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Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise to Solve Humanitarian Problems [2]
 0841232687, 9780841232686

Table of contents :
Content: Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems: Introduction / Grosse, Ronda / The History and Mission of Chemists Without Borders / Chambreau, Steven D.
Gerber, Bego / Arsenic Education and Remediation in Bangladesh / Kronquist, Ray
Begum, Shahena / “Penny per Test” --
Low Cost Arsenic Test Kits / Lizardi, Christopher Lee, Clear Waters Testing, 3708 W. Bearss Ave., Suite B3422, Tampa, Florida 33618, United States, Chemists Without Borders / Development of a Test-Kit Method for the Determination of Inorganic Arsenic in Rice / Tyson, Julian
Rafiyu, Ishtiaque
Fragola, Nicholas / Arsenic in Food and Water: Promoting Awareness through Formal and Informal Learning / Tyson, Julian / Lessons from the Field: Humanitarian Work in Latin America / Leigh, Nathan D. / Distributed Pharmaceutical Analysis Laboratory (DPAL): Citizen Scientists Tackle a Global Problem / Bliese, Sarah L.
Berta, Margaret
Myers, Nicholas M.
Lieberman, Marya / Addressing the 3A’s (Availability, Accountability, Adherence) of Supply Chain Systems in Western Kenya / Karwa, Rakhi, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, United States, Moi University, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Eldoret, Kenya
Tran, Dan N., Purdue University College of Pharmacy, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, United States, Moi University, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Eldoret, Kenya
Maina, Mercy, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Njuguna, Benson, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Manji, Imran, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Wasike, Paul, Moi University, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Eldoret, Kenya
Tonui, Edith, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Kigen, Gabriel, Moi University, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Eldoret, Kenya, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Pastakia, Sonak D., Purdue University College of Pharmacy, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, United States, Moi University, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Eldoret, Kenya / Acknowledgments / Editor’s Biography /

Citation preview

Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 2

ACS SYMPOSIUM SERIES 1268

Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 2 Ronda L. Grosse, Editor Chemists Without Borders

Sponsored by the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry

American Chemical Society, Washington, DC Distributed in print by Oxford University Press

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Grosse, Ronda L., 1965- editor. | American Chemical Society. Division of Analytical Chemistry. Title: Mobilizing chemistry expertise to solve humanitarian problems / Ronda L. Grosse (Chemists Without Borders), editor ; sponsored by the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry. Description: Washington, DC : American Chemical Society, [2017]- | Series: ACS symposium series ; 1267, 1268 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017046881 (print) | LCCN 2017049595 (ebook) | ISBN 9780841232655 (ebook, v. 1) | ISBN 9780841232679 (ebook, v. 2) |ISBN 9780841232662 (v. 1) | ISBN 9780841232686 (v. 2) Subjects: LCSH: Chemistry--Social aspects. Classification: LCC QD39.7 (ebook) | LCC QD39.7 .M63 2017 (print) | DDC 363.738/49--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017046881

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48n1984. Copyright © 2017 American Chemical Society Distributed in print by Oxford University Press All Rights Reserved. Reprographic copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act is allowed for internal use only, provided that a per-chapter fee of $40.25 plus $0.75 per page is paid to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Republication or reproduction for sale of pages in this book is permitted only under license from ACS. Direct these and other permission requests to ACS Copyright Office, Publications Division, 1155 16th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036. The citation of trade names and/or names of manufacturers in this publication is not to be construed as an endorsement or as approval by ACS of the commercial products or services referenced herein; nor should the mere reference herein to any drawing, specification, chemical process, or other data be regarded as a license or as a conveyance of any right or permission to the holder, reader, or any other person or corporation, to manufacture, reproduce, use, or sell any patented invention or copyrighted work that may in any way be related thereto. Registered names, trademarks, etc., used in this publication, even without specific indication thereof, are not to be considered unprotected by law. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Foreword The ACS Symposium Series was first published in 1974 to provide a mechanism for publishing symposia quickly in book form. The purpose of the series is to publish timely, comprehensive books developed from the ACS sponsored symposia based on current scientific research. Occasionally, books are developed from symposia sponsored by other organizations when the topic is of keen interest to the chemistry audience. Before agreeing to publish a book, the proposed table of contents is reviewed for appropriate and comprehensive coverage and for interest to the audience. Some papers may be excluded to better focus the book; others may be added to provide comprehensiveness. When appropriate, overview or introductory chapters are added. Drafts of chapters are peer-reviewed prior to final acceptance or rejection, and manuscripts are prepared in camera-ready format. As a rule, only original research papers and original review papers are included in the volumes. Verbatim reproductions of previous published papers are not accepted.

ACS Books Department

Contents 1.

Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Ronda Grosse

2.

Developing Microchemistry Education Kits for Sierra Leone ............................ 5 Victoria Sedwick, Ronda Grosse, Maria de Fatima Fernandez, Joan McMahon, and A Bakarr Kanu

3.

The Role of International Chemists in Developing Countries and the Pre-Requisite for Their Success ............................................................................ 21 Ephraim Muchada Govere

4.

History and Mission of AIDSfreeAFRICA .......................................................... 49 Rolande Hodel

5.

Science Education Projects in Guatemala ........................................................... 67 Regina M. Malczewski

6.

Exploiting Lignin: A Green Resource .................................................................. 91 Jianfeng Zhang and Michael A. Brook

7.

Analytical Chemists Easing World Poverty ...................................................... 117 Diane Parry and Rebecca Airmet

8.

Foundation for Analytical Science in Africa and Its Role in Capacity Building and Environmental Preservation in Africa ........................................ 135 Steve Lancaster, Ngaio Richards, and Anthony Gachanja

Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................ 141 Editor’s Biography ....................................................................................................... 147

Indexes Author Index ................................................................................................................ 151 Subject Index ................................................................................................................ 153

vii

Chapter 1

Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems: Introduction Ronda Grosse* Chemists Without Borders

http://www.chemistswithoutborders.org/ *E-mail:

[email protected].

This chapter introduces the motivation for the American Chemical Society symposium held, and provides an overview of multiple humanitarian projects that require scientific expertise. The purpose of this book series is to expand on conference discussions and inform readers of ongoing work using chemistry to benefit underrepresented communities. Topics include clean water initiatives, access to quality medicines, science education, and advancements in inexpensive analytical methodologies that can be applied in developing countries. In most cases, utilization of local resources in country is key. Volume 2 reviews important work related to chemistry education and analysis, with focus on Africa and Central America.

World statistics on top humanitarian issues today include refugees of war, political instability, natural disasters resulting in famine and homelessness, lack of education, poor infrastructure, disease, and scarcity of medicines and clean water (1–4). Around 75% of people living in poverty are located in environmentally vulnerable or politically fragile countries (5). This human suffering has accelerated the search for new practices to allow finite resources to help people affected by various crises. In particular, shortage of clean water has far-reaching negative impact. Improving water quality and availability would bring about real change in the critical areas of hygiene and sanitation, reducing diseases and premature deaths. It would also decrease conflicts and pollution, and increase gender equality, healthy food production, and strengthen communities (6). © 2017 American Chemical Society

Across the globe, a considerable number of humanitarian problems remain unresolved. Many non-profit and non-government organizations (NGOs) work diligently to contribute ideas and resources toward solving these problems. In addition to altruistic aid provided by such charities, as well as what is given by government and other social agencies, creative solutions from chemists are greatly needed. This book focuses on the humanitarian issues that may benefit from applying science, exploring ways in which chemists can uniquely contribute to providing potential solutions to these problems. Analytical chemistry can afford specific benefits in this type of international humanitarian work, as trace measurement of contaminants is often pivotal to confronting problems – whether they involve pure water, food or medicines. This volume (and preceding Volume 1) includes multiple examples from laboratories worldwide where chemistry is being utilized to address humanitarian problems such as water, food and pharmaceutical quality. Several of the authors also volunteer their time at Chemists Without Borders. Chemists Without Borders is a public benefit, non-profit, international humanitarian volunteer network designed to alleviate human suffering through the use of proven chemical technologies and related skills. Its primary goals include, but are not limited to, providing affordable medicines, vaccines and medical devices to those who need them most, suplying environmental solutions (e.g., water purification, green energy and chemistry) in developing countries, supporting self-reliance education, and providing disaster relief. Chemists Without Borders fosters collaborations with other organizations for the mutual benefit of their various missions (7). Chemists Without Borders seeks to mobilize the resources and expertise of the global chemistry community and its networks. Chemists and others have united to work toward solutions to longstanding humanitarian issues. An invited symposium at the 2016 Fall National American Chemical Society meeting, sponsored by the Analytical Chemistry Division, addressed this topic. Abstracts of the ten papers presented at the symposium were highlighted in Volume 1. The purpose of this book (Volumes 1 and 2) is to expand upon symposium discussions and inform readers of ongoing work applying chemistry to benefit underrepresented communities. Topics include clean water initiatives, expanding access to quality medicines, science education, and advancements in inexpensive analytical methodologies that can be readily applied in developing countries. Projects in progress or completed are summarized, and assessment of the comprehensive benefits of these efforts is provided. In addition, logistical, cultural and technical challenges are explained. Subjects beyond what was covered at the ACS meeting symposium include addressing the heavy metal contamination problem in Bangladesh through education, water testing and well remediation, and development of a test-kit method for the determination of inorganic arsenic in rice. Additionally, the history and mission of AIDSfreeAFRICA in Cameroon is explained, as is the Foundation for Analytical Science in Africa. Specific supply chain issues in Kenya related to availability, accountability, and adherence are discussed. Chapters covering projects in Latin America include science education in Guatemala and engineering 2

work in Bolivia. Topics vary from specific green chemistry using softwood lignon to a general overview of analytical chemists easing world poverty. In Volume 2, plans and preparation for establishing new chemistry and laboratory courses in Sierra Leone are covered in Chapter 2. With international grant funding from the ACS and other CWB donors, microchemistry education kits are being assembled by US professors and university students to transfer to high schools and colleges in Sierra Leone and other English-speaking countries. Chapter 3 provides an overview of cultural considerations to keep in mind when initiating and implementing technical work in developing countries. In the author’s experience, which includes projects in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya, it is essential that international chemists understand and collaborate with those local to the country they hope to benefit. In Chapter 4, the mission and progress of the nonprofit organization, AIDSfreeAfrica, is given. Through their work in Cameroon, access to medicines and vitamins has improved, and significant strides have been made in expanding local pharmaceutical production and quality testing toward achieving the country’s vision of producing drugs in-country to supply the needs of Cameroon citizens. In Chapter 5, a program to increase science education in Guatemala is described. Via valiant efforts of ACS and other volunteers, teacher workshops have been developed and conducted, demonstrating the utility of practical lessons and chemistry demonstrations for engaging educators and students alike. Chapter 6 discusses a readily available biopolymer, lignin, a potentially beneficial resource in developing countries. Sustainable technologies for using lignin are reviewed, which should be feasible globally, including in economically challenged areas. Chapter 7 highlights a number of recent symposia focusing on how analytical chemists can help address poverty. Scientists from around the world have come together to discuss safe and sufficient clean water and food production, safe manufacturing and reliable distribution of pharmaceuticals, effective waste management, and analytical methods training in developing countries, and to encourage each other in their endeavors. Finally, in Chapter 8, the Foundation for Analytical Science and Technology in Africa is described, including their work in funding and providing necessary instrumentation, training in analytical methods, and application to important environmental research in Africa. The objective of this symposium series volume is to share best practices to date in mobilizing chemistry expertise to solve humanitarian problems, and engage a broader audience of scientists who desire to apply their knowledge and skills to benefit others. The editor and authors hope many more chemists will be encouraged to utilize their time and talents toward humanitarian efforts as we work together to improve the quality of life for many across the globe.

References 1.

Mercy Corps. Nine Humanitarian Crises We Can’t Ignore this Year, 2015. https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/9-humanitarian-crises-we-cant-ignoreyear (accessed February 6, 2017). 3

2. 3.

4. 5.

6.

7.

The Water Project. Water Scarcity and the Importance of Water, 2017. https:/ /thewaterproject.org/water-scarcity/ (accessed February 6, 2017). Marshall, S. Poor Quality Medicines Pose a Danger to Patients. The Pharmaceutical Journal, September 26, 2014. http://www.pharmaceuticaljournal.com/news-and-analysis/event/poor-quality-medicines-pose-adanger-to-patients/20066604.article (accessed March 23, 2017). Newton, P.; Green, M.; Fernandez, F. Impact of Poor Quality Medicines on the Developing World. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 2010, 31, 99–101. Global Humanitarian Assistance Report, 2016. http:// www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/GHAreport-2016-full-report.pdf (accessed February 26, 2017). The Water Project, 2017. Ten Ways Clean Water Can Change the World. https://thewaterproject.org/why-water/10-ways-clean-water-changes-theworld (accessed February 26, 2017). Chemists Without Borders. https://www.chemistswithoutborders.org (accessed March 23, 2017).

