communities.setac.net :: View topic - Blog from Mike Mozur on SAICM Africa Training Workshop

The time now is Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:36 pm
All times are UTC + 0

View posts since last visit
View unanswered posts

Forum index » Open Communities » Blogs and Forums

Blog from Mike Mozur on SAICM Africa Training Workshop

Page 1 of 1 [7 Posts]

Author

Message

admin
Site Admin

Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 16777215

Dar Blog March 6, 2009
Dar Blog March 6, 2009

Dar Blog March 6, 2009

The SETAC prepared SAICM Africa Regional Training Workshop was pronounced a great success by the participants today as we concluded the weeklong course. Our focus in the final stage was on thinking through the requirements for capacity building and training within SAICM and to look specifically at what the region’s abilities and needs were as they strive to develop their own programs and capabilities.

The discussion on plans and pitfalls was a fascinating survey of the possible and the clear difficulties facing the region. The larger countries have the intellectual resources and some financial wherewithal to pursue more ambitious plans, while smaller countries obviously will have to team with neighbors and partners in order to develop and sustain follow on programs.

There was uniform emphasis – and concern – on addressing the needs of the local populations, where the threats from uninformed or irresponsible chemical use by farmers and local citizens substantially raises the risk to human health and the environment.

SETAC Africa President Yogi Naik was an active presence at the workshop, both as a scientists as well as a great spokesperson for SETAC and SETAC Africa. He was clear in his message to the regional participants that they would have to be the focal points for follow up action and carried the responsibility in ensuring that the SAICM initiative develops and achieves its goals over the years ahead. He leaves Dar es Salaam with some 30 new SETAC Africa members (supported in fact by a much appreciated donation from Exxon Mobil), all of whom can play important roles in their countries with regard to chemicals management with the help of academia, business as well as government.

Thoughtful and considerate man that he is, Yogi quietly organized a much appreciated gift for the extremely hard working Katrien, whose great contribution was sincerely recognized by the participants.

As we concluded our discussions, I offered some final words of encouragement and clarification about SETAC’s ability to support the region’s future activities. I stressed SETAC’s strengths – strong tripartite science and a vibrant network of expertise within the Society – and cautioned against excessive expectations, particularly with respect to financial support. I reviewed the possibilities of the SAICM Quick Start Program and urged the participants to established effective working relationships and cooperation with the IOMC organizations and potential other donors. My SETAC message centered on a SETAC contribution through networking with experts, some help through SETAC volunteers, and an evolving partnership in pursuit of common goals.

The graduation ceremony was great fun, with the participants receiving their diplomas and a SETAC usb drive (described as eTanzanite) with the workshop materials and photos as well as the scientific information from the SETAC North America meeting in Tampa. Tanzanian National Focal Point Ernest Mashimba joined us again and, in his closing remarks, expressed his own appreciation for the efforts of SETAC and the participants in achieving such a successful program.

This successful and fulfilling program had its roots some 18 months ago, when we first proposed the project to the SAICM Quick Start Program. Its success is due to a SETAC-wide effort, encompassing the support of the SETAC leadership, the generous engagement of the SETAC volunteer instructors Kees van Leeuven, Christina Cowan-Ellsberry, Phil Jennings, and Diana Graham, the valued contribution of Larry Kapustka as consultant to the curriculum process, the outstanding work of the staffs in Brussels and Pensacola (special thanks to Barbara Koelman for handling the myriad of travel arrangements), and Katrien Arijs’s supervision of logistics both prior and during the workshop.

As for me, I am thankful for such a superb team and their patience with me as we forged ahead toward success in this new challenge for SETAC. This workshop has become another of SETAC’s global calling cards, together with outstanding science and a broad and growing world wide network of scientists and other environmental professionals working hard together to promote “Environmental Quality through Science”. This workshop was great fun in so many aspects, and I look forward to working with SETAC colleagues and other partners on similar projects in the future, within SAICM and on other fronts.

