bag parts.
21 of 22
Observe result
Again, you are left
with a more rigid and
water proof plastic
sheet.
top of holes
Shelter
When well made, the

connection between
two plastic bag parts
will leave no seams.

35
22 of 22
Repeat for bigger
dimensions
Now you understand
how to make the
plastic bag shelter
material.
It is likely that you
do not have enough
yet, so, repeat the
described process to
make more plastic bag
patches and con-
nect them together to
make enough to make
enough material to
shelter you and your
family.
Shelter

36
Shelter

37
Shelter
material
Using Fire
Because not everybody has access to electricity to
use a clothes iron, we included a method to
create shelter material that requires nothing more
than fire and cooking pan. This method is not as
good as the clothes iron one, but still, can achieve
rather good results if you take care and have good
working conditions.
What you will need A D

• A - Plastic bags
• B - 2Kg of Coal
C
• C - Cooking pan
or Wok
B
• D - Scissors
E
• E - Anti-Sticky
Material (can be oven
paper or cotton fab- H
ric) around 4 hands in
length and 2 in width.
• F - Soap
Shelter
• G - Water in a big
bowl
G F
• H - Matches

38
1 of 20
Select Plastic Bags
Not all the plastic bags
will be good enough
for this technique.
Especially if you use
plastic bags that came
from waste, it is very
likely that some will
not be usable.
Do not use bags that
are too ragged and
destroyed or bags that
are dirty with grease
or oil.
Use only clean, in
good condition bags.
2 of 20
Cut Plastic Bags
Plastic bags have
handles and bottoms
that make it difficult to
melt them together.
You should cut the
top and the bottom of
each selected bag,
which will make it
much easier for later
use.
After cutting, each bag
looks like a tube, with
no top and no bottom.
3 of 20
Wash Plastic Bags
In step 4, we said that
you should only use
clean plastic bags.
Clean plastic bags are
the best start.
However, it is a good
idea to was your bags
to remove further bits
of dirt and/or grease
and oil.
Shelter
Use water and soap, if

possible.

39
4 of 20
Dry Plastic Bags
After washing the
bags, you must have
them dry before you
try to melt them to-
gether.
Find a way of drying
your bags, preferably
in the outside, with
wind and sun.
5 of 20
Fill pan with coal
Take the coal and put
some inside the pan.
Do not fill it up, but
rather, leave it up to
halfway.
6 of 20
Start fire inside pan
Using some easy
burning material such
as paper, lint or wood
shavings, start a fire
inside the pan.
Shelter

40
7 of 20
Let fire go down and
coal become white
As you can imagine,
it is dangerous to
have a live fire next to
plastic. The fire could
ignite the plastic and
create a larger danger
of fire.
We recommend you
let the fire go down
and the coals become
white, before starting
to press on the plastic.
8 of 20
Prepare work surface
During our experi-
ments, we realized
that the quality of
the working space is
very important for the
result.
Please arrange your
working space to have
it clean, as even as
possible, with plenty of
room to use.
Lay down the
anti-sticking
protection.
9 of 20
Lay down several
layers of plastic bags
Take a few (2 - 4)
pieces of plastic bag
from the one you
treated before and
lay them down on the
anti-sticking material.
Put them on top of
each other.
The more layers, the
Shelter
more resistant the

material will be, but
also the more difficult
to handle and store.

41
10 of 20
Lay down Anti-Stick
cover
the pile of plastic bag
pieces.
Make sure it covers
tic bag pieces.
11 of 20
Check set-up
At this point you
should have a pan
with hot coal in side
and a small pile of
anti-sticking material,
some plastic bags and
another layer of anti-
sticking material.
On the picture on the
right, you can see the
sideways image of the
layered setup and the
pan applying pres-
sure.
12 of 20
Start pressing
Using one hand to
hold the anti-sticking
material in place and
on top of the plastic
pile, start pressing .
Start in a corner and
move in a way that
does not create air
bubbles in the
resulting patch.
Use circular move-
Shelter
ments to go over the

entire plastic bag pile.

42
13 of 20
Pay attention to
overheating
Using a pan is a
less precise way
of melting plastic
bags together, as it
is harder to regulate
the temperature.
If you leave the pan
too long on the same
spot, you run the risk
of overheating and
creating holes in the
plastic.
Pay attention not to
burn the plastic.
14 of 20
Observe resulting
patch
At the end of iron-
ing, if you remove the
(it should come off
very easily), you are
left with a more rigid
and water proof plastic
sheet.
you press on again,
on top of holes, using
the hot pan.
15 of 20
Repeat to make more
patches
By now you know how
the plastic melting
process works, but
you probably do not
have enough to make
shelter.
Before you can extend
the size of the shelter
material you make,
you must repeat previ-
Shelter
ous steps to make

more pieces of fused
plastic, like shown in
step 14.

43
16 of 20
Lay 2 or more patches
overlapping each other
When you have
enough plastic pieces,
like the one shown in
step 14, you can con-
nect them.
To connect two or
more plastic patches,
you will iron them
together. All working
conditions are the
same as before.
Lay two plastic pieces,
one overlapping the
other by 2 inches.
17 of 20
Lay down anti-sticky
cover
the pile of the plastic
bag patches you just
placed in step 16.
Make sure it covers
tic bag patches.
18 of 20
Iron again
Again, to fuse the
plastic bags together,
we must heat and
press them with the
hot clothes iron.
on the overlapping of
the bags.
Shelter

44
19 of 20
Observe result
Again, you are left
with a more rigid and
water proof plastic
sheet.
top of holes
When well made, the
connection between
two plastic bag parts
will leave no seams.
20 of 20
Repeat for bigger
dimensions
Again, you under-
stand how to make
the plastic bag shelter
material.
It is likely that you
do not have enough
yet, so, repeat the
described process to
make more plastic bag
patches and connect
them together.
Shelter

45
Union
Tarp to Line
Besides making the plastic tarp, it also important

to use it in an effective way. Because of that, in
this section you will find techniques to tie the tarp
to a line. This line can then be tied to a support to
hold the shelter in place.
What you will need

• A - Rope
• B - 1 bottle cap
per union
• C - Scissors
C
A
B
Shelter

46
1 of 12
Put bottle cap under
one of the tarps
Take a bottle cap or
another similarly sized
object and put it under
the plastic tarp that
you want to attach a
line to.
In the drawing on
the right and for the
remainder of these in-
structions, a bottle cap
will be used with the
sharp edge to the bot-
tom. On the right, you
can see a side view of
what is the result.
2 of 12
Check set-up
When you lay the
plastic tarp on top of
the bottle cap you just
placed, you will have
something similar to
what is shown on the
right, a small bump on
the surface, where the
bottle cap is.
3 of 12
Cut rope
Take some rope and
cut a piece, roughly
the size of an open
hand.
Shelter