4

Chapter 2

Developing Microchemistry Education Kits for Sierra Leone Victoria Sedwick,1 Ronda Grosse,2 Maria de Fatima Fernandez,3 Joan McMahon,4 and A Bakarr Kanu*,1 1Department

of Chemistry, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27110, United States 2Chemists Without Borders, California, Benicia, California 94510, United States 3Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, UTEC Jr. Medrano Silva 165, Barranco, Lima 04, Perú 4Quadsil/Raven Analytical Laboratories, Midlands, Michigan 48642, United States *Phone: +1 336-750-3199. E-mail: [email protected].

The goal of the Ongley-Myers Sierra Leone Chemistry Education Project (OMSLCEP) is to develop green chemistry laboratory experiments that support introductory chemistry for high schools and first-year college courses in Sierra Leone, Africa. Due to the Civil War in Sierra Leone from 1991-2002 much of the country’s infrastructure and educational system was devastated. In alignment with international chemistry education objectives, Chemists Without Borders (CWB) volunteers are partnering with other organizations to provide greatly-needed chemistry materials to resume science coursework and enhance student learning in Sierra Leone. The OMSLCEP project is under the direction of the project leader, Dr. A Bakarr Kanu. Plans are to assemble inexpensive lab kits focusing on experiments relevant to Sierra Leone and other developing countries. In addition to standard labs that will help students understand basic chemical concepts, the laboratory exercises are unique in that they also focus on the application of chemistry towards practical knowledge relevant to the lives of ordinary Sierra Leoneans. We are in the process of assembling 15 lab activity kits ready for use in Sierra Leone by 2017 or 2018. © 2017 American Chemical Society

Upon implementation of this project, we anticipate the kits to service between 200-500 teachers and students, covering approximately 50 schools in Sierra Leone annually. Our hope is that once this project is executed successfully, it will be expanded to other English speaking countries.

Background For decades now Africa in general has faced serious problems, from drought and famine to infectious diseases, and lack of good housing, to name a few. It is well documented that each country in the continent faces its own unique challenges, but one major problem that has devastated the infrastructure of African countries is corruption and civil war. Sierra Leone is an example of a country that suffered a brutal civil war from 1991-2002. This led to the devastation of much of its educational infrastructure. Whenever a country’s educational system is destroyed, the area of study that suffers most is the sciences. Several publications have reflected on the challenges facing science education, especially chemistry, in African countries. This is surprising since the continent of Africa has a long-standing cultural link to chemistry mainly because of its strong interest in plants and indigenous medicine. To address the challenging issues faced by chemists in Sierra Leone, Chemists Without Borders, a non-profit organization, proposed a concerted effort in 2009 to target science education. As noted previously, Chemists Without Borders was established in 2004 by Dr. Bego Gerber and Dr. Steve Chambreau. The mission since its initiation has been to solve humanitarian problems by mobilizing the resources and expertise of the global chemistry community and its networks. With the help of volunteers, Chemists Without Borders seeks to use scientific approaches to address important global issues. Current goals include aiding people and communities in developing countries to ensure availability of clean water, supporting green chemistry education and practices, promoting distribution of proven, but underutilized, chemical technologies and other resources, and remote universal access to scientific information. A science education project by Chemists Without Borders started based on a request for help from a Non-Government Organization (NGO), Khadarlis for Sierra Leone, which was established in 2007 to assist vulnerable communities in Sierra Leone. Chemists Without Borders began working to provide a chemistry “lab-in-a-baggie” kits, laboratory exercises and teacher training to senior secondary school teachers and first-year university lab classrooms in Sierra Leone. The name of the kit has been coined in honour of two former leaders of the project who suddenly passed away. The “Lois-Rusty Labs” kits under development will include low cost supplies that could be used worldwide in classrooms or in distance learning scenarios. The RADMASTETM micro-science kit (1) developed with UNESCO funds is an example of what this project seeks to emulate. It is important to note that some experiments developed for this project will be different from RADMASTETM experiments mainly because we intend to align the goals of the project with the West African Certification Exam 6

goals. However, equipment from RADMASTETM kits have been selected for this project. This was necessary to address our goal of effectively reducing the quantity of chemicals required for each experiment. Figure 1 is an example RADMASTETM advanced microchemistry kit developed to perform sixty experiments. An example of a micro-burette kit extracted from Figure 1 and assembled to perform micro-titrations is shown in Figure 2. It is worth noting that even the RADMASTETM kit labs use heavy metal salts and are moderately expensive. Our kits will use fewer toxic and hazardous chemicals, as there is no organized waste disposal in Sierra Leone. We also intend to reduce the cost of kits per experiment. By reducing the quantity of chemicals required to perform an experiment will also significant reduce the amount of waste generated for each experiment. It is our express desire to put lab materials in classrooms that have none. We anticipate that this will result in improvements in some test scores and more student interest in chemistry generally. In addition, our kits are expected to address chemistry that is vital to the lives of ordinary Sierra Leoneans. Eventually we plan to extend this project to other English speaking countries in West Africa.

Figure 1. The advanced microchemistry kit from RADMASTETM designed to perform a total of 60 experiments. Reproduced with permission from RADMASTE center, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Advanced Teaching & Learning Packages Microchemistry Experiences). Copyright (December 2006, SC/BES/MCS/2006/3) with permission from RADMASTETM Center. (see color insert) 7

Figure 2. A micro-burette kit assembled to enable micro-titrations to be performed on wells of comboplate. Reproduced with permission from RADMASTE center, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Advanced Teaching & Learning Packages Microchemistry Experiences). Copyright (December 2006, SC/BES/MCS/2006/3) with permission from RADMASTETM Center. (see color insert)

Summary Background Information on Sierra Leone Sierra Leone is a small country located west of the African continent. It has a latitude of 8.48445 °N and longitude 13.23445 °W. The country has an area of 27,699 sq. mi with a population of 7,075,641 (based on a 2015 national census). The official language is English and the capital, Freetown, is the largest city in the country. Sierra Leone is bordered by Guinea to the north, Liberia to the south-east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south-west. Other major cities are Bo (the second largest city), Kenema, and Makeni. The country is divided into four geographical regions/provinces, which are further divided into fourteen districts. There are sixteen ethnic groups, each with its own language and customs. The largest and the most influential ethnic groups are the Temne and Mende. The Temne ethnic group is predominantly found in the North of the country and the Mende to the south-east of the country. Even though English is the official language, Krio (referred to as broken English) is the most widely spoken language and it is what unites all the different ethnic groups. 8

Sierra Leone was a former British colony who gained independence from Great Britain on April 27, 1961. A lot of history was documented for this country prior to 1961 (2). After Sierra Leone gained independence, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) was the first political party elected to govern the nation. The country was governed by Sir Milton Margai from 1961-1967, the first Prime Minister elected after the country gained independence. History documented that everything was going well for the country from 1961-1967. The second set of elections was held in 1967 and the All Peoples Congress (APC) won the election. Their leader, Siaka Stevens, became the Prime Minister after the second election. Prior to 1967, he was the opposition leader but just days after his inauguration in 1967, he was deposed by a military coup and he fled to neighboring Guinea. Thirteen months after he was removed from power, another military coup took place that brought him back to power. It was around this time that things changed completely for Sierra Leone. In 1971, Siaka Stevens installed himself as Executive President. This move led to a big protest so he requested troops from neighboring Guinea to quell the protest. In 1978, he changed the constitution to declare his party, the APC, as the sole legal party of the country. Sierra Leone then become a one party state and massive corruption plagued the nation during that time. In 1985, he eventually turned over power to a hand-picked successor, Major General of the Army, Joseph Saidu Momoh who resigned his post at the time to become a civilian and took power from Siaka Stevens. The civil war in Sierra Leone started under the watch of Joseph Momoh in 1991. Sierra Leone went through two other military coups before it eventually held its first democratic election in 1996 to elect the first democratic President. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, elected in 1996 was responsible for signing the first peace deal with the rebels that eventually led to the end of the civil war in 2002. It is no doubt that Sierra Leone has gone through some hard times and even though things are beginning to improve after the civil war, the country’s educational system is still in dire devastation. Sierra Leone faces challenges that are incomprehensible to many Americans; the electricity is unreliable in the capital city and non-existent in the villages. Cellular phones are not ubiquitous and are generally not “smart”. More pertinent, the classrooms have very little in terms of equipment and supplies. Although the ACS Guidelines and Recommendations for the Teaching of High School Chemistry recommends Bunsen burners, hotplates, and electronic balances, that is not realistic in Sierra Leone at this time. Schools also cannot afford much in terms of glassware. While students are required to purchase their textbooks, many cannot afford to do so and therefore students copy notes from the chalkboard, and imagine and draw their chemistry experiments. Students graduate from the University of Sierra Leone without any computer knowledge. A World Bank report (3) notes that “Sierra Leone has the lowest levels of enrolment in secondary school than many other impoverished nations. Only 10% of school boys and 4% of school girls passed the West Africa Senior School Certificate Exam (i.e.. earned a “pass” in four subject areas of which chemistry is one choice). In 2011, a report by UNICEF noted “Burned-out buildings and bullet holes serve as constant reminders of a turbulent and horrific past in the remote eastern border district of Kailahun (4), for example, one of the areas that was hardest hit by 9

Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war.” Several other areas in the country including the Northern Province were also seriously affected and the recovery has been slow. Figure 3 is an example image taking after the Civil War in Sierra Leone showing the devastation caused to a school in the Eastern province district of Kailahum.

Figure 3. Example image of devastation cause to a school in the Eastern province district of Kailahum. Picture was taken after the civil war concluded in 2002. (see color insert) This is a brief background of the situation in Sierra Leone and similar stories are reported in other developing nations. There is a great need to mobilize chemical expertise to address critical humanitarian problems in Sierra Leone and other developing nations. It seemed appropriate to meld the “Lois-Rusty Labs” with West African Senior Secondary Chemistry standards as Sierra Leone and other developing nations could really put this to good use.

Need for Chemistry Education Projects in Developing Nations One of the biggest problems in developing countries is contaminated water. Contaminated water from rivers, streams and shallow wells is routinely used for domestic purposes in developing nations (5, 6). This kind of water is what often leads to the spread of water-borne diseases. Using chemistry to develop simple water treatment techniques using locally-based materials can help reduce incidences of water-borne diseases to a large extent. It is worth noting that developing nation’s higher education has been expanding over the past few decades. This means that many chemistry departments from these nations have been overwhelmed by a large number of students. This might seem a desirable development, but this increase in numbers has come without the necessary increase in infrastructure, expertise, equipment, supplies, and human resources, most common in nations that have suffered civil war in the past. In Sierra Leone for example, chemistry labs in high schools and universities are basically void of science equipment. There are a few electrical components to experiment with and hardly any computer in laboratory settings. This makes it difficult for students to conduct chemistry or even biology projects. Figure 4 is an example 10

of what a high school chemistry laboratory looks like in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the location Chemists Without Borders is targeting for initial support. There is a need for simple and effective chemistry projects that generate little waste in these classrooms.

Figure 4. A high school chemistry laboratory in Freetown, Sierra Leone. (see color insert) Chemists in developing nations have faced enormous challenges mainly due to funding and infrastructure (7, 8). If projects designed can concentrate on fields relevant to local problems and resources there can be significant impact on a population. In developing nations, there are many opportunities and many fields to choose from in trying to solve the problems that exist. The OMSLCEP project has been designed to tackle a challenging problem that may improve test scores in high school and allow more students to enter university. There are many more problems to solve in developing nations and project leaders may realize that students from these countries are always excited and hungry to do more. With just few tools at their disposal, they could broaden their horizons exponentially.