Mike Mozur

Dar_Blog_568.jpg
Description	Class photo SAICM Africa Regional Training Workshop
Filesize	41.19 KB
Viewed	537 Time(s)

Dar_Blog_565.jpg
Description	Host Tanzanian National Focal Point Ernest Mashimba Closes the Workshop
Filesize	30.61 KB
Viewed	555 Time(s)

Dar_Blog_559.jpg
Description	Katrien Receives the Group’s Appreciation
Filesize	32.38 KB
Viewed	543 Time(s)

Dar_Blog_466.jpg
Description	The Workshop Diploma
Filesize	32.94 KB
Viewed	519 Time(s)

Dar_Blog_451.jpg
Description	Nigeria takes the team approach
Filesize	30.08 KB
Viewed	564 Time(s)

Dar_Blog_445.jpg
Description	Dr. Amadou Coulibaly presents on his vision for capacity building in Mali
Filesize	31.88 KB
Viewed	539 Time(s)

SAICM_538.JPG
Description	Alieu Sallah of the Gambia receiving his diploma
Filesize	57.82 KB
Viewed	565 Time(s)

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:25 pm

admin
Site Admin

Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 16777215

Dar Blog March 5, 2009
Dar Blog March 5, 2009

Dar Blog March 5, 2009

We are writing to you from Dar es Salaam. For most of us it took a long time to get here and at least two days to get used to the differences in time, temperature, and humidity. But it is worth it! Our anti-malarial medicine seems to be working, but a concern was the speed at which the infectious diseases spread among us. Worms and viruses contaminated our memory sticks and spread through the computers like wildfire. We and Phil, who wrote to you yesterday, are taking part in the SAICM course in risk assessment in a beautiful hotel on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Our role is to provide instruction in a variety of topics, including things like hazard assessment, exposure estimates, physico-chemical properties, degradation and transport, risk assessment, risk management and risk communication.

We have been very impressed by the dedication of the participants, who have listened to us and worked on exercises up to 12 hours a day. At the end of the day, we are tired, but satisfied. The participants have shown real enthusiasm during the exercises and work very well together, even though they are from many different countries (22!) very far apart on the African continent - and some speak French, some English. Their enthusiasm stimulated us to develop even further training materials as many new issues were raised. The simultaneous translation that was provided worked very well. It has been interesting to be able to talk with people who have some difficult issues to deal with, but who have come up with novel solutions to solve these problems. We feel that we have learned a lot about chemical management problems in Africa, and are happy that we may have been able to provide some tools and information that may be useful to them in their chemicals management efforts.

Today, the participants are completing their plans of action on what they are going to do to continue to distribute information on risk assessment and risk management to their co-workers in order to further the SAICM chemicals management process. This has prompted us to think about risk assessment training in our countries and to wonder whether risk assessment, risk management and risk communication principles are part of the chemistry curriculum. (They weren’t when we were in school!) The president of SETAC Africa, Yogi Naik, spoke to the participants about the organisation and its mission and invited the participants to become members of a worldwide network of scientists, many of whom work with risk assessments, and who could provide support on individual problems.

During the course, we have been able to share our collective experience in working on risk assessment, risk management and risk communication problems and assure the participants that things in the US and Europe used to be bad, but they are much better now because of the collected efforts of government, industry, academia and the community to clean up chemical pollution and to change chemicals management practices to prevent pollution from occurring. Things are still not perfect, but they are better, and they can be better in Africa too, if they take one step at a time in their chemical management programs!

Diana Graham, Christina Cowan and Kees van Leeuwen

SAICM_Yogi_Naik.JPG
Description	SETAC Africa president Yogi Naik speaking about the society and its mission
Filesize	83.11 KB
Viewed	627 Time(s)

SAICM_Kees_van_Leeuwen.JPG
Description	Kees van Leeuwen teaching
Filesize	91.35 KB
Viewed	633 Time(s)

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:45 pm

admin
Site Admin

Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 16777215

Dar Blog March 4, 2009
Dar Blog March 4, 2009

Dar Blog March 4, 2009

Wednesday’s presentations began with a discussion of risk characterization followed by presentations on human toxicology, aquatic toxicity testing, and stream biological assessments.