47
4 of 12
Make a knot
Using the rope you
cut, make the knot
on the right (but you
can use another if you
want).
Make two loops, one
going over and the
other going under the
horizontal piece of
rope.
Take the loop that
goes under and bring
it over the loop that
goes over. At the end
you have the knot of
the right.
5 of 12
Grab under bottle cap
Using one hand, grab
the plastic tarp under
the bottle cap you
placed in step 1.
As you grab the plas-
tic, the bottle cap will
create a little bulge.
On the right, you can
check a side view of
what is the result.
6 of 12
Tie knot under the
bottle cap
Grab the knot you
prepared before and
tie it under the bulge
created by the bottle
cap wrapped by the
plastic.
Shelter

48
7 of 12
Observe result
What you have now
is an anchor point
that you can use to tie
rope around.
This anchor point
does not require you
to make a hole in the
plastic, and so it al-
lows you to reuse the
plastic tarp you made.
This technique will be
useful for further
examples in this
booklet.
8 of 12
Cut rope
Now that you have
the anchor point, you
can tie it to some sort
of support, to sustain
your shelter.
Cut a piece of rope
that is enough for your
needs and do not for-
get to consider extra
rope for knots in both
ends of the rope.
9 of 12
Make a knot
Although you can
use any knot you are
familiar with, we sug-
gest the one on the
right. It is fairly simple
to make and is adjust-
able. Also, it is quite
sturdy.
We suggest this knot
for you to tie the rope
to the anchor point.
Shelter

49
10 of 12
Insert knot into anchor
point
Take the loop made by
the previously shown
know and insert it in
the anchor point.
11 of 12
Straighten rope
Because the knot we
suggested is adjust-
able, you have to
straighten it and fixing
everything in place.
12 of 12
Tie rope to support
You are now free to tie
the other end of the
rope to any support
that you might find
useful.
On the right you can
see a representation
of a possible use,
holding a piece of
plastic, so it protects
people from rain.
Shelter

50
Shelter

51
Union
Tarp to Tarp, fixed
When making shelter, you might notice that the

plastic tarp you made is not enough for your
needs and that you must connect more than one
piece of plastic tarp. In this case, we suggest you
connect the multiple pieces of plastic using the
following technique.
What you will need

A C
• A - Rope B
per union
• C - 1 Empy can
per union
• D - Can opener
• E - Nails
• F - Hammer
G
• G - Scissor D
Turbidity
F Tester
Shelter

52
1 of 18
Cut off top of can
move the top of a can.
You can naturally use
other source of tin,
but the top of a can
is light, common and
cheap enough to be
used.
2 of 18
Bend top of can
Hold the cut top of the
can and, with pliers,
bend its sides down.
The objective is to
create smooth edges,
so this piece will not
cut into the plastic,
later on.
Pay attention not

to cut yourself
3 of 18
Bend all sides of can
top
Using the same
technique, bend all the
sides of the can to the
same side.
At the end you will
have something
shaped like in the
small picture on the
right.
Shelter
All the sides will be

smooth and this will
be used as a washer
in the connection you
will make.

53
4 of 18
Make hole in bent can
top
With a nail and ham-
mer or other method
you can use, make a
hole in the center of
the bent can top.
Make the hole from
the clean side to the
side to which the can
is bent. The objective
is to keep one side
completely smooth
and the other slightly
rough.
5 of 18
Make hole in bottle cap
Repeat the previous
process to make a
hole in a bottle cap.
Again, make the hole
from the clean side
to the sharp side of
the bottle cap. The
objective is to keep
one side completely
smooth and the other
slightly rough.
6 of 18
Cut rope
Take some rope and
the size of an open
hand.
You will use this rope
to connect the two
pieces of plastic tarp
that you want to con-
nect.
Shelter

54
7 of 18
Tie knot in extremity
of rope
Tie a knot in one end
of the rope, the type of
knot is not important,
but it should create a
bulge that does not go
through the holes you
made in the can top
and the bottle cap.
8 of 18
Pass rope through
bottle cap
Take the rope with the
knot in one side and
push it through the
bottle cap. You must
start from the sharp
side, to keep the knot
under that side..
If you have doubts,
check the small draw-
ing on the right.
This is the preparation
of the connector you
will need later on.
9 of 18
Overlap tarps
With the connector
ready, it is time to pre-
pare the plastic tarps
to be connected.
Overlap them, with
one roughly one hand
over the other.
Shelter

55
10 of 18
Make a hole through
both tarps
Now the tarps are
aligned, make a hole
through both of them.
You can use a nail and
hammer but also any
other technique that
you find useful.
The important thing is
to have aligned holes
for later on.
11 of 18
Pass rope with bottle
cap through the tarp
below
Take the connector
you prepared in step
8 and pass it through
the hole in the plastic
tarp that will be under.
Do this in a way that
the smooth side of the
bottle cap is in contact
with the plastic and
the sharp side is away
from the plastic.
12 of 18
Pass rope through
tarp above
Repeat the previous
process to pass the
rope through the tarp
above.
Shelter

56
13 of 18
Straighten rope
It is important to make
the connection as tight
as possible, so you
should straighten the
rope, as shown on the
picture in the right.
14 of 18
Insert bent can top
The bent can top will
act as a top cover for
the connection, and
now it is time to insert
it in the rope.
Keep the bent, smooth
side towards the
plastic and the rough
side away from it. The
small drawing on the
right shows a side
view of what should
look like.
15 of 18
Straighten rope
Straighten the rope
to keep everything as
tight as possible.
Shelter

57
16 of 18
Tie knot
Tie a knot over the
bent can top, as you
tied in step 7. Again,
the type of knot is not
important, just the
fact that it does not
go through the made
holes.
Tie the knot as tightly
against the bent can
top as possible.
17 of 18
Repeat process at
regular intervals
The instructions you
have read so far
resulted in one con-
nection, but, depend-
ing on the size of the
tarps you want to
connect, you will have
to repeat the process
at regular intervals.
We suggest you do
it at a distance of
roughly two hands.
18 of 18
Observe result
By the end of the
process, you probably
have something as
shown on the picture
on the right.
The rope hangs free
on the outside, acting
as a path for water
that soaks the rope,
to flow away from the
connection hole.
Shelter

58
Shelter

59
Union
Tarp to Tarp, movable
Sometimes when making shelter, it is useful to

have adjustable connections that allow you to
modify your shelter. Doors and windows are a
good example of this. In this section, we give you
instructions on how to make movable connec-
tions, that you can open and close.
What you will need