Project Highlights for Sierra Leone The Ongley-Myers Sierra Leone Chemistry Education Project (OMSLCEP) project is being developed as a “lab-in-a-bag” activity designed to deliver laboratory materials and instructions packaged in zip-top bags for high school and first-year university students in Sierra Leone, Africa. 11

Many science teachers throughout the world lack the supplies, equipment and laboratory facilities necessary to conduct basic chemistry laboratories. A global chemistry challenge for most developing countries is the cost of kits from commercial suppliers. To address this specific challenge, OMSLCEP is currently developing a kit to perform a number of simple laboratory experiments that demonstrate many of the basic chemical principles typically found in senior high school and first year university chemistry courses. The kit uses innovative microchemistry techniques for the experiments, and most of the materials necessary to do the labs are included in the kit. Materials together with instructions for students are contained in a simple zip-top bag. The instructions include background on the chemical principles involved, step-by-step directions and questions based on the laboratory exercise. Separate instructions are included for the teachers that include suggestions for performing the lab, safety precautions and answers to questions posed in the lab. By keeping the cost of materials down, we hope to supply schools with enough kits so that all students can perform continuing rudimentary scientific investigations. This may compensate for lack of textbooks in the region and empower West African nations and communities to meet the needs of their citizens by providing education or economic opportunity. In addition to standard labs that help students understand basic chemical concepts, the laboratory exercises are unique in that they also focus on the application of chemistry toward practical knowledge relevant to the lives of students. For example, several labs are devoted to the purification and testing of drinking water utilizing indigenous plants, clay pots and solar radiation, and chemistry of cement. In addition, selected labs have been designed to support the West African Examination Council’s (WAEC) standards for chemistry, which should help students improve performance for admission to higher education. This project will be implemented by conducting a training workshop for teachers and students to successfully perform the labs. The hope is to have a basic kit with 15 lab activities ready for use by the time the project is implemented in Sierra Leone. Kits will be used by a team of students, and materials are reusable. The activities included in the kits are meant to provide teachers with materials serving as a starting point to engage students in hands-on scientific investigations. Labs can be used as is, but teachers are encouraged to modify activities based on the local environment and conditions. For example, chitosan included in the kit may be used to investigate coagulation and flocculation of water, but teachers with access to beach sand with high shell content might collect and use this material in addition to or in place of material from the kit. One goal of the teachers’ workshop is to enable educators to provide feedback and offer suggestions for further kit development. All feedback received in the first year will be implemented to expand, modify and improve the kits as more teachers use the materials. We anticipate to serve a total of 200-500 teachers and students covering approximately 50 schools will benefit from the implementation of this project in Sierra Leone. Dr. A Bakarr Kanu, responsible for directing the project, is an American Chemical Society (ACS) member and a university faculty member. Twelve out of fifteen labs have been written and the main goal of the project in 2017 will be to test labs, make modifications as appropriate and assemble kits that will be taken to Sierra Leone to conduct the first workshop. 12

Several Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) ACS Student Chapter members will conduct initial testing of labs and are expected to be engaged, developing experience with project development and implementation. When the project is implemented, ACS faculty members and students are expected to travel to Sierra Leone to conduct the workshops for kits use. This project aiming to foster international collaboration will extend international chemistry education and training. This will be beneficial to participating local ACS sections, members of the project team, and other collaborators, as well as increasing international collaboration and contributing to the overall engagement of students in the field.

OMSLCEP Project Objective The objective of the project has been designed to address the needs of the current educational system in Sierra Leone, which we believe may be similar to other developing nations in the region. The current educational system, as described earlier, lacks the following: (i) Students complete university without knowledge of computer operation; (ii) Lack of textbooks throughout the educational system; (iii) According to a World Bank report, Sierra Leone has the lowest levels of enrolment in secondary schools than many other impoverished nations; (iv) In most rural areas, only 10% of school boys and 4% of school girls passed the West African Senior Certificate School Exams. In designing an objective to meet these needs, we plan to achieve the following: (i) Develop appropriate affordable labs and exercises to meet the Sierra Leone standards; (ii) Determine the minimum equipment required to meet the needs for a class of 30 students; (iii) Acquire sufficient microchemistry equipment and supplies for approximately 10-50 schools; (iv) Conduct teacher workshops training in Sierra Leone to implement the project; and (v) Initiate a professional association of Sierra Leonean chemists and chemistry teachers. By achieving these objectives we intend to promote interest in the field of chemistry in the region by improving and supporting high school and early university education.

OMSLCEP Project Goals The goal of this project has been divided into three categories: the mission of Chemists Without Borders, the mission of the chemistry education team, and our goals for Sierra Leone. The mission of Chemists Without Borders is “to solve humanitarian problems by mobilizing the resources and expertise of the global chemistry community and its networks”. Chemists Without Borders is an all-volunteer organization that seek to use scientific and business approaches to address important global issues. The mission of the chemistry education team delivering this project is to “provide education in chemistry which people can apply to their daily lives and also use to teach others to make improvements in the country in which they live”. With these goals in mind, the project will achieve the following: 13

• •



Improve secondary school chemistry education especially in the rural areas. Develop interest in chemistry throughout Sierra Leone both horizontally in the secondary schools and vertically in all aspects of the chemical economy of Sierra Leone. Use this experience to improve our work and replicate it in other countries.

These goals will ensure that developed labs can support WAEC standards of chemistry, which should help students improve performance for admission to higher education.

Chemistry Education Project Status for West Africa The OMSLCEP project has continued to make progress. Our project goal has remained the same; to develop green chemistry laboratory experiments that support introductory chemistry for high schools and first-year college courses in Sierra Leone, Africa. In an effort to provide much needed educational help to Sierra Leone, Chemists Without Borders volunteers have continued to partner with other organizations to develop greatly-needed chemistry materials to resume science coursework and enhance student learning in Sierra Leone. The hope is to have a basic kit with lab activities ready for use in Sierra Leone by 2017 or 2018. At the beginning of 2016, our team was successful in securing a small grant from the ACS International Activities Committee (Global Innovation Section). We are happy to report that kits and chemicals have been purchased for twelve written labs from this grant. Majority of the written labs are different from the RADMASTETM experiments. This approach was used to ensure that the goals of Lois-Rusty labs are closely aligned with the goals of the West African Certification Exam in West Africa. Testing of the lab started in spring 2017 at WSSU. Figures 5-10 are example images of students and faculty working at WSSU laboratory to test written labs with microchemistry kits purchased from RADMASTETM. In August 2016, our team received an invitation from Dr. Ronda Grosse to participate at the 252nd ACS National Meeting in Philadelphia. The theme for this meeting was “Chemistry of the people, by the people, for the people, Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise to Solve Humanitarian Problems”. Based on this invitation, Dr. A Bakarr Kanu gave a presentation about the project in Philadelphia. The team led by Dr. Kanu is continuing to identify and approach several funding agencies to secure more funding for the project. We want to acknowledge the funding support from ACS Global Innovation grant. We also thank Hopevale Church in Michigan and the Lois Ongley family for their donations towards the goals of this project. There is still a need to secure more funds if the project is to proceed to the next stage. Our plan moving forward is to submit more proposals to request funding from organizations that support international projects. If any organization is reading this chapter and would like to help fund this project, please contact Dr. Kanu. We also welcome more volunteers to contribute their knowledge to this project. 14

Figure 5. A faculty member at WSSU laboratory giving instructions to a student getting ready to test the acid-base titration experiment using the RADMASTETM microchemistry kit. (see color insert)

Figure 6. WSSU student experimenting with the RADMASTETM microchemistry kit for flame test. The red color indicates strontium metal was being tested. (see color insert) 15

Figure 7. WSSU student experimenting with the RADMASTETM microchemistry kit for column chromatography. Different color bands are being separated from grape juice using a Waters Sep Pak Environmental C18 column. (see color insert)

Figure 8. Components extracted using the RADMASTETM microchemistry kit for column chromatography. (see color insert) 16

Figure 9. RADMASTETM microchemistry kit set-up for electrolysis of water. (see color insert)

Figure 10. WSSU student experimenting with the RADMASTETM microchemistry kit for electrolysis of water. (see color insert) 17

Conclusion Research conducted throughout developing countries has emphasized that chemistry stills needs nurturing so that it can reach the level of productivity comparable to developed countries. There are increasing number of ways through which the situation can be addressed. Chemists Without Borders has proposed the use of microchemistry kits to address the much needed resumption of coursework in Sierra Leone. There are other approaches that can be used to solve problems with science in developing countries. These include establishment of collaborative ventures both within developing countries and overseas, engagement with local communities, and building knowledge in traditionally strong areas. In addition, the increasing enthusiasm and innovation of students benefiting from projects will enable the development of high-quality chemistry practices in these regions. The microchemistry kit project should allow educational institutions in developing nations to benefit from links with other partners around the world.

Acknowledgments The authors acknowledged all the other team members of the Sierra Leone Education Project; Dr. Bego Gerber, Dr. Victor Atiemo-Obeng, Dr. Ray Kronquist, BaiBai Kamara, Anna Hayes, Anne Leal, and KaDesia Hawkins. We also thank Winston-Salem State University, American Chemical Society Global Innovation, Lois Ongley family, and Hopevale Church in Michigan for their financial support. We also like to thank RADMASTETM and Prof. John Bradley for their support towards this project

References 1. 2. 3.

4.

5.

6.

RADMASTE Micro-science Projects. http://www.radmaste.org.za/ (accessed April 22, 2017). Sierra Leone Profile - Timeline, January 4, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/ world-africa-14094419 (accessed April 22, 2017). Wang, L., Rakotomalala, R., Gregory, L., Cichello, P. Education in Sierra Leone, Present Challenges, Future Opportunities. Africa Human Development, Africa Education Country Status Report, Washington DC, The World Bank, January 1, 2007. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/ en/618111468166474170/Education-in-Sierra-Leone-present-challengesfuture-opportunities (accessed April 22, 2017). Galanek, G. Reviving Education in the Aftermath of Sierra Leone’s Civil War, April 7, 2011, https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ sierraleone_58237.html (accessed April 22, 2017). Brown, M. Wealth of Opportunity, International Year of Chemistry 2011, Chemistry World, April 28 2011, pp 40−44. https:// www.chemistryworld.com/feature/wealth-of-opportunity/3004883.article (accessed April 15, 2017). The World Bank & Elsevier, 2014. Washington DC, World Bank Group. A Decade of Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, Science Technology, 18

7. 8.

Engineering and Mathematica Research. Executive Summary and Policy Recommendations Series 91016. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/ en/237371468204551128/A-decade-of-development-in-sub-SaharanAfrican-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-research (accessed April 15, 2017). Abegaz, B. Challenges and Opportunities for Chemistry in Africa. Nat. Chem. 2016, 8, 518–522. Tyokumba, E. T. Does Science Education in Developing Countries Really Counts? Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 2010 October, 432–437.

19

Chapter 3

The Role of International Chemists in Developing Countries and the Pre-Requisite for Their Success Ephraim Muchada Govere* Ecosystem Science and Management, College of Agricultural Sciences, 116 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States *E-mail: [email protected].

Chemistry is central to the sustenance of all lives, and all matter is nothing but a composition of chemical constituents. This makes chemistry a central science to all life sciences, and the role of chemists paramount and indispensable in removing constraints and impediments to worthwhile living. Citizens of developed counties benefit from the immense contribution from chemists in terms of chemical knowledge, processes, technology, and products. However, because of their small numbers and many impeding forces, chemists in developing countries have little impact and the overwhelming majority of living in these countries are being robbed of their lives due to abundance of diseases, malnutrition, and unhealthy environments. Chemists from developing countries can play a big role in these countries especially by improving chemical education and availability of food, safe water, and medicines. This is only possible if the chemists from developed countries are culturally competent enough to understand the needs of, and work in collaboration with, those who need the help. Good chemistry between those giving help and those receiving it is vital for a successful outcome. This chapter starts by shining light on the characteristics of chemists from developed countries by answering the question “What is a Chemist?” The second section of the chapter describes what is meant

© 2017 American Chemical Society

by the term “developing country”. The third section presents chemical education, food and nutrition, and health problems of people living in developing countries and how chemist may help alleviate these problems. The last section challenges the chemist to become culturally competent as a pre-requisite to playing an effective role in developing countries. Only through understanding and collaborating with the people who need the help will the chemists’ intentions in developing countries produce sustainable positive outcomes.

What Is a Chemist? According the United States Department of a Labor (1), chemists “conduct qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses or experiments in laboratories for quality or process control or to develop new products or knowledge.” They are mostly employed by architectural, engineering, and related services; basic chemical manufacturing; federal, state, and local government; pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing; and scientific research and development services. To the American Chemical Society (ACS), a chemist is someone who has successfully completed an undergraduate chemistry curriculum and obtained a degree certified by ACS’s Committee on Professional Training. The ACS guidelines for a certified chemistry degree is based on “the institutional environment, faculty and staff, infrastructure, curriculum, safety, undergraduate participation in research, student skill development and program self-evaluation with the goal that programs provide professional chemists with the training and experience necessary for successful careers.” (2). Students seeking a certified degree need instruction that is equivalent to one course in each of five foundation areas (analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic and physical), four in-depth courses, and 400 laboratory hours beyond the general chemistry level that cover four of the five foundation areas (p. 965) (2). The 2015 ACS guidelines added more emphasis on non-chemistry skills such as written communication, teamwork, and ethics. There are also various organizations that define chemists based on passing some chemistry education and competence examination. For example, in USA, the National Registry of Certified Chemists certifies various specialist chemists such as chemical hygiene officers, clinical chemistry technologists, clinical chemists, environmental analytical technologists, toxicological chemists, and toxicological technologists based on education, examination, and excellence (3). European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuChemMS) defined a “European Chemist” in terms of twelve attributes based on professional specific kills, competencies and training (4): 1. 2.