Potential safety concerns caused us to cancel the planned field exercise to sample aquatic macroinvertebrates, however the University of Dar es Salaam graciously provided specimens from its collection for the participants to inspect. In lieu of going into the field, the group was provided with common materials and challenged to design and construct inexpensive sampling devices that could be used to sample stream macroinvertebrates. Mr. Jerome Karimumuryango, Republic of Burundi, won the coveted ‘Rubber Boot Award’ for being the first and most creative sampling designer, a fish-in-the-bottle in-situ monitoring device.

During the latter part of the day, six teams were formed and responded to simulated fish kill. The teams were given information relative to their particular sampling site that they then used to determine the local water quality based on the stream characteristics and benthic organisms found. After figuring out the individual station information, the groups then worked to determine the cause of the fish kill, which resulted from the combined discharges from two industrial plants on two tributaries to the main stream where the fish kill occurred. The participants showed an uncommon level of resourcefulness and cooperation in performing the day’s exercises.

After dinner, discussion was turned towards how the workshop participants would carry forth the information provided during this week’s presentations and other materials. All were tasked to develop a basic plan for how they would do this, with the individual plans briefly presented after dinner on Thursday evening.

We were pleased that Randy Robinson, Political and Economic Affairs Officer, and Rose Sawi, Science Advisor, both from the U.S. Embassy to Tanzania, came and attended during the afternoon sessions. We were hoping that the EU and other embassies might have dropped by but unfortunately their schedules didn’t allow them to attend.

Phillip Jennings and Mike Mozur

SAICM_sampling_equipment.JPG
Description	Participants demonstrating their sampling devices
Filesize	98.79 KB
Viewed	629 Time(s)

SAICM_Phil_Jennings.JPG
Description	Phillip Jennings in action
Filesize	75.89 KB
Viewed	620 Time(s)

SAICM_boot_award.JPG
Description	Jerome Karimumuryango receiving the coveted ‘Rubber Boot Award’
Filesize	99.84 KB
Viewed	667 Time(s)

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:41 pm

Katrien Arijs

Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Posts: 110

March 3, 2009
March 3, 2009

Dar Blog March 3, 2009

I was checking out Mike’s blog on our SAICM Africa regional training workshop and found it so ultimately boring, that I thought I’d just take over and spice it up a bit. Well, that is not entirely true actually... Mike asked me if I was willing to report on Tuesday (‘write something funny’, he said), so here I am in my room at 10 pm, trying to think up an entertaining piece for his blog (while he is having a Kilimanjaro beer in the bar, no doubt).

I could write about the logistical challenges and communication problems we faced trying to organise a workshop in Dar Es Salaam from the SETAC Europe office in Brussels (a thank you to my colleague Barbara Koelman is in place here, who worked hard on this workshop but unfortunately is not here to see the result), or about the side effects of my anti-malaria medication (‘mefloquine can cause psychiatric side effects such as mood or behaviour changes, anxiety, depression, feelings of persecution, crying, aggression, forgetfulness, agitation, confusion or hallucinations’), but really... that’s hardly funny.

Or I could write about Tanzania and Dar Es Salaam, but then again I haven’t actually seen much of it. I was reading my Lonely Planet on the long trip over here, and browsed through the Safari Guide, but obviously Dar Es Salaam being Tanzania’s major city, is one of the least likely places in the country for sighting a rhino, lion or Kirk’s dik-dik (yes, that is an animal!). All I’ve spotted so far are some crabs, crows, lizards and – unfortunately – mosquitoes.

I guess what I should really be writing about, is the SAICM training workshop. After all, that has been taking up most (if not all) of my time since I got here. The workshop is taking place at the White Sands hotel, a beautiful venue overlooking the Indian Ocean (in fact, they claim that that is all they overlook). The hotel being quite a way out of central Dar, prevents people from wandering off the hotel’s premises and really enhances the networking opportunities, which is one of the objectives of the workshop.

I should mention how I really admire our four instructors – Christina, Diana, Kees and Phil – who put an enormous amount of (volunteer) time and effort in to make this workshop the success it is; respect! Furthermore, the participants to the meeting have been very cooperative and interested so far, making it worth all the hard work. Mike is his usual enthusiastic self, I keep wondering where he gets his energy from.