• A - Rope
per union
• C - Scissors
C
A
B
Shelter

60
1 of 15
Put bottle cap under
one of the tarps
Take a bottle cap or
another similarly sized
object and put it under
the plastic tarp that
you want to attach a
line to.
In the drawing on
the right and for the
remainder of these in-
structions, a bottle cap
will be used with the
sharp edge to the bot-
tom. On the right, you
can see a side view of
what is the result.
2 of 15
Check set-up
When you lay the
plastic tarp on top of
the bottle cap you just
placed, you will have
something similar to
what is shown on the
right, a small bump on
the surface, where the
bottle cap is.
3 of 15
Cut rope
Take some rope and
the size of an open
hand.
Shelter

61
4 of 15
Make a knot
Using the rope you
cut, make the knot
on the right (but you
can use another if you
want).
Make two loops, one
going over and the
horizontal piece of
rope.
Take the loop that
the right.
5 of 15
Grab under bottle cap
Using one hand, grab
the plastic tarp under
the bottle cap you
placed in step 1.
As you grab the plas-
tic, the bottle cap will
create a little bulge.
On the right, you can
check a side view of
what is the result.
6 of 15
Tie knot under the
bottle cap
Grab the knot you
prepared before and
tie it under the bulge
created by the bottle
cap wrapped by the
plastic.
Shelter

62
7 of 15
Observe result
What you have now
is an anchor point
that you can use to tie
rope around.
This anchor point
does not require you
to make a hole in the
plastic, and so it al-
lows you to reuse the
plastic tarp you made.
This technique is the
same as the one used
in the Tarp to Line
union, also described
in this manual.
8 of 15
Repeat the process on
the other side of the
tarp
To make a movable
connection, you need
two anchor points.
Repeat the steps to
create an anchor point
on either side of the
movable connection.
9 of 15
Overlap two tarps
Overlap the two tarps,
with one roughly one
hand over the other.
Shelter

63
10 of 15
Cut rope
Cut a piece of rope
that is enough for your
needs and do not for-
get to consider extra
rope for knots in both
ends of the rope.
11 of 15
Make a knot
Although you can
use any knot you are
familiar with, we sug-
gest the one on the
right. It is fairly simple
to make and is adjust-
able. Also, it is quite
sturdy.
We suggest this knot
for you to tie the rope
to the anchor point
This will be the mov-
able side of the con-
nection.
12 of 15
Insert knot in the
anchor point above
Insert the loop in the
anchor point, but
leave it loose, so it
can be removed with
no problems.
Insert it in the anchor
point from the tarp
above.
Shelter

64
13 of 15
Tie a knot on the free
side of the rope
Now make the knot for
the fixed side of the
connection
Make two loops, one
going over and the
horizontal piece of
rope.
Take the loop that
the right.
14 of 15
Insert knot in the an-
chor point below
Insert the loop made
in step 13, in the an-
chor point of the tarp
below.
Straighten it so it be-
comes fixed.
15 of 15
Observe result
At the end you should
have something as
shown on the right, a
connection that uses a
bit of rope to keep the
two pieces of plastic
tarp together.
Shelter

...Make
shelter
How to...
4 ...Treat
water
66
Water Treatment

67
Introduction
In this chapter you will learn a few techniques to purify water to make
it ready for consumption. After a Disaster, water is very likely to become
contaminated or just lost, because its reservoirs break down. Because
water is so important for human survival, we consider it to be necessary
to include some technical knowledge about water, so you can treat it for
you and your family and avoid problems of contamination
What type of water treatment techniques
The water treatment techniques that you can find in this chapter have a few
things in common. They are:
• Effective
• Cheap
• Only work against biological contaminants
The techniques you see here are all quite simple and require very little materi-
als. Also, the required materials can usually be found in most communities. This
makes these techniques cheap.
There is, however, a limitation. These techniques are simple and cheap but are
not capable of treating water contaminated with chemicals (e.g. gasoline, oil,
paint thinner, paint, solvents, pesticides, fertilizers and etc). These techniques
can only treat against organisms in the water, such as microbes, insects and
parasites. Because most problems with contaminated water are related with liv-
ing organisms, these techniques have some value.
Water Treatment
The biggest concern is to NEVER drink flood water or water that

you suspect has been contaminated with chemicals.
Also, after a Disaster, assume that all water that was not stored
closed (e.g. everything that was not in bottles) is contaminated

68
with living organisms and must be treated.
How to select a water treatment method

Because we suggest several methods, it is possible that you do not know which
water treatment methods you should use. Our first recommendation is to always
have more than one way of purifying water (e.g. Boiling and Bleach). After a
Disaster, you never know what conditions you will find, and it is a good idea to be
prepared to use more than one method of treating water.
In this booklet you will find that we present the techniques in a specific order.
This order represents what we think that is the best way to choose a treatment
method, based on how well it works. The order is:
• Boiling
• Bleach (Chlorine)
• SODIS
• Iodine
All these methods are effective, so it does not mean that Iodine treatment is a
bad choice, for example. What happens is that we believe that each method has
problems in terms of what materials are necessary, how much time it takes to
treat water and what is the quality of the water at the end, so we suggest one
order of priority that we feel is balanced.
We suggest that you pay attention to the characteristics of each method and think
what are the most adequate to you. In the beginning of each instruction set, you
will have the listed characteristics of each technique.
How much water will my family need?

If you want to treat enough water for your whole family, you must know how much
water each person will need. We give you an estimation of how much water must
you treat per person, for each day:
Basic 2 Liters (7,5 for pregnant women) for drinking

Optimal 12,5 Liters for drinking and sanitation
These numbers should help you in deciding how much you need. When mea-
suring water, you can always remember that most soda cans have 0,33cl. This
means that 3 soda cans can hold one liter of liquid. This information is also useful
for later on, for some water treatment methods.
What about water storage

The way you store water after a Disaster is quite important and we suggest you
have ways of separating treated and untreated water. To store water, you can use
barrels, bags, bottles or any other vessel. The important considerations are:
• Always separate treated and untreated water

Water Treatment
• Always treat the places where you store treated water, including the cov-
ers, taps and threads.
• Cover all stored water, especially treated water
• Do not touch the treated water or let unclean objects touch it (e.g. if you
use a drinking glass, do not submerge it in the clean water)
• When you put water in a glass and do not drink all the water, put the
remaining back in the UNTREATED water storage.

69
• When possible, always store treated water in containers with a spout or
tap, so you can serve yourself without touching the clean water.