Make significant personal contributions to key tasks in the employment area and understand fully the chemistry objectives of the work done Demonstrate a high level of appropriate professional skills in the practice of chemistry 22

Develop chemistry and other professional skills as required for the career development 4. Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of Health, Safety and Environmental issues including international standards and adhere to the relevant requirements relating to the role 5. Evaluate critically and draw conclusions from scientific and other data 6. Demonstrate an interest in broader developments in chemical science 7. Demonstrate integrity and respect for confidentiality on work and personal issues. Demonstrate other professional attributes such as reliability 8. Plan and organize time systematically, demonstrate foresight in carrying out tasks 9. Write clear, concise and orderly documents and give clear oral presentations 10. Discuss work convincingly and objectively with colleagues, customers and others. Respond constructively to and acknowledge the value of alternative views and hypothesis 11. Demonstrate the ability to work as part of a team also on multidisciplinary projects 12. Exert effective influence on the work of others 3.

In developed countries, a chemist is therefore a professional whose training at University level and post-training function is in chemistry as a basic and applied science. The characteristics of a chemist described above tend to imply that a chemist is someone whose work setting is mainly a laboratory. The overwhelming majority of people in developing countries do not know what a chemical laboratory and a chemist is. In fact, in many of the countries, there is no equivalent name or vocabulary for “a chemist”. Normally, we would like a participatory approach to international development. That is, the affected people should identify and define the problem they face, brainstorm potential solutions or alternatives, and then select the most plausible options to implement that achieve their specific objectives or meet their specific needs. If it is a health problem, the people in developing countries tend to know who to approach: doctors and nurses. They do not associate their health issues with a chemist. It is common to hear villagers in developing countries talk about shortage of doctors and nurses. These villagers have clear understanding of what a doctor is, and what a nurse is. The villagers even have their local traditional equivalence of doctors and nurses, but they have no chemist equivalent. Do they know what a chemist is? Do they know what role a chemist can play in their community? The answer is mostly no. In fact, they think that all medicines are discovered and produced by doctors. Therefore, what role can this “unknown (chemist) entity” play in developing countries? In Zimbabwe, I witnessed a multimillion dollar project on rural afforestation. The project objectives included establishing village fuelwood as well as pole trees, fruit trees, shade trees, medicinal trees, hedge trees, and ornamental trees; also trees as feed for domestic animals such as cows, goats and donkeys, and for edible insects such matsimbi (mopane worms or Gonimbrasia belina) and hururwa (green stink bug or Encosternum delegorguei). For fuelwood, fast growing 23

trees were needed. Some of the tree seeds were collected from different places including various eucalyptus seeds from Australia. A Coordinated Agricultural Rural Development (CARD) Committee was formed to coordinate the project efforts. The CARD had at least one professional representing animal, crop, water, forest, veterinary, natural resources, wildlife and fisheries, soils, an entomologist, plant pathologist, and other social services professionals such as health inspector, education director, and local government administrator. It never came to anyone’s mind that CARD needed a chemist among its members. In fact, there was no single chemist at the provincial and district professional functional levels. The project failed in areas that needed the trees most, the drylands, due to lack of chemical characterization of the planting sites, ineffective chemical pest control products and methods of application, and unidentified plant diseases. I had to recommend the involvement of an agricultural chemist, a plant pathologist, an entomologist, an analytical chemist, and a biochemist. This illustrates that the role of chemists in developing countries is not well recognized. There is need to make chemists part of the community they serve so people can define them by their function and not by certified degrees they obtained from colleges or by the laboratory results they post by mail to their clients.

What Is a Developing Country? Since this chapter deals with the role of a chemists in developing countries, we have to be clear on what a developing country is, so that chemists who want to help do not end up in, for example, South Korea or Israel, thinking they are developing countries. In addition, the chemists will have some idea of what to expect when they make a decision to play a role in developing countries. It is not always rosy working in a developing country. It is a sacrifice a chemist should be prepared to undertake. By the United Nations count, there are currently 195 countries (independent states) in the world. The majority (54) are in Africa, followed by 48 in Asia, 44 in Europe, 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 14 in Oceania, and 2 in North America. The countries whose people suffer from high incidence of disease, infant mortality, protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, unemployment, low industrial activity and utilization of resources, and high dependence on other nations to meet their basic biological and physiological needs are referred to as developing countries. These include countries referred to as least developed countries (LDC), underdeveloped countries, Third World countries, less industrialized countries, or low income or poor countries. The United Nations’ Development Policy and Analysis Division uses the economic status of a country to place it into one of its three classification categories: developed economies, economies in transition, and developing economies (World Economic Situation and Prospects [WESP], 2014). A country with (gross national income (GNI) per capita of less than $1,035 is classified as a low-income, that with $1,036 to $4,085 as lower middle income, a country between $4,086 to $12,615 as upper middle income and one with more than $12,615 as a high-income country. The low-income and lower middle income countries are listed in Table 1. 24

Table 1. The 2014 Developing country classification by the United Nations’ Development Policy & Analysis Division.

Table 1. The 2014 developing country classification by the United Nations’ Development Policy & Analysis Division Low-Income

Lower Middle Income

Bangladesh

Armenia

Benin

Bolivia

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Burundi

Cape Verde

Central African

Congo

Republic

Côte d’voire

Chad

Djibouti

Comoros

Egypt

Democratic Republic

El Salvador

of the Congo

Georgia

Eritrea

Ghana

Ethiopia

Guatemala

Gambia, The

Guyana

Guinea

Honduras

Guinea-Bissau

India

Haiti

Indonesia

Kenya

Lesotho

Kyrgyz Republic

Mauritania

Liberia

Moldova

Madagascar

Morocco

Malawi

Nicaragua

Mali

Nigeria

Mozambique

Pakistan

Myanmar

Papua New Guinea

Nepal

Paraguay

Niger

Philippines

Rwanda

São Tomé and

Sierra Leone

Principe Continued on next page.

25

Table 1. (Continued). The 2014 developing country classification by the United Nations’ Development Policy & Analysis Division Low-Income

Lower Middle Income

Somalia

Senegal

Tajikistan

Sri Lanka

Tanzania

Sudan

Togo

Syrian Arab Republic

Uganda

Ukraine

Zimbabwe

Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen, Rep. Zambia

The United Nations classification may or may not match with classifications by other international players. The International Monetary Fund uses GNI per capita, export diversification, and degree of integration into the global financial system as criteria for country classification. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has a low income/lower middle income classification of countries (Table 2) that it uses for aid distribution, and it may or may not match with the United Nation’s classification (6).

Table 2. USAID’s list of low income/lower middle income countries Afghanistan

Guyana

Papua New Guinea

Angola

Haiti

Paraguay

Armenia

Honduras

Philippines

Bangladesh

India

Rep.

Belize

Indonesia

Rwanda

Benin

Iraq

Samoa

Bhutan

Kenya

São Tomé and Principe

Bolivia

Kiribati

Senegal

Burkina Faso

Korea, Dem Rep.

Sierra Leone

Burundi

Kosovo

Solomon Islands

Cambodia

Kyrgyz Republic

Somalia

Cameroon

Lao PDR

Sri Lanka Continued on next page.

26

Table 2. (Continued). USAID’s list of low income/lower middle income countries Cape Verde

Lesotho

Sudan

Central African Republic

Leste

Swaziland

Chad

Liberia

Syrian Arab Republic

Comoros

Madagascar

Tajikistan

Congo, Dem. Rep

Malawi

Tanzania

Congo, Rep.

Mali

Timor

Côte d′Ivoire

Marshall Islands

Togo

Djibouti

Mauritania

Tonga

Egypt, Arab Rep.

Micronesia, Fed. Sts.

Turkmenistan

El Salvador

Moldova

Tuvalu

Eritrea

Mongolia

Uganda

Ethiopia

Morocco

Ukraine

Fiji

Mozambique

Uzbekistan

Gambia, The

Myanmar

Vanuatu

Georgia

Nepal

Vietnam

Ghana

Nicaragua

West Bank and Gaza

Guatemala

Niger

Yemen,

Guinea

Nigeria

Zambia

Guinea Bissau

Pakistan

Zimbabwe

The chemist, as a scientist, should always strive to use objectivity in deciding which country he or she chooses to play a role. It is an easy call to want to play a role in, for example, South Africa during the World Cup game period. It is tempting to skip Liberia due to historical outbreaks of Ebola. While “killing two birds with one stone” shows efficiency, it should never be used to exploit or take advantage of the most vulnerable, those seeking the chemists’ help. Thus, one of the roles of chemists is to adhere to a professional code of ethics and the four ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice when selecting a developing country to render service. The chemist should do some soul searching and be genuine in addressing the following ethical questions related to each of the four principles and every role he or she considers embarking on in a developing country. The questions are slightly modified from those by Beauchamp & Childress (7).

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Beneficence •

Why did I choose this developing country? Who benefits from my role in this country and in what way?

Non-maleficence • • •

Which parties may be harmed by my role in the country? What steps can be taken to minimize harm I may cause? Have risks emanating from my role been communicated in a truthful and open manner?

Respect for Autonomy 1. 2. 3.

Does my role impinge on the personal autonomy of the people I intend to help? Do all relevant parties in the developing country consent to the role I will play? Do I acknowledge and respect that those I intend to serve may see or choose differently?

Justice • • •

Have I identified all vulnerable groups that may be affected by my role? Are my planned actions in my role equitable? How can they be made more equitable? Am I only seeking benefits while avoiding shouldering the burdens as I play my role?

Whatever role the chemist chooses to play in a developing country, it should be devoid of self-interest; the objective should be to benefit the target group in the developing country As an example, some years ago I was hired as a consultant to evaluate Dryland Farming and Afforestation Projects in Australia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe by the land restoration project in drylands in Southern and East Africa by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). We were a team of four and in each region we went, we were joined by some local scientists for a joint tour to the research projects. The places we visited differed in the scenery and environmental hospitality. Some places, especially in Kenya and Zimbabwe, were hot and unbearable and had malaria carrying mosquitos (for example Binga, Zimbabwe) and some places were beautiful highlands with cool weather and/or beautiful sceneries. People from around the world flock to see some of this breathtaking scenery such as the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (the largest water fall in the word), and Mount Kenya (the second-highest mountain in Africa). Before we embarked on the evaluation mission, we made sure we had a strict verifiably objective travel itinerary whose schedule was dictated by the project objectives. Without such an itinerary, it is easy to be swayed or tempted 28

to spend more time at “fun” places at the expense of other not-so-fun places. Any unfair distribution of time in order to fulfill personal pleasure would have been contrary to the project principles and professional ethics. However, on days we were nor evaluating the project, we had time to ourselves and we visited places or attended cultural functions. That was acceptable because that had no negative impact on our main mission. Another example on this project was that unlike the World Bank Rural Afforestation Project in Zimbabwe, the ACIAR Dryland Farming and Afforestation Projects had some chemists working at Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the Zimbabwe Department of Research and Specialist Services (DRSS). At one of the meetings I attended, soil pH and nutrient deficiency were identified as constraints to agroforestry. I had just given a lecture on soil pH and nutrient availability the previous month in my undergraduate soil chemistry class and as a soil chemist, I thought I was ready to help. However, the well prepared soil nutrient results and pH notes (see Figure 1 and Figure 2) were meaningless to the farmer unless they were explained in the local languages. That was the dilemma. Kenya has four main local languages (Swahili, Kikuyu, Luhya, and Luo) and Zimbabwe has two (Shona and Ndebele). While Kenya and Zimbabwe are former British colonies and use English as the formal business and higher education medium of communication, the majority of the rural population do not speak or understand English. The groups we met in Kenya and Zimbabwe spoke the local languages. For the soil nutrient results, I tried to look for the Kikuyu, Luhya, and Luo, and for the Shona and Ndebele translation of the terms pH, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium. I came up with none. Even the Luo Kenyan Chemist (who graduated from a European University) and I, a Shona Chemist (who graduated from an American University) could not figure out how to translate the information into Luo or Shona. Even though university education in Kenya and Zimbabwe is taught in English, most rural farmers are not English speaking. This is very common in developing countries, especially in Francophone and Anglophone Africa (8). Students are taught using colonial languages that neither the parent, teacher, nor student masters or speaks at home. We failed to connect with the farmers. It is the chemist’s role to ensure that chemistry-related information, products, and technologies are presented in a language of the target group. Chemists planning to serve the developing world should be linguistically competent in order to realize positive outcomes. In this example, we the chemists, used a language the local farmers did not command and hardly understood. Even up to now, I could not find or translate the word pH or the different plant essential nutrients into local African languages. Is there an effort by chemists to translate our scientific jargon into meaningful usable messages? Without effective communication, the role of chemists in developing countries is guaranteed to fail. Unlike the Christian crusade that has made it a point to translate the Bible in almost all languages, the chemistry community tends to enjoy the status quo.

