Malawi: Kaseye Road Project, Surveying

Author(s)

• Bailey Small, University of Dayton
• Kristi Moorman, University of Dayton

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

8-28-2008

Abstract

The ETHOS team travelled to Kaseye, Malawi for ten weeks to begin work on a road improvement project. Kaseye is a remote village that has a hospital, a primary school, and a secondary school. The current road leading to Kaseye is dirt, which annually erodes during the six-month rainy season. Change and Be Changed co-founder, Thomas Hangartner, guided the team in providing a comprehensive understanding of the rainy season road conditions and the numerous cultural barriers for the project. The team discovered that a lack in community funds for maintenance is a major hurdle for action on the project. Improvement of the road through pavement is unrealistic due to monetary limitations. Therefore, the improvement is centered around a method to maintain a respectable dirt road during the excessive water in the rainy season.

The ETHOS team conducted a survey of the road during the ten weeks. Through this survey, the team adopted a better understanding of the watershed and the current condition of the road. In addition, the future ETHOS team will be able to compare the survey to the post-rainy season road, and assess the differences. The team also considered numerous solutions to the annual erosion issue, and concluded that annual maintenance is essential. Furthermore, diverting or slowing the flow of water along the road will be vital in preventing erosion. First, however, the road must be rebuilt to the nature in which is meant to be preserved, which is the next challenge.

eCommons Citation

Small, Bailey and Moorman, Kristi, "Malawi: Kaseye Road Project, Surveying" (2008). ETHOS Technical Reports. 55.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/ethos_reports/55