The cost of treating water depends on what methods you use. Bleach and iodine
disinfection are the better priced methods for large quantities of water (above 5
liters).
Although boiling does not require any specific products, it needs a lot of energy
and if there is little fuel, it becomes an expensive method.
What about sanitation and hygiene

Having clean drinking water is extremely important for survival, but in the long
term, it requires more than treatment methods. Sanitation and hygiene are also
important because they can reduce the dangers of water contamination.
You will not find a lot of information on Hygiene and Sanitation in this booklet.
The reason for that is that there are other free sources that explain it rather well.
On the left side of this page, you can find some links to useful documents on the
topic. All of these are free and from reliable authors.
Because we understand you might not have access to the information you just
Useful Information pointed, we give you a short listing of important behaviors that can help you re-
World Health Organi- duce water contamination dangers:
zation:
• Always wash your hands after defecating and before and after preparing
“Information on wa- meals
ter and Sanitation” • Do not place garbage, animal waste, food remains, used medicine and
http://www.who.int/ faeces anywhere less than 30 meters away from water and always down-
water_sanitation_ stream from any water source (e.g. fontain, spring, well, etc)
health/en/
• Build latrines between 6 meters and 50 meters from people’s homes. As
“Food, water and latrines get full, cover them with sand and build new latrines. Pay attention so
family health: they do not become dangerous places for children to fall in.
A manual for com- • Keep garbage in same place, preferably a dug hole, with plastic lining the
munity educators” inside and periodically covered with sand until it is full. Then make a new hole
http://www.who. and re-start the process
int/water_sanita- • Cover all stored water and avoid the creation of pools of stale water.
tion_health/hygiene/
settings/wsh9204/en/
index.html If you can get the documents listed on the left, you should try to do it. These
documents not only have very good advice but also, are made in a way that is
Water, Engineering easier to understand and to explain to other people in the community.
and Development
Centre: What are the other techniques
http://wedc.lboro.
ac.uk/ In this booklet you can also find techniques to connect and fix different parts of
plastic tarp. We are confident that you probably are already familiar with your own
ways of making shelter. However, we believe that this knowledge can be useful
for you to adapt on.
Water Treatment

70
Water Treatment

71
Boiling
water
Boiling water for a short time is the more effective
way of killing most organisms that can contami-
nate water. If you can do it, we strongly advise
you to do it. However it is not very efficient to
treat large quantities of water (more than 5 liter).
What you will need A B

• A - 1 Bucket to
collect water
C
• B - 1 Clean cloth
• C - Stove
• D - Container to
put collected water
• E - Cooking pot D
with lid
Water Treatment

72
1 of 8
Collect water
Collect water as clean
and clear as possible.
Do not collect flood
water or sewer water.
If you suspect water
might be contaminat-
ed by chemicals, do
not use it.
2 of 8
Strain Water
Using a clean cloth,
strain the water, by
pouring it through the
cloth on to a container.
If you use the same
cloth several times,
always leave the same
side up and wash it
periodically. Strain-
ing will remove some
suspended debris in
the water and improve
its quality
3 of 8
Pour water in pot
Take the water from
the previous container
and put it in a pot,
ready for boiling.
Water Treatment

73
4 of 8
Cover pot
To boil water it is
always easier and
faster if the container
is closed.
Close the pot with its
lid or another available
cover.
A covered pot will
lose less water due to
evaporation
5 of 8
Put pot over fire
Put the covered pot
over a fire and pay
continuous attention
to it.
On the right, the pot
is drawn on top of a
Rocket Stove. You can
find instructions on
how to make a Rocket
Stove on page 9 of
this booklet.
to children as the fire
and hot water can
harm them.
6 of 8
Let water boil for a
minute
Let the pot in the fire
until it reaches a roll-
ing, strong boil.
This is enough to kill
almost all possible
contaminants.
Water Treatment
There are stronger

organisms that require
you to leave the pot
boiling for around a
minute.
This will kill every bio-
logical contaminant.

74
7 of 8
Remove
When the pot is boil-
ing for a minute, you
can remove it from the
fire.
At this moment, you
can let the fire go
down.
As the pot is still hot,
continue to pay atten-
tion to small children
8 of 8
Wait until water cools
down
Because you can not
drink the hot water,
wait some time for the
water to cool down.
This can take several
minutes.
Water Treatment

75
Bleach
Common bleach used for household cleaning con-

tains a chemical named “Chlorine”. Chlorine is the
same kind of chemical used in water treatment for
cities and is also quite effective for a family.
Although it kills almost every type of biological
contaminant, it has an unpleasant taste and some
people do not like it. Chlorine allows for cheap
and fast water purification.
Only use bleach that has no added scents or addi-
tives (e.g. color preserving additives)
What you will need
0 A
What
• Ayou will need
- 1 Bucket to
B C
quisl water
collect euis essit, quat.
• C - Container to
put collected water
• D - Spoon
• E - Clean Stick G
Water Treatment
• F - 3 empty Soda
F
cans, of 0,33cl each
D
• G - Household
bleach. Unscented, BLEACH SODA
with no additives E
0,33
cl

76
1 of 12
Check age of bleach
Bleach loses Chlorine
as time goes by. Old
bleach has lost too
much Chlorine and is
not a safe water treat-
ment method. If more
than 30 days have
passed since you
opened the bleach
bottle, you need a new
one.
If you store bleach in
a bottle that is not the
original, do not use
transparent bottles,
as sunlight affects the
Chlorine.
2 of 12
Collect water
ed by chemicals, do
not use it.
If water still is a bit
turbid, double the
amount of bleach that
you use.
This will increase the
smell, but is not dan-
gerous.
3 of 12
Strain Water
If you use the same
cloth several times,
always leave the same
Water Treatment
side up and wash it

suspended debris in
its quality

77
4 of 12
Measure water
Using bleach to purify
water requires some
dosing, You must
have an idea of how
much water you have,
to know how much
bleach you will need
to pour in.
You can refill contain-
ers of drinks that you
already know the
capacity of.
We suggest you fill 3
0,33cl soda cans, as
that makes up a liter.
5 of 12
Pour water in
treatment container
Now you know how
you can pour it into a
treatment container.
3 soda cans make up
a liter, and for the rest
of this method, the
quantities of bleach
are given per liter.
Naturally, you can
treat more than one
liter at once, but you
most know how much
water you have. 0,33cl 0,33cl 0,33cl 1Liter
6 of 12
Check for Chlorine
concentration in Chlorine
bleach Concentration
Chlorine exists in
bleach, but not all 1%
bleach has the same
amount of Chlorine, so 4 - 6%
it is important to know
how much Chlorine 7 - 10%
Water Treatment
the bleach you have

has.
Also, it is important
to use only simple
bleach and not special
bleach with scents or
additives.

78
7 of 12 1% 4 - 6% 7 - 10%
Check for amount of
drops
Depending on the
Chlorine concentra-
tion in the bleach, you
should pour some
drops per each liter of
water.
On the drawing at the
left, you can check
how much drops for
each concentration of
Chlorine.
8 of 12
Pour bleach on a spoon
Pour bleach on a
spoon, so it is easier
to count drops.
9 of 12
Pour drops in
container
Remember what was
the Chlorine concen-
tration of the bleach
you are using and
put as much drops as
indicated in step 7.
Water Treatment

79
10 of 12
Mix water and bleach
To make sure the
bleach treats all the
water, you must mix
the water and bleach.
Stir the container a
little bit to do so.
11 of 12
Cover container
Chlorine evaporates
easily, even when it is
mixed in the water.
You must cover the
container where you
put the water and the
bleach.
12 of 12
Wait
Now that the wa-
ter and bleach are
mixed, you must give
it enough time for the
biological contami-
nants to be killed.
This is usually 30
minutes.
Water Treatment
If the water is espe-

cially cold, double
that time and wait 60
minutes. The colder
temperatures slow
down the chemical
process of treatment.

80
Water Treatment

81
SODIS
(also known as:
Solar Disinfection)
It may sound hard to believe, but the sunlight and

heat can kill most contaminants in the water if
good conditions exist. SODIS is a water treatment
method that treats water with nothing more that
sunlight and water in clear plastic bottles. You
must leave the bottles in the sun for a long time
for the water to be purified, but it works.
In fact, the biggest problem with this method is to
believe its effectiveness. If you follow the instruc-
tions, it will be safe to drink the treated water.
What you will need
A
• A - 1 Bucket to B C
collect water
put collected water
• D - Turbidity tester
• E - 3 clean empty
2 Liters Soda bottles
Water Treatment
SODA
2L
E
Water Turbidity Tester How to use it:
If the water you want to treat
is not completely transparent,
it will make treatment harder.
With this tester, you can check if
the water you want to treat
is clear enough or not.
Put this paper under a transparent 2L soda bottle
(the size of the bottle is important)
and look down through the bottle.
If you can see the big letters,
the water is clear enough to treat.
If you can even see the small letters,
above the letter “C” in “CLEAR”,
then the water is very good for treatment.
D
The face seems neutral if water is just
“CLEAR” and very happy if water
is “VERY CLEAR”.
Turbidity
tester

82
1 of 16
Pay attention to used
bottle
For this method to
work, you must use
the right type of plastic
bottle.
The best bottles are
clean 2 liter soda bot- Color Very
Soda Juice Milk
tles, transparent and Bottle Big
clear, with no labels.
Bottles of juice or milk
should not be used as
they might have bac-
teria. Colored bottles
and bottles larger than
2 liters are also not
possible to use
2 of 16
Check bottle’s material
Most plastic soda
bottles are made
from PET plastic, but
some are not. To use
SODIS, you must use
bottles made from
PET
PET. You can usu-
ally check this at the
bottom or top of the
bottom (not in the
cap). The small draw-
ing on the right shows
the typical symbol of
PET bottles. All bottles
should be replaced if
they have too much
scratches.
3 of 16
Make sure you have
enough bottles
SODIS requires a lot
of time to treat water,
so it is important to
have enough bottles
for each person.
If you do not have
Water Treatment
enough bottles per

person (2 bottles), it
is possible that while
your water is being
exposed to the sun
(minimum 6 hours),
you have nothing to
drink.

83
4 of 16
Collect water
ed by chemicals, do
not use it.
5 of 16
Strain Water
If you use the same
cloth several times, al-
ways leave the same
side up and wash it
suspended debris in
its quality
6 of 16
Fill bottles partially
and close
The sun light and heat
are more effective
when there is some air
mixed with the water.
Fill the bottles up to
3 / 4 and close them,
preparing them for the
Water Treatment
next step.

84
7 of 16
Shake bottle for 20
seconds
Shake each bottle for
20 seconds, mixing
the air and the water.
8 of 16
Fill bottles to the top
Add water to the
bottles so it reaches
the top. Do not cover
yet.
9 of 16
Place bottle on top of
turbidity check
If the water is not clear
enough, SODIS will no
be very effective.
To make sure the
water is clear enough, VERY
use a turbidity test

Water Treatment
found in page 87 of Water Turbidity Tester How to use it:

If the water you want to treat
is not completely transparent,
Put this paper under a transparent 2L soda bottle
(the size of the bottle is important)
this guide.
it will make treatment harder. and look down through the bottle.
With this tester, you can check if If you can see the big letters,
the water you want to treat the water is clear enough to treat.
is clear enough or not. If you can even see the small letters,
The face seems neutral if water is just
“CLEAR” and very happy if water
Place it under the

is “VERY CLEAR”.
bottle as it is show in
the picture on the right
and see if you can
read both the big and
the small text.

85
10 of 16
Check turbidity levels
Look down the bottle’s
opening and see
how much you can
see from the image.
If the water you want to treat Put this paper under a transparent 2L soda bottle
is not completely transparent, (the size of the bottle is important)
If you can read the

word “CLEAR”, the

water is clear enough
to be treated. If you
can read the small
“Very”, above the “C”
in “CLEAR”, the water
VERY
is exceptionally clear.
In any case, you must
follow all the steps
before drinking the
water
11 of 16
Observe sky
As SODIS depends on
the exposure of water
to sunlight, sky condi-
tions are important.
If the sky is 50% or
more cloudy, you will
need to expose the
bottles for:
TWO FULL DAYS
12 of 16
Observe sky
When checking the
sky, if you see that the
sky is clear, then you
only need to expose
the bottles for:
6 HOURS
Water Treatment

86
13 of 16
Lay bottles
horizontally
The way you position
the bottles is impor-
tant. To make sure the
sun rays penetrate
the water and kill the
organisms, you must
lay the bottles horizon-
tally.
14 of 16
Pay attention to
shade
If the bottles become
under shade, the
treatment stops, so
it is necessary to
consider the way sun
moves across the
sky and how shade
also moves.
To be safe, always
place bottles away
from possible shade
(e.g. tall objects,
fences, walls)
15 of 16
If possible, lay bottles
on the roof
One of the best places
to lay the bottles is on
the roof of a house.
In most cases, a roof
will receive sunlight
with no possibility of a
Water Treatment
shade of the bottles.

Also, the corrugated
metal, so common in
roofs is actually good
for the use of SODIS.

87
16 of 16
Let bottles stay for as
long as needed.
Remember that de-
pending on sky condi-
tions the bottles have
to stay for different
periods.
Lay the bottles and
wait, while paying
attention to see if sky
conditions change, as
it would change how
much time it is needed
(check steps 11 & 12).
Turbidity Tester
Place a 2 Liter Soda
bottle on top of this
image to check the
turbidity of the water
VERY

If the water you want to treat Put this paper under a transparent 2L soda bottle
is not completely transparent, (the size of the bottle is important)
Water Treatment

88
Water Treatment

89
Tincture
of Iodine
Tincture of Iodine, a common medical disinfectant
contains a chemical named “Iodine”. Iodine has
been used as a water treating chemical for cen-
turies and is very effective, even more than Chlo-
rine. Water treated with Iodine also has a better
taste than water treated with Chlorine. However,
Iodine is harmful for pregnant women and peo-
ple with Thyroid problems. Also, nobody should
drink water treated with Iodine for more than two
months. Do not use it as the sole water treatment.
What you will need
A
• A - 1 Bucket to B C
collect water
put collected water
• D - Spoon
• E - Clean Stick
Water Treatment
• F - 3 empty Soda
cans, of 0,33cl each F
• G - Tincture of
D
Iodine G
SODA
0,33 E
cl

90
1 of 14
Not everybody can
drink water treated
with iodine
Iodine is very effec-
tive in treating water,
unfortunately it is not
recommended for
some people.
Pregnant women and
people with thyroid
problems should
not drink water
treated with iodine.
Also, nobody should
drink such water for
periods longer than 2
months
2 of 14
Take tincture of iodine
Iodine can be found in
Tincture of Iodine, a
common disinfectant
in first aid kits.
You can usually find
tincture of iodine in a
first aid or medicine
cabinet
3 of 14
Check Iodine Concen-
tration
In most cases, Tinc-
ture of Iodine has Iodine
Iodine in a concentra- Concentration
tion of 2%.
For the rest of these 2%
instructions, it will be
Water Treatment
assumed that your Io-

dine as 2% of Iodine.
If that is not the case,
please use another
Tincture of Iodine.

91
4 of 14
Collect water
ed by chemicals, do
not use it.
5 of 14
Strain Water
If you use the same
cloth several times, al-
ways leave the same
side up and wash it
suspended debris in
its quality
6 of 14
Measure water
Using Iodine to purify
water requires some
dosing, You must
have an idea of how
to know how much
iodine you will need to
pour in.
Water Treatment
You can refill contain-

ers of drinks that you
already know the
capacity of.
We suggest you fill 3
0,33cl soda cans, as
that makes up a liter.

92
7 of 14
Pour water in
treatment container
Now you know how
you can pour it into a
treatment container.
3 soda cans make up
a liter, and for the rest
of this method, the
quantities of Tincture
of Iodine are given
per liter. Naturally, you
can treat more than
one liter at once, but
you most know how
much water you have.
0,33cl 0,33cl 0,33cl 1Liter
8 of 14
Check water turbidity
Iodine can treat water
very well, however,
cloudy water will
require more Iodine to
be well disinfected.
Take a look down the
jar with the measured
liter and see if water is
clear or cloudy.
9 of 14
Pour Iodine in spoon
Using a spoon makes
it easier to count the
necessary drops to
put in the water.
Take the bottle and
pour some Tincture of
Iodine in the spoon.
Water Treatment

93
10 of 14
Check how much
drops are needed
Remember step 8,
where you evaluated
the turbidity of the
water and check the
needed amount of
drops in the drawing
on the right
5 drops for clear

water
10 drops for
cloudy water
11 of 14
Pour drops in water
With the spoon, drop
the required drops in
the water.
If you make and ac-
cident and add a few
too much, there is no
problem.
12 of 14
Mix water and Tinc-
ture of Iodine
To make sure the
Iodine treats all the
water, you must mix
the water and Iodine.
Stir the container a
little bit to do so.
Water Treatment

94
13 of 14
Cover container
As a precaution, you
can cover the contain-
er where you put the
water and the tincture
of iodine.
14 of 14
Wait
Now that the water
and Tincture of Iodine
are mixed, you must
give it enough time for
the biological contami-
nants to be killed.
This is usually 30
minutes.
If the water is espe-
cially cold, double
that time and wait 60
minutes. The colder
temperatures slow
down the chemical
process of treatment.
Water Treatment

How to...
5 ...get
a radio
device
96
Communications

97
Introduction
After a Disaster everything changes. Buildings fall down, people get hurt
and confusion settles in. In this situation, people need more than just
food, shelter and water. They also need information about what is the
situation in other communities, possibilities of a new Disaster (e.g. earth-
quakes tend to have aftershocks besides the main shake) what assistance
is being given and where this assistance is being given. Shortwave radio,
commonly used by governments during emergencies is a cheap and
effective way of getting the much needed information.
What kind of information is important?

After a Disaster and the confusion that typically follows, people might be sepa-
rated from their families or homes (e.g. if the Disaster happened while they were
at work) and their normal daily lives disrupted. In this situation, there are 3 types
of useful information that can help people in surviving a Disaster and its conse-
quences:
• Description of Disaster and its effects (e.g. what type of Disaster, which
areas were affected, how strong was the destruction, what is the status of
public services and infra-structure)
• Post-Disaster advice (e.g. is it safe to go to the streets, are there other
dangers, what precautions should people take)
• Information about assistance (e.g. what type of assistance is being pro-
vided, where is that assistance being provided, plans for future assistance)
This short list illustrates the immediate advantages of having access to real-time
Communications
information after a Disaster.

Naturally, it is also possible that other type of information will be provided at a
later stage, such the listing of missing/found people, encouragement and morale
support, entertainment for children during the recovery phase and so on.

98
Why use shortwave radio?
Shortwave radio is a very effective method of spreading information to a large
number of people. Its main advantages are:
• Radios are relatively cheap to acquire, use and maintain

• Emitting (broadcasting) a radio show is also relatively cheap (compared
to other real-time communication methods)
• Radio can reach a lot of people at the same time
• Radio information can be in real-time, very useful for “last minute
updates”
• Radio can reach people that cannot read.
These advantages are very appropriate for a situation after Disaster, where there
are few resources and the need to inform a lot of people fast.
Will this guide teach me how to build a radio?

No. When we made this booklet, we assumed that building a radio is a much
more complex technique than the other included in this book (e.g. making shelter
material or puriying water). We considered that if you have the knowledge and
materials to build a radio, it is easier for you acquire one instead of building one.
This means that in this section, there are no instructions to build a radio. What
you can find in this section is information and the addresses of organizations that
are dedicated to provide radios to people in your situation. Together with this con-
tact information, you will find some ideas on how to contact these organizations
to have a better chance at getting their help
Do I have to buy a radio?

Maybe. We understand that a radio can be expensive (especially the right type
of radio, explained below) and in this chapter we tried to suggest ways for you to
get radios for free or at very special conditions.
However, it is possible that the instituitions we suggest, cannot offer you radios. It
is also possible that these instituitions can get you radios at a cheaper price, but
still, you would have to pay something.
Despite how expensive or difficult it might be for you to acquire radios for your
community, it really is worth to try hard. Radios are one of the things that are use-
ful even before a Disaster, because you can use them to get news, agricultural
advice, educational lessons for children and other useful information.
Does everybody need a radio?

Probably not. One of the advantages of radios is that you do not need one per
person and many people can listen to one at the same time. This means that it is
possible to buy one radio for many people and divide the costs.
Before doing this you must pay attention to the way people get along with each
other, or there is the possibility that the device will not be shared in times of need
and people will fight for it.
Communications
It is usually possible to share the device among people, but you need to be
careful about who is supposed to share it. Make sure people understand that a
shared radio is from everybody and it must be used by everybody.

99
What type of radio do people need?
A reliable one. If your community needs radios, it probably means that other
things might be missing such as repair parts or batteries. This means that any
radio that you get should be easy to use, resistant to bad conditions (e.g. humid-
ity, sand, cold, heat, etc) and preferably work with no batteries.
There are radios like this, designed specifically for situations like yours.
The instituitions listed on this chapter usually deal with such type of radios.
Obviously, you can buy a “normal” or even cheap, low quality radio, but if the
device breaks down, then it can be very difficult or expensive to repair it.
When possible, it is always better to get a good radio that can be powered by
solar energy or by hand.
Example:
Eton FR150
A Radio that can be
powered by hand (see
the lever) and solar en-
ergy (rectangular panel
on top of device).
It also has a flashlight.
Communications

100
Which instituitions can I contact?

The following instituitions do humanitarian work related with access to information in general and
radios in particular. All of them are very aware of the advantages of radio as a mean of communi-
cation and most are familiar with distributing radios to communities facing emergencies.
We included their contact information so you can communicate with them, learn from them and
request help in getting radios.
In the addresses given in this section, you can sometimes see several countries that are not your
own. This merely means that you can try to contact the instituition at the address closest to you.
Lifeline Energy United Kingdom:

Lifeline Energy
71 Gloucester Place
Internet address:
London
http://lifelineenergy.org/
W1U 8JW
E-mail addresses: United Kingdom
General: hello@lifelineenergy.org
Partnerships: partnerships@lifelineenergy.org
Tel: +44 (0) 207 935 5350
Fax: +44 (0) 207 487 1328
Description
Lifeline Energy is mainly active in Africa and has
been mostly associated with helping the informa-
tion needs for Agriculture, Education, Emergencies,
Enterprise, Environment, Health and Peacemaking.
In the past, Lifeline Energy was known as “Freeplay
Foundation”. It has since changed its name.
Lifeline Energy builds coalitions that bring the public
and private sector together for the most effective
and efficient use of resources. When communica-
tion is a key component of development success, South Africa:
the Freeplay Foundation can ensure that informa-
tion is delivered the ‘last mile’ to communities in the Postal Address:
most remote, inaccessible locations.
Lifeline Energy
With Lifeline Energy, radios are never just given P O Box 652156
away. Community involvement is necessary in form- Benmore, 2010
ing radio listening groups to ensure that the radio’s Johannesburg
potential is maximised. South Africa
Communications
Physical Address:
Lifeline Energy
Sandhurst Office Park
Ground Floor, Block D
Corner Katherine St & Rivonia Rd
Sandton, Johannesburg
South Africa

101
Send a Radio United Kingdom

Ivy Arch Road
(an initiative of FEBA)

Worthing
West Sussex
BN14 8BX
Internet address:
United Kingdom
http://sendaradio.org/
Tel: +44 (0) 190 323 7281
E-mail address:
General: lifechange@feba.org.uk
Description
Send a Radio is an initiative of FEBA. FEBA is an ac-
ronym that stands for “Far East Broadcasting Associa-
tion”, and, despite its name, broadcasts to Asia, Africa
and the Middle East.
FEBA is a Christian instituition and is mainly dedicated
to reach populations with useful information and a
Christian message in the local languages.It produces
radio shows that inform people on agricultural prac-
tices, culture and entertainment, in several languages and also to non-christian populations.
Although initially FEBA was related to the production and emission of radio programs, it started the Send a
Radio project to give people an opportunity to acquire a radio.
Send a Radio is an iniative where people can pay for radios to be offered to those in need. In this case, it
would mean that somebody would be offering a radio and the Send a Radio project would make it reach the
people that need it the most.
You can contact FEBA to present your situation (the need for radios in your community) and perhaps agree on
becoming part of the group of people that FEBA helps through Send a Radio
Communications

102
Ears to our World United States of America

PO Box 3230
Cullowhee
Internet address:
NC 28723-3230
http://earstoourworld.org
USA
E-mail addresses:
General:
etow@earstoourworld.org Tel: +1 828 226 0770
Description
Ears to our World is an humanitarian organization that
specializes in the distribution of radio technologies
to individuals, primarily children and teachers, in the
developing world.
More specifically, its mission is to enable children and
their support networks in the most remote, impover-
ished parts of the world to receive educational program-
ming, local and international news, emergency and
health information as well as music and arts program-
ming through the use of shortwave radio receivers.
While its primary focus is on schools, its reach now encompasses other community facilities, the visually im-
paired, and, when required, disaster relief.
Ears to our World also provides long-term support whenever possible: it maintain its radios as well as relation-
ships with its radio recipients, so that it can learn to better serve them.
Communications

103
Farm Radio International Canada

1404 Scott Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Internet address:
Canada, K1Y 4M8
http://www.farmradio.org
Tel: +2 613 761 3650
E-mail addresses:
General: Fax: +2 613 798 0990
info@farmradio.org
Toll-Free: +2 1 888 773 7717
Description
Farm Radio International is a different type of institu-
ition as it does not directly provide people with radios.
What it does is to provide radio content in the form of
scripts and information on agricultural practices that
can help people in their agricultural work.
Its action is best felt before a Disaster, even for so-
called “normal life”. The information it provides allows
people to be more efficient in planning, growing and
harvesting their agricultural products.
Since it has no direct connection with the distribution of radios and the issue of emergency radios, it might not
be the perfect organization to contact for the purpose of Disaster. However, we believe it can be an useful con-
tact for a community that is also interested in the long term development and not only emergency use of radio.
Communications

104
Communications

105
Request a
Radio
Although you now have some contacts of insti-
tuitons that help to distribute radios to communi-
ties like yours, it helps if you make a good plan
on how to request those radios.
In this section, we suggest a way for you to
organize your efforts so you increase the possibili-
ties of getting the help from the listed instituitons
Communications

106
1 of 6 When looking for possible partners in acquiring radios for your community, it is
important to understand what kind of help you will need. From our understanding,
Get help you will be more interested in people or instituitions that can help you plan your
The task of getting efforts and people that can act as a bridge contact between you and the previ-
radios distributed in ously listed organizations.
your community can
be complex and it It can be especially interesting and effective to contact people from the same
really helps if you get countries of the listed organizations. Such contacts can really speed up commu-
support from other nication and suggest better ways to contact the organizations that can help get
people. you one or more radios.
Good people to ask Government instituitions, Development Agencies, Non-Governmental Organiza-

for help are govern- tions and Non For Profit organizations are some of the best help you can get.
ment officials, local Obviously you can use help from your community, but it is possible that such help
and international is not as effective as the type of people we mentioned in the previous paragraph.
development organi-
zations, non-govern-
mental organizations
(NGO’s) and Non For
Profit organizations.
Communications

