Work
In Benin
We have been active in the country of
A brief overview of the history of the program and
vision for its future is provided in the following pdf file (current as of
April, 2008):
Benin
Program Brief
For additional information on any of the following material, please contact:
Dr. Stephen E. Silliman
156 Fitzpatrick Hall
University of Notre Dame
Notre
Telephone:
Contact Dr. Silliman at silliman.1 (please add @nd.edu
to this address).
Links to publications related to this project are
provided below.
Relationships with
Partners in Benin
The University of Notre Dame has been fortunate in developing a close
relationships with a number of partners in Benin.
The Universite d'Abomey-Calavi in Benin: Previously known at the
Universite Nationale du Benin, UAC is the premiere nationale university in
Benin. Closest relationships have been developed with the Department des
Sciences de la Terre, although relationships are being developed within the
Engineering programs as well. Principally through the efforts of Dr.
Moussa Boukari (shown in the image on the left), UAC is a key collaborator in
the research we perform in Benin, support for our field teams (such as the
sampling effort shown on the right), and close working relationships with our
faculty and students.
Centre Afrika Obota (
Direction de l'Hydraulique: Mr. Felix Azonsi (shown in the brown shirt in
the image above on the right) is the lead hydrologist for Direction de
l'Hydraulique, a government agency charged with developing water supplies for
rural Benin. This extraordinary agency has provided key problem
statements, logistical support, and expert interpretation to our field results.
This agency also identified and motivated the water quality efforts in
Adourekoman.
The Critical Focus: The people of
Benin
At the end of the day, the driving motivation for this work is the
beautiful people of Benin. The few pictures are simply a few brief
examples of these beautiful people!
Another Critical Focus: Interactions
of students
Several educational efforts have been developed in collaboration with
UAC. While we do not underestimate the impact of our technical services
in Benin (drilling wells, monitoring water quality, etc.), the impact of our
work on students in Benin and the United States is perhaps the most rewarding
focus of our efforts in Benin. Several groups of students (including
groups from both Notre Dame and Benin) have been involved in field sampling and
analysis. In addition, Dr. Silliman
has taught three short courses to graduate students in Benin (on Geostatistics
and Numerical Simulation of Groundwater Flow - students and Dr. Yalo,
assisting Dr. Silliman, are shown in the classroom in the image below on the
left - as is Dr. Silliman's infamous Gatorade bottle). Dr. Boukari has
contributed to a course in groundwater hydrology at the University of Notre
Dame. More recently, graduate students from UND and UAC have collaborated
on research on nitrate contamination in south-central Benin. UND undergraduates
have expanded this effort to analysis of uranium contamination in wells. Undergraduates from UND have also taken
the lead on an education project that has enabled teachers in Benin to use
computers in the school system and has allowed K-8 students in the U.S.
communicate with students in Benin. Finally, we are initiating a project)
whereby graduate students in Benin collaborate with undergraduate engineering
students at UND on research involving water quality in south-central Benin as
well as salt-water intrusion in southern Benin.
Links to Publications:
While publications are not the primary motivation for this work, they are an
easy manner in which to share experiences from this effort. Therefore,
the following links are provided for those wishing details on this work:
Technical Orientation:
6 – Ph.D. Dissertation of Dr. Pamela Crane: Crane Dissertation
5 - Journal of Hydrology paper on regional groundwater
quality: Groundwater
Quality
4 –J. Hydrologic Engineering, ASCE, paper on interdisciplinary
groundwater research (Vol. 13, #1, 2008): Interdisciplinary
Research Needed
3 - Masters Thesis of Ms. Pamela Crane (2006): Crane Thesis
2
- Masters Thesis of Mr. Benjamen Roope (2003) via Notre Dame Library: Analysis of elevated uranium and impact of the cotton industry
on groundwater in Benin, Africa: Roope
Thesis
1 - Masters Thesis of Ms. Clara Galbis-Reig (2002 - not available
electronically at this time): Analytical and statistical analysis of
groundwater for the determination of atmospheric, geological, and anthropogenic
signatures : Benin, Africa
Educational Orientation:
1 – A paper in the proceedings of the 2008 international ASEE conference (Cape
Town, South Africa): Paper
2 - A paper in the proceedings of the 2007 national conference of ASEE: ASEE Paper
3 - A paper in the proceedings
of the 2006 national Frontiers in Education conference proceedings: FIE Paper 2006
3 - A paper in the proceedings of the 2005 national Frontiers in Education
conference: FIE
Paper 2005
5 - A paper in the proceedings of the 2003 national ASEE conferene: ASEE 2003 Paper
6 - Tyler, S., S. Silliman and M. Campana, “Undergraduate program focuses
on international water issues in water resources”, EOS, Transactions,
American Geophysical Union, 85(9), 89,92, 2004.