Anyway, Tuesday was a very active day again, with a full programme and lively discussions. The day started with sessions on exposure assessment, building upon concepts introduced on Monday and presenting a variety of physical, chemical, and biological processes to which chemicals are subjected in the environment. Christina set off with a presentation on transport processes, multi-media models and exposure models. The students, seated in groups of five or six, applied the learned concepts to a case study on three different chemicals. After that, Christina touched upon bioconcentration and bioaccumulation terminology and testing.

The first part of the afternoon was led by Diana, and included discussions on bioavailability and human exposure. The students shared experiences from their own country, including issues with human exposure to lead as a result of mining activities, use of lead paint in children’s toys, and lead in paint used for Moroccan pottery (‘tajine’).

After a short break, Kees gave a presentation on ecotoxicological effects, introducing basic principles of ecotoxicology, especially in the context of data input for risk assessment. The session was concluded with the students deriving the PNEC and PEC for LAS using different toxicity test results, which they all managed to do without fault.

Over dinner, everybody discussed their individual plans for capacity-building within their home country and how they could disseminate the information they learned during this workshop.

Meanwhile, fitting the theme of this workshop, The African Union Commission celebrated today, in Dakar, Senegal, the Seventh Africa Environment Day, raising the public awareness of the environmental challenges that the African continent faces. The theme of the 2009 edition is ‘Greening Africa’. In Tanzania, the environmental issues that most cities are confronted with include sewage treatment, industrial effluents, hard garbage and waste gases.

To end on a lighter note; I was wondering if some of the local people were actually calling me ‘baby’ (‘yes, baby’, ‘no problem, baby’) or if maybe I misheard or it was just my imagination running wild on the anti-malaria medication, but then I learned ‘bibi’ is actually Swahili for ‘Miss’ (actually, it can also mean grandmother, but I refuse to believe they were calling me that). Oh, and did you know the Swahili for chicken is ‘kuku’?

Usiku mwema!
Katrien Arijs

PS: You might be wondering why this piece about Tuesday is only getting posted on Thursday. Another issue the African continent seems to face, is unreliable telecommunication networks...

American_garden.jpg
Description	A familiar face in Dar; American marketing going presidential
Filesize	104.37 KB
Viewed	688 Time(s)

SAICM_Tuesday.jpg
Description	Participants in action
Filesize	96.01 KB
Viewed	708 Time(s)

SAICM_Christina_Cowan.jpg
Description	Christina Cowan teaching
Filesize	51.24 KB
Viewed	682 Time(s)

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:38 am

admin
Site Admin

Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 16777215

March 2, 2009
March 2, 2009

Dar Blog March 2, 2009

Our 30 African colleagues at the SAICM Africa regional training workshop and their SETAC instructors put in a very full day today. Starting at nine in the morning with full sessions during the day and a lively round of EcoRisk at dinner, the tent folded only at ten pm.

Kees led the morning discussions which focused on Risk Assessment and Problem Formulation. The students, working in groups of five or six, held discussion sessions on the material presented and provided a spectrum of views and approaches. Christina Cowan-Ellsberry opened the afternoon session with an introduction to fate assessment, Diana picked up the baton to touch on emissions and physical chemical properties. By late afternoon, Christina shifted the focus to degradation and transformation.

Posed the problem of analyzing the level and kinds of emissions from a car manufacturing plant, the regional participants had a lively discussion and highlighted that emissions, while similar in character, might have varied impact depending on the location.

In their table discussions, the participants looked at a case study bringing physical and biodegradation data together in order to describe the fate of chemicals in the environment. Active exchanges at the various tables demonstrated that it was not easy to do this given all of the competing processes. The discussions also reviewed biodegradation and addressed estimates of the half life of chemicals of concern.

In some ways, the EcoRisk game simulation played after dessert at the evening dinner was the highlight of the day. Presented with a challenge of possible environmental problems associated with a petroleum fuels depot, the various tables worked through the scenario and its attendant risks, using their allotted 10,000 cash units to purchase information and studies, some of which provided immediate information or benefit while others – say a stakeholders meeting – cost more and took longer to arrange.