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Figure 1. Tree nursery soil nutrient levels.

Figure 2. The concept of pH difficult to translate into languages in developing countries. 30

In the Kenya/Zimbabwe project example above, it appears we violated the four ethical principles: Beneficence: The farmers did not benefit from the vast knowledge we had because of language barrier and we did not benefit fully from the farmers’ indigenous knowledge. Non-maleficence: Harm was caused by the fact that we prepared the documents in a language the farmers did not speak. The farmers were robbed of vital knowledge that could have altered their action to maximize benefits from the project. Respect for Autonomy: Farmers felt powerless in that decisions about the project, including the language to use for project communication, was chosen without their input. Justice: It is unfair that “in Africa, mathematics and science are taught in English and not in an African language, the language pupils and teachers normally speak and command much better than English” (p. 83) (8). “Many Africans admire the visible success of contemporary Asia in all areas of the social and economic lives of Asians but are unable to easily see the connection between this scientific, technological and economic ascendancy of Asia and the use of local languages as languages of instruction and learning in education. If language is understood to be the central feature of culture and development is seen as ultimately a cultural phenomenon, it is not difficult to see the interconnections between language and development” (p. 85-86) (8).

What Are the Major Challenges in Developing Countries and What Roles Can Chemists Play? Developing countries are bubbling and gushing with problems. People living in these countries are enveloped in misery, suffering and hopelessness. They are extremely poor; they do not have enough food to eat or clean water to drink; they lack educational opportunities; and they are faced with dire scarcity of medical doctors, pharmacists, medicines, and even of basic commodities like salt. Both infectious diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and meningitis, and non-infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, are like a wildfire out of control (9, 10). Chemists are not magicians; they cannot make problems disappear into thin air and they cannot solve all the ills, but they can surely play a significant role to better the lives of people living in developing countries. I believe chemists can transform the lives of people living in developing countries through actions that result in: • • •

Better Chemical Education More Food and Better Nutrition Improved Human Health 31

Help Provide Better Chemistry Education There is no better medicine than education. I know this from experience. I grew up when Zimbabwe was still Rhodesia. When I completed secondary school, or what is high school in USA, I could not get into the only University at that time, the University of Rhodesia. Why? Simply because it admitted only about 1500 freshmen across the whole country and most of the places were reserved for white students at the time. That meant, even with all “A’s” in all required minimum of three “A” level subjects, one would fail to get in because of the limited enrollment for black students. It was even worse for me because initially I wanted to study forestry or dairy science, but those were fields reserved only for whites. Therefore, the limited enrollment plus the wrong choice of the study area spelled automatic doom for me. I was very angry. I knew it was not my fault. I knew it was not my mother’s fault. I knew it was not my father’s fault. I knew it was not my brothers’ and my sister’s fault. I definitely knew it was not God’s fault because my father was a Priest; I read and knew the Bible from Genesis to Revelations. We had Bible studies EVERY evening after dinner. Therefore, I knew what God created, and He looked at it and said it was good. But what good was it that I could not go to a University? Universities are “man-made”. I therefore wrote to the United Nations Secretary General. I knew his name and address in New York through the study of current history. It was the Australian Kurt Waldheim! I wrote a piece of paper from my ruled English note book paper. I have now forgotten the word for word content of my letter but I challenged The Honorable Secretary General Waldheim whether it was fair that those who want to make this world better are denied the opportunity simply because of their place of birth and color of their skin. I expressed my goal to become a forester and save the fast disappearing trees in developing countries and avert desertification and its consequences. Luckily, someone or The Honorable Secretary General himself saw my letter and I was selected as one of the candidates for manpower development for a future independent Zimbabwe. I did not personally apply to any University; I was simply told I was going to come to the United States and attend the guru of forestry education, Oregon State University. There too, during my freshman year, I was the only black student out of about 2000 students in the College of Forestry. For the four years I was there, the enrollment of black students increased to two with the addition of a beautiful highly motivated girl, Glenda Goodwyne from Virginia. After my bachelor’s degree in Forestry management I went back and became the first black Zimbabwean (or Rhodesian) to obtain a forestry management degree. In Zimbabwe I mainly dealt with establishing new commercial pine tree plantations in high eastern highlands and afforestation in the rural communities across Zimbabwe. I realized that understanding the chemistry of soils was critical to plant production, be it forest trees or field crops. I knew we could not intervene with the weather but could understand and manipulate the soil chemical processes and products to change behavior for food, fiber, feed, and flower production. I went back to the USA and obtained Master’s and PhD degrees with focus on nutrient management and plant and soil analysis. I ended up teaching soil chemistry at the University of Zimbabwe. Due to political and economic downfalls, I left Zimbabwe to work 32

as a Soil Chemist with Dynamac International Corporation - Environmental Services, a contractor to the USA Western Ecology Division of EPA’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory. I currently work as the director of a multi-function and multi-user research laboratory. The reason I narrated this story is to show how education can transform boys and girls in developing countries into key players in resolving national, regional and international issues. Solving problems start with education and chemists can play a big role in promoting chemistry education in developing countries at all levels: primary, secondary, and college. They can help with curriculum development, learning materials, and laboratory kits. Engida (11) described the designing and development of low-cost chemistry teaching and learning materials from locally available materials in Ethiopia, as an example. Chemists can participate in chemistry based research and industrial capacity building for developing nations. They can collaborate with charitable educational organizations to donate their extra chemistry supplies and their time as consultants and volunteers. They can work directly with government education ministries in developing nations as advisers to improve on chemistry curriculum to make it relevant (address local issues and practices and use local resources), practical (include more psychomotor domain learning objectives so that outcomes are meaningful and verifiable), and cultural and socially sensitive (incorporate the values and norms of the local society) (12). They can assess the chemical laboratory competencies and help these laboratories secure analytical equipment from donations or grants in developing nations (Figure 3). There are many other ways to promote chemistry education in developing countries. On April 6, 1991 at The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Conference on “Chemistry and Developing Countries”, the role of chemists to advance chemistry in developing countries was highlighted by Mr. Federico Mayor, then Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He demonstrated how just two professors from the world’s South and North took the initiative to transform chemistry education in India. They sought the support of UNESCO, RUPAC, the British Council, ICSU-CTS and the Commonwealth Foundation and successfully launched a chemistry project that sought to improve chemistry curriculum, increase availability of locally affordable and yet reliable and easy to maintain chemistry equipment and produced chemistry manuals and video-tapes (13). Chemists can play a big role in the current push for microscale chemistry kits for developing countries (14). For example, they can participate in the “Global Microscale Program and Access to Science For All” program jointly implemented by the International Union of Pure And Applied Chemistry’s (IUPAC), International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development (IOCD), and UNESCO (15). The American Chemical Society has put together some chemistry education resources (16). They include guided instructions, lesson plans, classroom activities, video demonstrations, and activity books for elementary and middle school; textbooks, standards and guidelines, investigations and lesson plans for high school and undergraduate students. They also provide effective teaching resources, graduate research directory, program data surveys and reports, lab management, ethical considerations, safety information, mentoring, and career 33

guidance for graduate students. However, these resources are more geared towards students in developed nations. There is a need to develop and make available resources specifically for developing nations. The ACS and other societies in developed nations can play a role by having an international education sub-category that will be composed of people devoted to promoting chemistry education in developing countries. Each year, there could be an education theme addressing chemistry issues in a selected geographical area covering groups of developing countries. Chemists Without Borders is one such platform that can be strengthened by the ACS to implement some of their educational programs. This non-profit organization mobilizes chemists to solve humanitarian issues worldwide with focus on water quality, medicines and vaccines, and chemical education (17). Chemists in the ACS international education sub-category can play a big role by actively collaborating with other associations and organizations that are promoting education in developing countries. For example, they can contribute to the UNESCO teaching and learning materials for its Global Project on Microscience Experiments in Chemistry (18). The ACS can also sponsor chemists to attend workshops on chemistry education and research in developing countries. For example, in 2010, there was a workshop to improve analytical chemistry in South Africa (19) but how many chemists from developed countries attended?

Figure 3. Laboratory competence assessment at Makerere University by Dr. Ephraim Govere from Pennsylvania State University. 34

The few quotes below sum up the importance of education and should inspire chemists to have a big influence in chemical education: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” by Nelson Mandela (20). “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” by Malcolm X (20). “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead.” by Aristotle (21). “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” by Derek Bok (22).

Help Provide More Food and Better Nutrition Worldwide, people’s needs can be viewed from the extended 8-level Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (23): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Biological and physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. Belongingness and love needs - work group, family, affection, relationships, etc. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc. Self-actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self-actualization.

While the needs of people in developed countries tend to fall within levels 4 to 8, those for people in the developing countries are concentrated in levels 1 and 2. Thus, in developing countries, the paramount needs are the biological and physiological plus safety needs, somewhat similar to those of the wild animals living in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, Kenya’s Masai Mara National Park, or South Africa’s Kruger National Park. In search of greener pastures, these animals cross the crocodile-infested Mai Mara River and thousands of them perish before reaching the land of abundant food. People from developing countries would sacrifice their safety (their lives) for biological and physiological needs. For example, the Zimbabweans would risk crossing the crocodile infested Limpopo River to cross into South Africa so they could find some menial job to feed their families in Zimbabwe. The Mexicans would risk dying from thirst, heat, hunger, or suffocating in windowless smuggling trailers on the long trek to 35

the USA border to go sneak into Texas or Arizona. Many Sub-Sahara people risk the harsh Sahara desert environment to reach the Mediterranean coast of Libya and for those who make it through the desert, they still risk capsizing and become shark’s dinner on their way to Europe. The driving forces behind this brutal migration are mainly biological and physiological plus safety needs. The foremost important biological and physiological needs are food and water. All living things need food and water to survive and avoid extinction. Yet developing countries are ravaged with hunger or protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency as evidenced by millions of undernourished, malnourished, starving people in developing countries. As a result, of the world’s 161 million stunted, 99 million underweight, and 51 million wasted five-year olds in 2013, more than half lived in Asia and over one third in Africa (24). Micronutrient deficiencies such as iron deficiency cause anemia and results in 20% of all maternal deaths; iodine deficiency is responsible for impaired cognitive development, stillbirths, spontaneous abortions, and congenital abnormalities; and Vitamin A deficiency causes night blindness and reduces the body’s resistance to disease (25). Developing countries in Asia and Africa are ripe with these deficiencies. There are many ways chemists can help alleviate the shortage of food in developing countries. Most of the developing countries are in the tropical and subtropical climatic regions. These regions are vibrant with terrestrial and aquatic living animals, insects and plants which are all sources of quality food. Besides wild animals, livestock ownership is very common in rural areas. In sub-Sahara Africa, almost every rural household rears animals. Chemists can lead in the chemical synthesis of feed for both animals and people at the village level. That includes establishing village level animal diagnostic procedures and interventions. Ownership and consumption of animal source food could be one major viable solution, especially to Sub-Saharan Africa which currently has the highest prevalence of malnutrition in the world (26). During my tour of African countries, I witnessed all sorts of insects, plants, and animals being gathered for food. One of the delicacy meals I ate in Mavingo, Zimbabwe was sadza nembeva (corn porridge with fire roasted and dried mice) and sadza neharurwa (corn porridge with stingy bug); sadza nemhasho (corn porridge with roasted grasshoppers) and sadza nemajuru (corn porridge with roasted termites). In fact, the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization (27) estimates that insects form part of the traditional diets of at least 2 billion people. These insects require little effort to manage; they are already prolific even without being managed. For example, without management, an African termite queen can lay one egg every two seconds; thus 43,000 new termites per day from one queen (28). When I visited Northern Uganda in November 2014 to assess carbon and nitrogen input/output in different ecosystems, one farmer asked if America has a type of chemical scent that would attract termites to lure them away from crops (Figure 4). In Southern Zimbabwe, the people asked me ways to lure the termites into containers as a termite harvesting technique so they can enjoy their sadza nemajuru (Figure 5). Chemists can play a big role in coming up with a solution not only to harvest the termites but to make them grow even faster, bigger and more delicious for the Masvingo people. For the Northern Uganda people, chemists can try to come up 36

with solutions to lure termites away from fruit trees and food crops. Chemists can maximizing the indigenous resources in developing countries to alleviate hunger and protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency. For example, they can extract nutrients from indigenous resources and concentrate them for easy of storage and distribution. There is also room to come up with novel ideas to provide nutrients inputs for crop production. For example, after I realized that Zimbabwe and Zambia had a lot of igneous phosphate rocks, I thought of a novel idea to use the rock as a fertilizer (Figure 6). Normally it could take two tons of phosphoric acid to acidulate an ingenious phosphate rock to get one ton of single superphosphate fertilizer. With the help of international donors, I came up with a process that reduced the import of phosphate fertilizer by half simply by compacting the imported triple superphosphate with the non-soluble igneous phosphate rock to initiate dissolution of the rock and supply plant available phosphate (29, 30). Similar novel approaches can be taken to produce indigenous herbicides and pesticides from plant extracts and other mineral resources. These technologies derived even from basic chemistry can have great impact on food availability in developing countries.

Help Improve Human Health Developing countries have the highest incidences of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), sexually transmitted diseases, cholera, typhoid, acute respiratory diseases, and diarrheal diseases (9). These diseases are taking a big toll in terms of lives lost in developing countries. For example, while incidences of tuberculosis have been on a steep decline in developed countries, they are still prevalent in developing countries. WHO reported 10 million children were left without parents as result of their parents’ deaths from TB (31). With the prevalence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), deaths from TB are increasing especially in developing countries. For example, the TB incident rates in Africa and East Asia are 250.9 to 298.7 cases and 177.0 to 204.7 cases/100,000 pop, respectively, compared to overall world average rates of 123.7 to 133.9 cases/100,000 pop (31). Castañeda-Hernández and Rodriguez-Morales (p. 321) (32) identified lack of “access to reliable diagnostic tests, particularly those that allow to confirm species diagnostics as well to identify those isolates that are not fully susceptible to antimycobacterial first line drugs.” This is an example of the challenges chemists can address in developing countries. Another example is diarrhea, which is spread through contaminated water, food, or object. Worldwide, 2,195 children die mostly in developing countries from diarrhea every day, making it a more deadly than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined (33). Close to 90% of these deaths are attributed to poor water quality, sanitation and hygiene. Can chemists help reverse this trend? Yes, certainly! Chemists can play a big role through indigenous and conventional technologies that prevent or minimize bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms such as Rotavirus and Escherichia coli, which are the leading causes of diarrhea in developing countries (9). 37

Figure 4. Termites and their damage to maize crop in Northern Uganda.

38

Figure 5. Traditional way of harvesting termites (Photos A and B); they are eaten after roasting them (Photo C). 39

Figure 6. Novel Fertilizer Technology: Dorowa phosphate rock (DPR), Dorowa partially acidulated Rock (DPARP) and compacted Dorowa phosphate rock with triple superphosphate (DPR + TSP) compared to commercial single superphosphate (SSP). Not only do developing countries lead in deaths from communicable diseases, but also from non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic pulmonary disease. It is estimated that by 2020, seven out of every ten deaths in developing countries will be caused by non-communicable diseases (9). Chemist can play a big role in alleviating the burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in developing countries. Success against these noncommunicable diseases can be achieved by building chemistry training capacities of Universities so that they can produce more doctors and pharmacists and other health professionals. Chemistry is central to knowledge and skills of a nurse, doctor or pharmacist. Without a strong chemistry curriculum at high school and universities, developing countries cannot meet their healthcare human resources needs. Besides strengthening the capacity of healthcare givers in developing countries, chemists can maximize the great medicinal potential of the abundant flora and fauna in these countries to bring great relief to millions of people. For example Africa, which has the worst health related problems among all continents, is home to most diverse medicinal fauna and flora with great medicinal properties. In his book, “Medicinal plant research in Africa: pharmacology and 40

chemistry”, Kuete (34) enumerated the overabundance of medicinal properties of plants in Africa. Most notable were the antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. (35); antimalarial and antiprotozoal (36); and antidiabetes properties of African medicinal plants (37). For example, just in Uganda, Lamorde38 presented an inventory of 103 plant species used by traditional health practitioners (traditional African Chemists) to give hope to HIV/AIDS patients. Through research, chemists can work in collaboration with local traditional chemists and secular chemists and health providers in developing countries to prevent, minimize, and treat illnesses. They can also play a big role in developing technologies for self-diagnosis of common illnesses. Besides human health and food issues, there are other issues chemists can address to improve the lives of people in developing countries. During my visit and assessment of rural farming in Soddo Wolayta, Ethiopia, I realized that farmers were living together with their cows and other animals. In many parts of Africa, cow dung is used to paste the inside wall of huts to control biting insects such as bed bugs and coach roaches. However, the cow dung is smelly. In one of my studies, I found out that horseradish with a peroxide can significantly remove odors. Currently, some scientists in Zimbabwe are assessing the use of a powder made from the seeds of the Moringa Oleifera, commonly known as the drumstick or horseradish tree as a filter to purify water (39). In fact, Wagner and Nicell (40) used horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide as detoxification agent for phenolic compounds. There are many basic chemistry-based approaches and more advanced approaches such as green chemistry (41) that chemists can investigate to make the lives of people in developing countries worthwhile and meaningful.

Cultural Competence, a Pre-requisite for Chemists’ Role in Developing Countries Since developing countries already have an acute shortage of chemists, it means foreign chemists are needed to play major roles to meet the chemical education, food/nutrition and health needs of people living in developing countries. However, the success of these foreign chemists does not only depend on their chemical knowledge and skills, chemical technology and financial resources, motivation and good intentions, but most importantly on their cultural competence. Cultural competence is a pre-requisite for those chemists who want to play a role in developing countries. Thus being culturally competent is not only necessary but essential. Being culturally competent means possessing the values, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and attributes that will allow the chemist to work appropriately, respectfully, effectively and efficiently with individuals from different ethnic, racial, religious, geographic, or social groups. The following questions may help you determine if you are culturally competent to play role in developing countries. 1.

Are you aware of your personal biases, prejudices, and stereotypes about racial and ethnic groups different from yours? You should be aware. 41

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Biased, prejudiced, and stereotyped people judge others based on their racial, ethnic, social or other type of group memberships (42). Do you speak more than one language? You should learn at least one language substantially different from your own. Language affects the thought process and perceptions and provides a means for self-reflection. Greater language fluency is strongly associated with cultural competence (43). Do you consider your race and ethnicity superior to other races and ethnicities? You should not. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that there is a race or ethnicity that is superior to others. Do you have negative thoughts that come to your mind when you encounter a person from a different racial and ethnic group? You should not. If you do, what you need is to create close relationships across racial and ethnic lines. These relationships will reduce explicit and automatic expressions of racial bias (44). Do you prefer working with people from a specific race and ethnicity? You should not. The more diverse the scientific team, the greater is its impact and outcome because “people from demographically diverse backgrounds bring diverse perspectives that can be leveraged to obtain better task performance, compared with homogenous groups (45).” Do you have suspicions on behaviors of people from other racial and ethnic groups? You should not. As a scientist, cultural sensitivity should be guided by research-based evidence and by your self-awareness and cultural empathy. Self-awareness will reveal your stereotypes, assumptions, values, beliefs, prejudices and biases. Cultural empathy enables you to understand the experiences of people from culturally diverse backgrounds (46). Do you believe in a global community working collaboratively for the common good? You should. Research by Bote, Olmeda‐Gómez, and Moya‐Anegón (47) concluded that the more countries there are involved in the scientific collaboration, the greater the gain in impact. Do you advocate, encourage and serve as a role model in cultural competence? You should. International collaboration is growing exponentially (48). The more culturally competent the collaborating scientists are, the greater the gain in the scientific process, outcome, and impact.

The need for culturally competent chemists is greater than ever before if we are to build a global scientific village where every scientist’s voice can be a force to shape a world without cultural boundaries. It is the role of each chemist to foster a vibrant, peaceful, and understanding global scientific community through connections and partnerships. The individual chemist can only do so much by him/herself. To prepare a modern scientist in this global world, we need a revamp of the chemistry education curriculum especially at the University level. The current curriculum at most universities in developed countries as exemplified by programs at California Institute of Technology (49), University of California Berkeley (50), and The 42

Pennsylvania State University (51) in Table 3, may not give the chemists the knowledge, attitude, skills, aspiration and inspiration that chemists need to play a positive and effective role in developing countries. More specialization for those chemistry students who want a career in international development should be provided, and a cultural competency certification should be introduced. Chemists have the greatest potential to transform the lives of people in developing countries more than any other profession because chemistry is central to all life sciences and applies to everyday life. The role of chemists in developing countries is not an easy task. As pointed out by Abegaz (2016) (52), there are hurdles and challenges to carrying out chemistry education and research in developing countries. However, the globalization trend is molding the Earth’s 195 sovereign states into a global village and the chemists’ success, like that of any scientific group, will depend on the willingness to carry out collaborative efforts with other professionals from around the world (Govere, 2016) (53).

Conclusion The American Chemicals Society official acronym is ACS Chemistry for Life®. If we, chemists are indeed for life, we should play a significant role in improving the lives of all people, including those living in developing countries. We should not be satisfied when the majority of the world’s inhabitants are not benefiting from our research efforts and discoveries. We should maximize our chemists’ efforts and outcomes by ensuring that the resultant benefits are accessible and benefiting the greater majority of the world’s population. Those greater majority happened to live in impoverished nations. We have to come up with innovative ways to advance chemistry education from elementary to high school, and from undergraduate to graduate levels. We have to make such an education meaningful and useful so that it serves both the immediate and long-term needs of current and future generations. In developing countries, chemistry education should be rooted on meeting biological and physiological needs such as food, drinking water and medicines. Failure to solve the needs of developing countries is not only a professional immorality and gross intellectual negligence, but also self-defeating. The developing countries present a scientific green pasture for new ideas, knowledge, and discoveries that have great potential to benefit people in both developing and developed countries. Those who seek to play a role in developing countries should be culturally competent with a well-rounded professional training.

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Table 3. Examples of certified chemistry degrees at undergraduate and graduate level at selected Universities in USA Institute

Level

Major

California Institute of Technology

Undergraduate

Chemical Engineering • Biomolecular • Environmental • Process systems • Material Chemistry • Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics • Inorganic Chemistry • Organic Chemistry • Chemical Physics

University of California-Berkeley

The Pennsylvania State University

Graduate

• Organic Chemistry • Inorganic Chemistry • Chemical Biology • Biochemistry and Biophysics • Chemical Physics • Theoretical Chemistry

Undergraduate

• Chemistry (B.S.) • Chemistry (B.A.) • Chemical Engineering • Chemical Biology

Graduate

Physical Chemistry • analytical, • nuclear, • biophysical, and • theoretical chemistry Synthetic Chemistry • organic or inorganic chemistry Chemical Biology

Undergraduate

• Analytical Chemistry • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry • Biological Chemistry • Synthetic/Biological concentration • Chemical Education • Inorganic chemistry and Material • Organic and Synthetic chemistry

Graduate

• Analytical • Biological • Chemical Physics • Inorganic • Materials • Organometallic • Organic • Physical • Polymer Continued on next page.

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Table 3. (Continued). Examples of certified chemistry degrees at undergraduate and graduate level at selected Universities in USA Institute

Level

Major • Surface • Theoretical

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Sheet Number 18. https://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/NMNH/buginfo/ bugnos.htm (accessed June 27, 2017). Govere, E.; Chien, S.; Fox, R. Afric. J. Sci. Technol. 2005, 6, 15–26. Govere, E.; Chien, S.; Fox, R. African Crop Sci. J. 2003, 11, 235–243. World Health Organization [WHO]. 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control, Geneva: WHO, 2011. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44728/1/ 9789241564380_eng.pdf (accessed June 27, 2017). Castañeda-Hernández, D. M.; Rodriguez-Morales, A. J. Current Topics in Publ. Health 2013, 317–340. Liu, L.; Johnson, H. L.; Cousens, S.; Perin, J.; Scott, S.; Lawn, J. E.; Rudan, I.; Campbell, H.; Cibulskis, R.; Li, M. The Lancet 2012, 379, 2151–2161. Kuete, V., Medicinal Plant Research in Africa: Pharmacology and Chemistry; Elsevier, Ltd.: London, 2013. Ndhlala, A. R.; Amoo, S. O.; Ncube, B.; Moyo, M.; Nair, J. J.; Van Staden, J., Antibacterial, Antifungal, and Antiviral Activities of African Medicinal Plants. In Medicinal Plant Research in Africa: Pharmacology and Chemistry; Kuete, V., Ed.; Elsevier, Ltd.: London, 2013; Chapter 16, pp 621−659. Zofou, D., V. Kuete, and V. P. K. Titanji. Antimalarial and Other Antiprotozoal Products from African Medicinal Plants. In Medicinal Plant Research in Africa: Pharmacology and Chemistry; Elsevier, Ltd.: London, 2013; Chapter 17, pp 661−709. Ndip, R. N.; Tanih, N. F.; Kuete, V. Antidiabetes Activity of African Medicinal Plants. In Medicinal Plant Research in Africa: Pharmacology and Chemistry; Kuete, V., Ed.; Elsevier, Ltd.: London, 2013; Chapter 20, pp 753−786. Lamorde, M.; Tabuti, J. R.; Obua, C.; Kukunda-Byobona, C.; Lanyero, H.; Byakika-Kibwika, P.; Bbosa, G. S.; Lubega, A.; Ogwal-Okeng, J.; Ryan, M. J. Ethnopharmacol. 2010, 130, 43–53. Bafana, B.; Kharsany, Z. Zimbabwe: Researchers Developing New Ways to Purify Water; Inter-Press Service News Agency, March 24, 2009. http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/03/zimbabwe-researchers-developing-newways-to-purify-water/ (accessed June 27, 2017). Wagner, M.; Nicell, J. A. Water Res., 36, 4041–4052. Dhage, S. D.; Shisodiya, K. K. Int. Res. J. Pharm. 2013, 4, 1–4. Ford, T. E.; Tonander, G. R. Soc. Psychol. Q. 1998, 372–384. Fernandez, A.; Schillinger, D.; Grumbach, K.; Rosenthal, A.; Stewart, A. L.; Wang, F.; Pérez‐Stable, E. J. J. Gen. Intern. Med. 2004, 19, 167–174. Gulker, J. E.; Monteith, M. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2013, 39, 943–955. Richeson, J. A.; Sommers, S. R. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2016, 67, 439–463. Suthakaran, V. J. Multi. Couns. Devel. 2011, 39, 206–217. Bote, G.; Vicente, P.; Olmeda‐Gómez, C.; Moya‐Anegón, F. JASIST 2013, 64, 392–404. Shrivats, S. V.; Bhattacharya, S. Scientometrics 2014, 101, 1941–1954.

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49. California Institute of Technology. Undergraduate Admissions. http:// www.admissions.caltech.edu/content/options-majors (accessed June 27, 2017). 50. University of California Berkeley. Berkely College of Chemistry Undergraduate Degrees. http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/ugrad/degrees (accessed June 27, 2017). 51. The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Chemistry. http:// chem.psu.edu/grad and http://chem.psu.edu/undergrad (accessed June 27, 2017). 52. Abegaz, B. Nat. Chem. 2016, 8, 518–522. 53. Govere, E. M., The Global Science Era. The Scientist, May 1, 2016.http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45858/title/TheGlobal-Science-Era/ (accessed June 27, 2017).

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Chapter 4

History and Mission of AIDSfreeAFRICA Rolande Hodel* AIDSfreeAFRICA, 125 S. Highland Ave. #3-B1, Ossining, New York 10562, United States *E-mail: [email protected]. Phone: 914-923-2073.

AIDSfreeAFRICA is a non-profit organization that is committed to supporting the nation of Cameroon in its efforts to expand local pharmaceutical drug production, while also helping to solve other health-related problems. This book chapter will cover the history of AIDSfreeAFRICA, while including potential solutions for technical and logistical challenges to working in Cameroon. In an effort to increase access to basic drugs, AIDSfreeAFRICA has been providing consultation services and networking assistance to various pharmaceutical companies in Cameroon and has partnered with health centers throughout the country to ensure the availability of medications and vitamins. The organization recently launched a Malaria Free Zone project, which aims to prevent new malaria infections in Cameroon. AIDSfreeAFRICA is also in the process of setting up a quality control laboratory to ensure drug and water safety. Inspired by the success of similar projects in other countries, AIDSfreeAFRICA is committed to the vision of Cameroon producing enough pharmaceuticals to supply the needs of its population.

The Beginning of AIDSfreeAFRICA The inspiration for AIDSfreeAFRICA came to Dr. Rolande Hodel as she listened to the story of how the president of Brazil and local Brazilian pharmaceutical companies curtailed the HIV/AIDS pandemic in their country by producing vast amounts of HIV/AIDS drugs locally. At the time, Brazil had a fully established pharmaceutical industry; however, patents protected the few available HIV drugs. The leaders of Brazil argued that HIV/AIDS was © 2017 American Chemical Society

an emergency that warranted the breaking of these patents and made the bold decision to begin producing antiretroviral drugs. As a result, Brazil, as of today, is the only developing country that beat destiny and successfully controlled the AIDS crisis. Currently, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Brazil’s adult population is approximately 0.6%, which is similar to the rate in the United States (1). By 2003, the year of hearing of Brazil’s victory over HIV/AIDS, Dr. Hodel set her sights on empowering African countries to meet their most critical health needs, including pharmaceutical drug production. Together, Dr. Hodel and Dr. Elliott Bay founded the non-profit organization they named AIDSfreeAFRICA. Further assistance came when chemists Bill Suits and Dr. Richard Goodman joined the board of directors, leading the efforts supported by countless volunteers and donors. A team of lawyers from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, LLP offered their pro bono service to help craft the legal papers and secured the IRS approval for AIDSfreeAFRICA to be recognized as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in New York and a few years later also in Cameroon. Financial assistance came from friends and family as well as by grant-giving foundations, such as the Rinehart Foundation and the New Tudor Foundation. With all the necessary components in place, AIDSfreeAFRICA was ready to help to improve health by focusing on drug production and drug access. The remaining question was which country to choose. Networking efforts resulted in invitations to Kenya and Cameroon. While Kenya is an interesting country and Dr. Hodel enjoyed a very educational four weeks, it was Cameroon that offered her the collaboration she needed to get started. The organizational goal of AIDSfreeAFRICA was originally to support Cameroon in setting up factories for the production of antiretroviral drugs, scale up production of pharmaceuticals, and formulate and repackage drugs for distribution throughout the country. However, much of the underlying infrastructure needed for such an endeavor did not exist and had to be put in place first. In 2002, the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis (TB) had been founded with the goal of raising donor money that would pay for AIDS, Malaria and TB drugs (2). Since it is impossible to compete by producing a product that someone else offers for free, AIDSfreeAFRICA’s focus shifted from consulting on the production of HIV/AIDS drugs to the pharmaceutical production of generic drugs, which is what Cameroonians said they needed most. In the years to follow, AIDSfreeAFRICA provided consultation services for seven start-up companies working closely with teams of local people, sourcing equipment and offering know-how. Additionally, AIDSfreeAFRICA provided networking expertise by reaching out to organizations from all over the world to find solutions, materials, and equipment. Since then, the organization’s reach again widened to include drug access/import, prevention of malaria, as well as health & Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Over the years, one thing never changed, and that is the location. AIDSfreeAFRICA has worked exclusively in Cameroon. As the health needs of the Cameroonian people change, the role of AIDSfreeAFRICA will continue to evolve. At the present time, AIDSfreeAFRICA is focused on building a laboratory that will offer reimbursable quality control services for pharmaceutical drugs and for water. 50

AIDSfreeAFRICA: Organizational Structure and Funding Sources AIDSfreeAFRICA is a non-profit organization and is tax-exempt on the federal and state level. The organization is also recognized in Cameroon as a non-governmental organization, specifically on the level of an “association”. Non-profit organizations are governed according to federal and state laws. Thereby, the New York State Office of the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau requires that audited financials, including disclosure of salaries and contact information of major donors, are filed. The law specifies that an organization must have policies in place such as whistle-blower policy, conflict of interest documentation, document retention policy, volunteer waiver form, bylaws, and dissolution directives. AIDSfreeAFRICA’S organizational structure consists of five board members and an advisory board of four, which includes two former board members. During the 11 years of its existence board members and advisors to the board have joined and later retired or moved on. However, each board member or advisor has left his or her imprint on the organization. Co-founders Drs. Rolande Hodel and Elliot Bay serve as the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the board of directors. Dr. Hodel works closely with the Cameroonian people and government. Twice a year she visits Cameroon, sometimes accompanied by volunteers from the USA, to deal with the majority of hands-on tasks. Dr. Elliot Bay, who also serves as the treasurer of the organization, is spearheading the building of a new quality control laboratory in Cameroon, which will be discussed later in this chapter. Additionally, Dr. Bay procures the laboratory reagents and equipment needed for drug production in Cameroon and writes all standard operating procedures that dictate how each manufacturing or testing process should be performed. The addition of a medical doctor to the board of directors became necessary as the original focus of the organization grew from producing HIV/AIDS drugs to pharmaceutical drug production and medical support. Dr. Maimunat Ahmadu, a Nigerian native, provides medical advice on new medical campaigns and provides legal and cultural advice on how best to implement programs into Cameroon while at the same time respecting local customs and cultural sensibilities. Maurice Kenny and Sherri Hutchinson, chair the Governance & Nominating Committee and the Marketing and Communications Committee, respectively. Maurice has helped to establish the governance structure of the organization and ensures that all required documents, such as conflict of interest agreements, are up-to-date. Importantly, Maurice has also been instrumental in recruiting new board members and volunteers by setting up successful recruiting campaigns on LinkedIn and Volunteer Match. Sherri is in charge of all public relations and marketing tasks for the organization, including setting up donation drives and maintaining AIDSfreeAFRICA’s website. Also volunteering as a part of the marketing committee is Atsushi Toda, who uses Google AdWords to increase website traffic and donations. This can, in part, be accomplished thanks to a generous donation of $10,000 a month from Google for advertisements. Most recently, Mary Mase joined AIDSfreeAFRICA as secretary. Mary is now in charge of communicating with volunteers and responding to any inquiries about 51

the organization. Additionally, Mary brings her expertise as a skilled grant writer to AIDSfreeAFRICA. A non-profit organization cannot exist without volunteers. AIDSfreeAFRICA’s mission speaks to people and has attracted a steady flow of volunteers in the USA as well as in Cameroon. Volunteers spread the word about the organization, bring donations, and help with the packing and shipping of donations to Cameroon. Each year, AIDSfreeAFRICA ships a 40-foot ocean container with two tons of donated medical, laboratory, office and household supplies. Additionally, AIDSfreeAFRICA volunteers assist with writing, design and maintain the organization’s web site, help to maintain social media accounts, design flyers, maintain a variety databases, and offer their opinion. The latter is very important. Each individual has a unique view of the world. These views are refreshing and contribute to the success of AIDSfreeAFRICA. It is an art to understand each volunteer’s strengths and weaknesses and to be able to tailor individual jobs to harness the gifts the volunteer brings and to keep him or her interested and satisfied. Financial donors are the foundation of AIDSfreeAFRICA, and funding comes from five sources: private donors, a federal employee donation program, grants and corporate donations, in-kind donations and lastly, program income. AIDSfreeARICA’S programs in Cameroon, such as the revolving drug funds, which will be discussed later in this chapter, are designed to generate enough income to cover the cost of running the program. Since the programs create value for the participants in Cameroon, it is natural to want to have a stake in the program. There has been a steady rise in program income, which makes a convincing argument that the programs AIDSfreeAFRICA offer are valued, appreciated and successful.