Recent Articles About The Project
1 – Article in Notre Dame
Magazine by Mr. Eric Ness: The Village Well
Multiple talks have been presented (by multiple speakers associated with the
project) at
Projects: Local Populations
Monitoring Water Quality
Through our collaboration with Direction de l'Hydraulique, CAO, and
UAC, a project was identified focused on identifying potential sources of
elevated nitrates observed in the south-central region of Benin (in the
vicinity of the town of Dassa). As a result, a project was initiated in
the summer of 2004 which is designed to study these nitrates. As the
project was initiated, it quickly became apparent that UND, UAC and Direction
de l'Hydraulique lacked the resources and personnel required to sample wells in
this region on a regular basis. Hence, the project was refocused on
working with local villages to determine if the population in the village was
willing to maintaining a sampling protocol whereby the villagers monitored
basic water quality parameters, these numbers were then transferred to the
local offices of Direction de l'Hydraulique, and the data were then transferred
to Cotonou and then on to UAC and UND.
This work has led to an interesting combination of sociological and technical methods,
including extensive interaction with the local population (see the
Master’s thesis of Pam Crane and, very soon, her dissertation). The
sociological methods have included focus group discussions, surveys, and direct
observation. The technical methods have included strip test methods as
well as colorimetry. As discussed in the Master's thesis of Pam Crane
(above), the sociological methods have proven quite valuable. However,
some of the technical methods have proven less than perfectly robust (such as
efforts to encourage nitrate colorimetric methods to provide stable readings
through addition of acids via local citrus juice as shown above). At
Notre Dame, this work has expanded to include assistance from faculty in Civil
Engineering & Geological Sciences, Anthropology, and Sociology.
Projects: Salt-water
Intrusion in Coastal Benin
A new project (and outgrowth of an earlier water quality project outlined
below) started in the summer of 2006 is the development of a MODFLOW and SEAWAT
model of salt-water intrusion to the water supply wells for Cotonou, Benin.
This work involves close working collaboration between undergraduates at
Notre Dame and second-degree graduate students from Benin.
Projects: Analysis of
Groundwater Quality in the Fractured-Rock Region of Benin
A significant portion of the early efforts in Benin, involving both NSF
grants for research (NSF OISE 01-38238 and NSF OISE 99-78192) and an
NSF-supported REU site (NSF
To date, this analysis indicates that there are elevated Uranium concentrations
in select wells in eastern Benin. The Uranium appears to be associated
with Calcium-rich geologic settings with a general absence of Uranium has been
noted in the Silicate-rich rocks. In addition, we have looked for
groundwater contamination related to the use of pesticides in the agricultural
regions. Although this sampling has indicated an increase in the
concentration of certain major ions (e.g., Calcium and Sodium), there is no
obvious contamination directly associated with the pesticides or fertilizers
utilized in this activity. Finally, these data support identification of
a relatively stationary (statistically) distribution of groundwater quality
with major changes observed only where there are significant changes in
geology.
To date, multiple reports have been completed relative to this work, including
one publication and two Master's thesis (Roope and Galbis-Reig), multiple
manuscripts (technical and educational), and a number of presentations.