While there was a lot of commonality of analysis, the respective tables also brought individual and fresh perspectives. The winners were the area around the petroleum depot, which was thoroughly analyzed and discussed, and programs of actions developed, and the participants, who demonstrated a clear mastery of concepts and dynamics.

As we concluded the evening, the talk was of a next iteration of the game later in the week, with a more complex and challenging problem to be tackled.

Meanwhile, here in Tanzanian, we are sharing the hotel and conference site with a UNDP national workshop on anti-corruption; casual conversations with the participants indicate that Tanzania is beginning to tackle this problem which is a worldwide challenge.

Mike Mozur

SAICM_Mike_at_the_bank.jpg
Description	Mike Mozur taking care of the participants’ per diem
Filesize	36.5 KB
Viewed	863 Time(s)

SAICM_participants_playing_the_game.jpg
Description	Workshop participants working through the EcoRisk scenario
Filesize	34.25 KB
Viewed	827 Time(s)

SAICM_EcoChallenge_game.jpg
Description	EcoChallenge: an EcoRisk simulation game
Filesize	33.85 KB
Viewed	854 Time(s)

Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:33 pm

admin
Site Admin

Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 16777215

March 1, 2009
March 1, 2009

Dar Blog March 1, 2009

Today was a good day for SETAC here in Dar es Salaam. We opened the SAICM Africa regional training workshop on risk assessment with an enthusiastic group of 30 students from 24 countries. The house was nearly full, as the last travelers made their way to the conference site, some traveling two days or more to get here. Unfortunately, we had late cancellations from Niger, Eritrea, Lesotho and Uganda but there was a special ambience and friendship among the group as it gathered, since many have been working together within SAICM for several years now.

The opening was a positive start. My remarks focused on well deserved thanks to the Tanzanian National Focal Point Ernest Mashimba and to Africa Regional Focal Point Abiola Olanipekun and encouragement to the group to work toward viable national capacity building programs. SETAC Africa President Yogi Naik laid out the common challenge for his fellow Africans to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the workshop and similar activities.

Ernest Mashimba conveyed the greetings of Permanent Secretary of Health Blandina Nyomi and stressed Tanzanian efforts to address chemical management problems. Abiola Olanipekun highlighted the importance of Africa working as a team and pointed out that this teamwork had often made the continent a leader within SAICM.

Diana Graham launched the real discussion of the workshop by providing a scene setting overview of SAICM and key conventions (Stockholm, Rotterdam, and Basel). She made a central point – the intersection of government policies and controls with the concern for human health and environmental risks. The key was to begin the process of managing risk, and in this case, to promote action to meet SAICM goals.

The participants brought a lot of energy and interest to the ensuing discussion. Six volunteered examples of special challenges they had faced and had addressed environmental risks with some imagination and creativity. It was a great demonstration of their interest in the workshop and in sharing experiences with the larger group. Whether PCBs, pharmaceuticals, aviation additives, mining waste, the participants described their problems and concerns, and offered some imaginative approaches. Human biomonitoring of population was a surprising topic raised.

Looking forward to our second day of instruction, we will be focusing on a risk assessment overview and exposure assessment – emissions characterization and chemical fate. We are particularly looking forward to the evening when we will try to add a twist to the curriculum by playing the Eco-Challenge – and EcoRisk Simulation Game. The game is designed to demonstrate the principles and practices of risk assessment and the challenges of resource limited, multi-stakeholder decision-making. It should be fun for the participants and the instructors alike.

More generally in Tanzania, the attention of the country has been on the just completed visit of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon whose meetings centered on regional political issues but touched on climate change and HIV/Aids. In the meantime, a group of young people from impoverished urban areas in Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana is presently on an arduous climb of Mount Kilimanjaro under the United Nations banner to draw attention to the effects of climate change. The climb will highlight – with the melting ice of Mount Kilimanjaro as a backdrop – how global warming has a direct impact on the living conditions of individuals and communities throughout the world.