107
2 of 6 Because your community has different needs from other communities, you
should make a short analysis of its particular characteristics. Some characteris-
Observe your tics have more importance than others and the people that you get help from can
community help you in understand what are the most relevant aspects of your community.
Your community is We suggest you take note of the following aspects of your community:
different from other
communities and it • Disaster risk (Is your community under risk of Disaster? What type of
makes sense to un- Disaster? How strong do you think your community would suffer if it were
derstand what are its stricken by a Disaster?)
main characteristics.
• Development level (Do people in your community have access to elec-
How are people tricity? Are people familiar with simple technologies such as radio, lighting
grouped? What is and so on? Do you think people in your community would use the radios if
the relationship with they had them? Can you find people in your community that could make/re-
the authorities? Can pair radios?)
people share radios?
• Social structure (do people in your community have equal rights? Are
These are questions women and children treated as adult males? What are the roles of the man
you should ask your- and the women, at home and at work? Do you think people could share radios
self before starting. and work together in an harmonious way?)
• Opportunity for improvement (Do you think that people would benefit
from having radios in your community? How do you think people would use
the radios? Are there other opportunities for the use of radios, besides in an
emergency situation? Are there schools in your community? Do you know if
there are radio stations operating in your area?)
All these questions can help you understand if you community needs radios
and if it is ready to have them. Unfortunately, sometimes it is necessary to take
special precautions in distributing the radios so they do not create divisions in the
community.
You should try to achieve equality of access to the radios and their information. If
only a few have access to the radios and their information, these few will have an
Communications
unfair advantage over other people. When people do not have access to informa-
tion, they are missing opportunities for learning and improving their lives.

108
3 of 6 With the information you collected in the previous step, it is time to make a plan
for the acquisition and use of the radios. It is very likely that there will not be a ra-
Make a plan dio per person or even per house, so you should take special care when deciding
Before contacting who takes care of a radio and who does not.
the instituitions and
requesting the radios, Also, now you can know how much radios you need and what conditions does
it is better to have a your community have to make good use of them.
plan. In this plan you should consider:
A plan should consider
how many radios you • How many radios do you need
need, who will use • How will the radios be distributed
them, how will they
be distributed and so • Who will take care of the radios and fix them
forth. • For what purpose will the radios be used
Having a plan makes • For when do you want the radios (set a realistic date, like a few months
you easier to under- or one year)
stand and more likely
to get the attention of
the instituitions. A plan that considers these factors shows a strong commitment to the project and
will receive more attention from the organizations we suggested before.
Also, having a plan helps you to organize your efforts and to understand what
steps you must take in getting radios for your community.
When making your plan, ask for the opinion of the people that will help you in the
overal project.
Communications

109
4 of 6 With your plan, you are now more prepared to contact the instituitions that can
perhaps give you a radio. Write down your plan and make sure you explain it in a
Contact instituitions clear way.
Now that you now
what are the condi- Never forget that the people you will be contacting probably do not know anything
tions of your commu- about you and your community, so you should present you plan in a way that
nity and what are its everybody could understand, even those that do not know anything about you.
needs, it is the time When contacting the instituitons, it is always a good idea to use several ways: if
to contact the institu- you can telephone, send a letter and an e-mail or fax, please do that. You should
itions. remember that if you are easy to understand and to contact, there are better op-
Contact instituitions portunites for the listed organizations to help you.
through all means you Never forget to include information about yourself, who are you, what are your
can, including letters, objectives with this program and your address so they can contact you if they
phone calls or e-mail, need.
if you can.
These instituitions
have a lot of requests,
you must be noticed
for them to help you.
Communications

110
5 of 6 Unfortunately, it is possible that when you contact the instituitions that can pro-
vide you with radios, they do not answer right away. This is normal and can be
Continue to contact the result of many things. Maybe they are too busy at the moment, helping other
instituitions people or maybe they are still trying to understand if they can help you.
It is likely that you These instituitions get a lot of requests for help and try very hard to help the most
do not get a reply to people, you have to be a little patient.
your requests as fast
as you expected. Or Do not get offended if you think things are taking too long. It is very unlikely that
maybe the reply is not those instituitions have anything personal against you or your community.
positive. Instead of getting offended, you should keep trying to contact them. But first wait
These are normal situ- for a while, like a month or so. If you write back because you have no answers,
ations and you should do not write an angry message. Instead of this, write a message that shows that
continue to contact you understand the difficulty of their job but that you also need to know if they are
instituitons to remind going to help you or not. Be polite, but show that you are expecting a reply.
them of answering you To get a reply, it is necessary that the instituition has a way of contacting you.
or to ask how can you This is why it is important to identify yourself and give your contact the first time
change your plan so you try to talk with these organizations.
they can help you.
Communications

111
6 of 6 If an instituition decides it can help you, probably they will ask for your help. After
all, who knows your community better? In most cases, it is absolutely necessary
Help in implementing to have somebody local that can help people understand the benefits of a new
radios product or technique and this person could be you.
If you actually get help Obviously you can ask for help to other people in the community, but the point is
from instituitions, it is that somebody has to do this. It does not work if you just ask for the radios and
likely that they ask for then do not help people get them and understand how to use and maintain them.
your help in distribut-
ing the radios or in Your help can be in many ways, from preparing the transport of the radios, to
educating the people. deciding who has to share a radio or teaching people more about them.
These organizations This may sound like a lot of work, and it can be, but the benefits are very, very
often are too busy to good and probably people will thank you for your efforts.
go to visit your com- And that is it! Enjoy the fact that you have helped your community!
munity and will be
very happy if you are
open to help them in
distributing the radios
and educating the
people.
Communications

112
Communications

Booklet 01 Make Yourself Ready

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Booklet 01 Make Yourself Ready

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Make yourself

Cook after a Disaster

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

Who made this booklet?

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

What is this booklet?

Why do I need this booklet?

For who are these instructions?

When should make these products?

Are these the only things I need to be ready for a Disaster?

Can I copy this book?

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

What does it want

What kind of products does this booklet teach?

This booklet teaches is “How to...”:

• Make a cooking stove

Can I adapt these techniques and products?

How do teach these techniques to the people in my community?

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

How is this booklet

Are the suggested materials the only possible?

What kind of measurements are used?

Is there more information that is not in this booklet?

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

What type of Stove

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

How much will it cost

A Rocket Stove, made with chimney pipe can cost around US

What else can I use it for

Testing and adapting this stove

Simple modifications are:

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

Use the marker to

This can should now

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

make a little starting

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

You will end up with

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

Make sure its central

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

of the small tray you

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

What type of Shelter Material

How to make the Shelter Material

How much will it cost

(Number of persons X 3,5m2) X Price per Square meter

What else can I use it for

What are the other techniques

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

What you will need C

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual

If your chosen anti-

Make Yourself Ready Educational Package

Make Yourself Ready - Instructions Manual