Links to the publication and these reports are provided above.
The images below show some of our field experiences.
Projects: K-8 Education in
Benin and
Based on our collaboration with
-Understanding the interests of the school system in Benin: While it has
been easy for us to "suggest" that computers and educational exchange
is a good idea for both the school in Benin and the school in South Bend, it
has been substantially harder for us to hold open discussion with the teachers
and principals in both locations to determine what they would like to derive
from this relationship. As such, a critical part of this project is
developing lines of communication whereby the teachers in both locations can
openly express their vision of education and educational exchange, as well as
the potential role(s) of UND,
-Introduction of computers: Based on a request from the Beye Academie,
UND and
-Educational exchange between students: We are attempting to allow
students in Benin and South Bend to develop a video exchange (somewhat of a
formal 'video pen pal' ) between the two schools. Initiated in the summer
of 2004 with students in Benin asking a series of questions of the students in
the U.S., this program has allowed two complete exchanges of questions and
answers between Benin and the U.S. Extensive video files are being
created based on these exchanges.
-Education exchange version
2: During the 2007/8 academic year,
one grade school in the United States and two primary schools in Benin are reading
the classic text, Le Petit Prince (in English at the school in the United
States). After reading the book,
the students are responding to a series of questions, common to all three
schools, and then sharing their responses to these questions with the other
schools.
Projects: Driller Training
The driller training was an early project
run through Lifewater International (www.lifewater.org)
with support gratefully acknowledged from the West Foundation (Indianapolis,
Indiana) {click here for a copy of the report to the West
Foundation }. Performed in collaboration with Central Afrika Obota (
The geology in the Houmbo region includes both sediments and sedimentary
features, thus allowing good drilling at relatively shallow depths (the first
well was drilled to 50 feet). The geology is also relatively easy to interpret
due to the presence of numerous springs in the valleys. The image below
shows the Houmbo drill team, along with myself, Vince Tidwell, Falvien Glidja (
The overall goal of this
project was to provide the local population with the ability to develop
alternative supplies so that they do not have to rely on contaminated /
unreliable surface water sources. Significantly, the second series of driller
training exercises performed in Benin (in Vovio) were performed through
cooperation of Eau de la Vie in Togo and
Projects: Wellhead protection in
Cotonou, Benin
Cotonou, Benin, is the rapidly expanding population
and economic center of Benin. The water supply system, based on groundwater
resources, is quite impressive with reliable distribution of treated water
throughout the city. Concerns with respect to this water supply are two-fold.
First, there is concern that salt water intrusion from Lac Nokoue is
threatening the water supply wells. Some of the older wells in the Cotonou well
field have been shut-in due to increasing salinity. Second, land-use is
changing quickly in the vicinity of Cotonou with rapid encroachment on the
wellheads (above).
Through a planning grant from the National Science Foundation, Drs. Silliman
and Boukari have initiated collaborative research on wellhead protection for
this water supply. Included in this research will be consideration of
salt-water intrusion from the lake and the ocean, contamination from
anthropogenic sources, and uncertainty in the hydrology and transport related
to heterogeneity.
Projects: Hydrofracing in
crystalline rock
An additoinal project, currently on hold,
involves looking for geochemical, geological, remotely imaged, or geophysical
signatures that might help guide the use of hydrofracing to improve well
capacity in the fractured crystalline rock in central Benin. For example, the
well shown above is a drilled well (the small, capped cylinder to the right of
the reservoir). The well required construction of the large reservoir so as to
increase capacity, thus allowing use of this low capacity well as a domestic
water supply. The goal of a new government project in Benin is to substantially
increase capacity of this type of well through hydrofracing. The joint research
between Notre Dame and the Universite Nationale du Benin would focus on
providing geologic, geochemical, geophysical, or remotely sensed signatures
that would help select among multiple wells competing for limited hydrofrac
capabilities.