Mike Mozur

SAICM_Workshop_Notables_in_Dar.jpg
Description	Workshop Opening Notables (from left): SETAC Africa President Yogi Naik of Zimbabwe, SETAC Europe Manager of Scientific Affairs Katrien Arijs, SETAC Africa Vice President Michael Kishimba of Tanzania, SAICM Regional Focal Point for Africa Abiola Olanipe
Filesize	69.41 KB
Viewed	811 Time(s)

SAICM_Dinner_in_Dar.jpg
Description	Dinner in Dar es Salaam
Filesize	47.6 KB
Viewed	861 Time(s)

SAICM_Diana_Graham_Launches_the_Program.jpg
Description	Instructor Diana Graham Turns to Business
Filesize	37.47 KB
Viewed	815 Time(s)

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:38 pm
Last edited by admin on Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:40 pm; edited 1 time in total

Gregory Schiefer

Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 256
Location: Pensacola, FL

Blog from Mike Mozur on SAICM Africa Training Workshop
Mike Mozur is SETAC's Global Executive Director

February 28, Dar es Salaam

As SETAC breaks new ground with an upgraded web site and new efforts toward outreach, I wanted to take another step forward by bringing our latest global initiative, the March 1-6 SAICM Africa training workshop on risk assessment, to you via a daily blog.

This exciting event, funded by the SAICM Quick Start Program, is a showcase of SETAC expertise and talent. It involves an outstanding volunteer effort by senior SETAC scientists who have prepared a world class curriculum on risk assessment for an audience of African government officials and scientists.

Here in Dar es Salaam, Katrien Arijs of SETAC Europe’s Brussels office and I are supporting four SETAC instructors, Christina Cowan, Kees van Leeuwen, Diana Graham and Phil Jennings, who will spend the next six days working with representatives of 26 African countries. SETAC Africa is also well represented, with President Yogi Naik of Zimbabwe and Vice President Michael Kishimba joining us as part of the SETAC team.

For those Northern Hemisphere SETACers still facing winter’s cold, let me say that near equatorial Tanzania is enjoying rather sweltering 30 degree (Celsius, of course) weather as our workshop participants arrive over the weekend. We begin Sunday evening with welcome remarks with the participation of our Tanzanian hosts and Abiola Olanipekun, the SAICM Africa regional focal point from Nigeria. The opening night discussion will focus on the significance and commitments embodied within the Stockholm, Rotterdam and Basel Conventions and will allow the group to get to know each other and to get to know us as well.

The interests expressed by the participants thus far in their registration questionnaires promise a lively interaction on regional problems and concerns. Stand by for more on this discussion, it should offer some great insights into African problems and what SETAC and others can do to help.

Let me offer a few words of historical and demographic interest on Tanzania, a beautiful, large and very diverse country on the Indian Ocean formed in 1964 from past Tanganyika and Zanzibar. There are some 40 million people and more than 120 ethnic groups living in Tanzania, in an area a bit smaller than the US states of Texas and New Mexico combined or about one-fourth the size of the EU. Although much of Zanzibar's African population came from the mainland, one group known as Shirazis traces its origins to the island's early Persian settlers. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 10,000 Europeans reside in Tanzania. Each ethnic group has its own language, but the national language is Kiswahili, a Bantu-based tongue with strong Arabic borrowings.

I hope this whets your appetite for news from the Dar workshop, and for sure, we wish you were here. As they say here, “Asante” or “thank you” for your attention!

Mike Mozur, Global Executive Director

SETAC Team Dar.jpg
Description
Filesize	39.83 KB
Viewed	896 Time(s)

Dar Workbook.jpg
Description
Filesize	67.13 KB
Viewed	904 Time(s)

Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Display posts from previous: Sort by:

Page 1 of 1 [7 Posts]

Forum index » Open Communities » Blogs and Forums

Jump to:

You can post new topics in this forum
You can reply to topics in this forum
You can edit your posts in this forum
You can delete your posts in this forum
You can vote in polls in this forum
You cannot post calendar events in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum

Best viewed with: