cambo memo: concert event

cambo memo: go fly a kite

…and so I did as the wise man said. I spent most of the weekend working on the KAP unit, including a test flight of the kite. Perhaps picking a fairly windy day wasn’t the best idea, as it was way too simple of a challenge because the kite just caught wind and took off to nearly 100’ in a matter of seconds. Not exactly an accurate simulation of typical Cambodian weather out at the dam site. But, I did make note of a few things, especially in kite behavior, that would be key in improving the jig that I already had started.

Sunday was yet another long 4 hour meeting with the crew. Prep work on the upcoming weekly conference call to Human Translation on construction and design issues. Ryan and Bryse to finish off 100% drawings, Tim to work out surveying needs, Matt to look into site access, and I to finish off on QA/QC and spec requirements.

cambo memo: forbes

Steve Forbes is like the father of this Cambodia water gate project. He gave birth to it, and he’s watching it grow…with pride, if I may add. He’s our mentor to this project, and we had the privilege of meeting him for the first time last night as he swung by our office, enroute to several meetings he’s planned out for himself here and around nyc for the next few days. A man of his age with such humble enthusiasm, curiosity, and good will is quite inspirational.

Ryan and I brought him up to date by giving him a presentation of the first site assessment trip, followed by series of q+a. He listened, and asked all the right questions, at the right time. End of it all, he was impressed with what’s been done, and that just made us all the more comfortable and confident to our efforts.

(l to r) ryan woodward, steve forbes, tim weiss,
matt bussman, bryse gaboury, and myself

cambo memo: k.a.p. it!

transmitter and servos, parafoil kite w/ 1000' rope

this is totally gonna kap it off. that's "kap", as in kite aerial photography! mount a camera to your kite, and fly it to the sky to take aerial photos controlled by a remote control!
the kite and servo's came in a few days ago, and just tonight, i started working out the gears. i've been wanting to build this thing for nearly a year, and what better time to do so! if this works out, we'll be able to take aerial photos of the large open field around the dam site!

cambo memo: 21 days til cambodia

bryse, bussman, maria, and teresa

noon on sunday, and i don't feel like pulling myself outta bed. we met today to plan for the 2nd site assessment trip. ryan and matt bussman discussed options to retrofit the wood bridge that provides access to the dam site. bryse and i talk about how to survey a large open field. teresa and maria help out with specs and equipment researching.

cambo memo: we're engineers without borders

rainbow over rice field
i'm an engineer, not a humanitarian, so what good would i do?....

we walk through this project as precariously as we would walk through the landmines in the resevoir of the rice fields of cambodia.

...it started to dawn on me tonight how much time i've been devoting to this engineers without borders watergate project in cambodia. so much effort from everyone on the team has molded this project to where it is now, and still i feel like it's only a gray shade of the tip of the iceberg. my feelings of being overwhelmed wanes on a daily basis, and at times, it's easy to forget that this is a project of hobby and compassion, rather than work. yet when i do look up and take a step away from the canvas, i can't help but notice how inspirational this painting can really be. that overwhelming feeling subsides...and i smile.

so the cambodiary starts here:
...once upon a time, in a rice field fah fah away....

more photos
video by humantranslation
more info on the cambodia water project
more info on engineers without borders nyc chapter