Solving the Technical and Logistical Challenges to Providing Humanitarian Aid to Cameroon Lack of Infrastructure Anyone who has traveled to a developing country can appreciate the impact that poor infrastructure, such as the lack of stable electricity, high-speed internet connection, roads, refrigeration, and water can have on everyday life. Any task at hand will become more cumbersome since before accomplishing the goal numerous other problems will arise and get in the way. As each new issue is solved, more problems become evident. In real life, it feels like going one step ahead and three steps back. A major project of AIDSfreeAFRICA in 2008 was to begin large-scale production of an analytical reagent used in HIV diagnosis. The project came together because of what Dr. Hodel observed when she had first arrived in Cameroon. Dr. Hodel attended medical meetings, hospital rounds in the AIDS wards and community AIDS meetings, and saw the poorly equipped rural clinics. She kept asking: “What do you have that works? What is it that is missing that if you had it would make a pivotal impact? What is it that could impede the solution or cause the project to fail? Where is the bottleneck?” Learning that the 52

first line of treatment for HIV/AIDS was free to the patients, Dr. Hodel asked to see the pharmacy. To her amazement, the pharmacy was empty, except for a few blisters with Paracetamol (Tylenol) and a box of antibiotics. However, a sizable stock of AIDS drugs remained untouched. The explanation that followed had an epic impact in AIDSfreeAFRICA’s future work. The HIV/AIDS drugs were not being used because patients were too sick with other untreated illnesses to become a candidate for antiretroviral treatment. In 2005, the available AIDS drugs still had severe side effects, and a patient had to be in good health to tolerate the drugs. However, the doctors could not cure these other infections because they lacked even the most basic antibiotics, antifungals and IV fluids needed. The second discovery came when a medical doctor, pointing at the AIDS drugs, said, “free is not free”. He meant that the donors pay for the drugs and that at some point the donors may get tired of giving. Furthermore, the AIDS drugs being free did not eliminate the patient’s entire financial burden. From a patient perspective, there were consultation fees, the cost for laboratory diagnostics, the cost for other drugs, and the cost of transportation, which in a developing country is significant. While studying these fees and costs, Dr. Hodel learned that the most expensive medical service was a laboratory diagnostic test known as a CD4 count. The CD4 count, which is an indicator of how far HIV has progressed, is a must-have diagnostic for every new AIDS patient and must be repeated every three to six months. The CD4 test was expensive because the machine used to run the test requires a consumable solution, which at the time was still under patent protection. Additionally, the solution was shipped from a pharmaceutical company in the US and sold at prices that, although normal in the US, are not necessarily affordable for a developing country. Considering that this solution was comprised of 98% water, salts, buffer and an antimicrobial, it became obvious that this bottleneck could be eliminated and the prices could be brought down by local production. AIDSfreeAFRICA would produce the solution, perform quality assurance testing, and then sell it in Cameroon under the name of Diamond Pharmaceuticals. Diamond Pharmaceuticals was a startup company AIDSfreeAFRICA had been consulting with at that time for a three-year period. Successful reagent production would give the Cameroonians an unprecedented sense of pride in the independence that comes from being able to produce their own pharmaceuticals. Production of the analytical reagent required six chemicals, distilled water, a pH meter, and a few employees. The chemicals were procured from the US and Nigeria, and AIDSfreeAFRICA hired four Cameroonians with a background in chemistry. Securing distilled water proved to be the most significant problem. During the initial stages of production, Dr. Hodel realized that the only source of distilled water at the facility in Mutengene, a village in the South West Region of Cameroon, was down and awaiting repair. The burners of the distillation equipment had burned out, and although this is a routine breakdown and could be repaired locally, no one at the plant had taken action. It was clear to Dr. Hodel that the distiller would not be fixed in the limited time of her visit to Cameroon. Working in Cameroon one has to build connections and have backup plans for each task ahead – usually more than one backup plan. Dr. Hodel made a call and instructed a technician she knew at the government hospital in the town of 53

Bamenda to secure fifty liters of distilled water from the hospital’s distillery. However, that left Dr. Hodel with one small problem: this hospital was an eight-hour bus ride from the site of production. The infrastructure shortcomings were eventually overcome, but the reagent production ultimately failed because of a lack of collaborative efforts. Successful execution of a project such as this would require a team of individuals with expertise in production, quality control, and sales to come together. Dr. Hodel learned that collaborations are not welcome and that Cameroon professionals eye each other with suspicion. The above-mentioned story is a prime example of what one hoping to establish a humanitarian organization in Cameroon may face. One should keep in mind that commonplace resources may not be readily available in Cameroon, and one has to do one’s best to plan and source these items ahead of time. However, advanced planning will not always ensure smooth operation. Fast thinking and detailed knowledge of local circumstances and habits are crucial. Planning the details of a project while sitting in an office in the United States will necessarily prove unrealistic. Who in the US would imagine that the public transport system in Cameroon does not run following a timetable? How then, does it work, one may ask. To travel, people go to certain places called “bus parks”. Certain parks may offer busses going to certain destinations. Since there is no set schedule it is best to ask the locals who know because of experience. If a bus is available, which is not always the case, one can buy a ticket. However, the bus will depart only once the last seat in the bus has been filled, and this can take hours. Often circumstances arise, i.e. the bus never arrives since it broke down on the way to the car park, or heavy rain causes people to abandon their travel plans which mean the bus never fills up and thus will not leave the park. One solution is to plan travel with plenty of time. However, that also means once you arrive at your location none of the people you expect to meet are there because they want to make sure you arrived before they bother to show up. Thus, you wait another couple of hours until everyone will have been summoned to appear at the meeting. In Cameroon patience is gold. Governmental/Bureaucratic Barriers to Implementing Changes and Opening New Facilities The World Bank’s list of Ease of Doing Business lists Cameroon as 166 out of 190, just ahead and thus slightly better than Sudan (168) and Nigeria (169) (3). However, AIDSfreeAFRICA has been fortunate to enjoy a preferred status, although this status was not communicated at first. Overall AIDSfreeAFRICA has found the Cameroon government, the U.S. Embassy in Cameroon, and the Cameroon Embassy in the U.S. are all very helpful, welcoming and relatively easy to work with. The business development department of the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, introduced Dr. Hodel to the Ministry of Public Health during a meeting with all 13 heads of departments from the Ministry of Public Health. This meeting was followed by the signing of a collaboration agreement written by the technical advisor of the Department for International Collaborations of the Ministry of Public Health. This document laid down what AIDSfreeAFRICA 54

would be working on and also specified what the organization is not allowed to do. For the eleven years of its existence, this document has guided all of AIDSfreeAFRICA projects. Cameroon’s Prime Minister, H.E. Philemon Yang has personally taken great interest in AIDSfreeAFRICA and ordered the organization to be classified as top priority. He makes time and arranges for opportunities to meet AIDSfreeAFRICA’S collaborators and has offered protection in the case of emergency. Interestingly, it came to light that this preferred status has its origin in the way AIDSfreeAFRICA conducts business in Cameroon. Unlike most non-profit organizations AIDSfreeAFRICA has not built its own headquarters and has not attempted to build its own factory, school or hospital. Instead, the organization’s mantra is to “support local people to succeed with their projects,” with the only limitation being that it fits AIDSfreeAFRICA’s mission and vision. As was pointed out to Dr. Hodel, most foreign foundations operating in Cameroon pull money (program income) out of the country to pay for the high salaries of staff working in their home country, such as the US. As a case in point, when Dr. Hodel mentioned to the prime minister that Cameroon has millions of dollars left untouched in approved project funding Prime Minister Yang moved mountains to enable Dr. Hodel to help. AIDSfreeAFRICA had written a proposal to help reprogram Global Fund money to get authorization for unused funds to be utilized for the purchase of HIV drugs. Prime Minister Yang ordered the reluctant Minister of Public Health to schedule a meeting on the issue. For the next two years, Dr. Hodel frequently encountered suspicions about her motives. The breakthrough came with a letter from the prime minister directing everyone to come on board and the Minister of Public Health overcoming his distrust. It took two years of persistence and hard work of cajoling everyone into working together. Success came when the Global Fund approved funding specifically to buy HIV drugs valued at 2 million dollars. Before this funding was awarded, HIV drugs had been intermittently unavailable. For years, approximately 79,000 people taking antiretroviral drugs had their treatment interrupted since Global Fund money always fell short of paying for everyone for the entire period of the grant, which is twelve months. Treatment interruptions can give rise to resistant HIV strains that are the cause of premature death and need to be avoided at all costs. The two million dollars worth of HIV drugs will go a long way to fill the gaps. AIDSfreeAFRICA has offered to help the Cameroonian government again when the reserves run low. In addition to working with the various ministries and government offices in Yaoundé, AIDSfreeAFRICA also works with local government offices, such as the various delegations for health, health district officers, directors of hospitals, government and private universities, pharmacies, and government-run drug distribution agencies called Special Drug Funds. A project that required the collaboration of local government offices, hospitals and doctor offices, to name a few, came together when the Belgian-based pharmaceutical company called Tibotec contacted AIDSfreeAFRICA for its expertise. Tibotec, a subsidiary of the US-based Johnson & Johnson, asked AIDSfreeAFRICA to register and market their antifungal drug indicated for treating oral thrush, a fungal infection of the mouth and esophagus, commonly 55

found in patients with HIV/AIDS. It took Tibotec a staggering five years to register the drug in neighboring Nigeria, but it took AIDSfreeAFRICA “only” eighteen months to register the drug in Cameroon. However, it took another six months for the responsible office to print the license for import and sales to AIDSfreeAFRICA. It can be assumed that the office printer was out of ink and ordering and receiving a new cartridge may very well take six months. To accomplish the registration, Dr. Hodel reached out for support to everyone from Prime Minister Philemon Yang down to the local pharmacist. Now Miconazole is distributed through Laborex, a large well-organized for-profit drug distribution company in Cameroon. One significant challenge of working with the government is that people holding key government positions are transferred frequently, and guidelines are just as transient. Additionally, new orders and regulations can be imposed at any time and without notice. Therefore, to successfully operate an organization in Cameroon, it is necessary to stay flexible, up to date and expect changes. Need for Individuals with Specialized Laboratory/Educational Training Attempts by Cameroonians to start drug production are happening with mixed success. Of the seven startup companies AIDSfreeAFRICA had the privilege to consult with and support, the majority did not succeed and the few still trying are doing so with great difficulty. It is AIDSfreeAFRICA’s board of directors’ opinion that to establish lasting successful pharmaceutical drug production, the underlying infrastructure that is being taken for granted by their pharmaceutical companies in industrialized countries also has to be implemented. One such support that a successful pharmaceutical industry relies on is the adequate supply of skilled workers that specialize in and are experienced in the chemistry laboratory setting. The foremost complaint from people attempting to start production is the need for senior managers familiar with pharmaceutical production, supply chain management, import and quality control. These senior managers must also have experience in managing large departments. As a member of the American Chemical Society and Chemists Without Borders, Dr. Hodel constantly lobbies the industry to contribute generously to AIDSfreeAFRICA’s efforts. This has resulted in the visit of a representative from Hoffmann-La Roche to Cameroon to discuss the possibility of a technology transfer for the production of an AIDS drug. Unfortunately, the company had too many prerequisites and was not able to meet the people on their level and to bring them up from where they were to where Hoffmann-La Roche needed them to be. This is a very important issue in international collaborations, which results in many good projects never making it past the intention. We do not expect a baby to start walking before it goes through a period of crawling. Any industrialization in a developing country will have to go through all the stages of development in order to succeed. Patience is the golden key. AIDSfreeAFRICA has leveraged its own expectations and is helping out where possible. AIDSfreeAFRICA started a successful campaign to distribute donated copies of the Merck Index, which is an encyclopedia of chemicals, drugs and biological molecules, to universities and individuals in Cameroon engaged in 56

drug production. This effort later mushroomed into AIDSfreeAFRICA sending forty-foot ocean containers filled with laboratory and hospital equipment and supplies to various individuals and institutions in Cameroon. Additionally, Dr. Hodel routinely discusses with university professors the availability of reagents and supplies and the items most needed to foster scientific teaching and collaboration in Cameroon. AIDSfreeAFRICA was awarded a donation of a professor’s entire scientific library, which, once it arrived in Cameroon, caused the available shelf space to overflow. The recipient, the University of Bamenda in Bambili in the North West Region of Cameroon, obliged by happily creating more shelf space. Generous donations of chemistry laboratory glassware is being given by schools such as Westchester Community College, City University of New York, Queens College, and St. John’s University and are also being made by high school and university teaching laboratories. A non-profit organization in New Jersey, USA called “S2S” which stands for “Students to Science” donated their excess laboratory equipment, which once packed for shipping, filled five large crates and was estimated to be valued at a quarter of a million dollars. One of the companies in Cameroon that was producing drugs at the time had asked for a High Pressure Liquid Chromatography machine to help with the bottlenecks in quality control, which slowed down the distribution of the produced drugs to the public. With the donation from “S2S” AIDSfreeAFRICA delivered not one, but four of these instruments plus spare parts. The company gladly paid for the transport costs. Additionally, AIDSfreeAFRICA volunteers and board members provide hands-on instructions or standard operating procedures on chemistry techniques whenever new reagent production begins or new testing procedures are introduced.

How AIDSfreeAFRICA Operates in Cameroon AIDSfreeAFRICA and Drug Funds The only government agency that procures essential drugs and exclusively all AIDS drugs in Cameroon is called Centrale Nationale d’Approvisionnement en Médicaments Essentiels (CENAME), which translates to English as National Center for the Supply of Essential Medicines. Subunits of CENAME, designated special funds, are named according to their location. For example, two such special funds are the North West Special Fund or the South West Special Fund. CENAME distributes a limited selection of approved essential drugs, which it subsidizes. Recipients of these drugs are government health facilities, church mission hospitals, approved HIV/AIDS treatment centers and university clinics that purchase these drugs via tender. This model of making drugs available only to certain types of health care providers’ forces private hospitals to buy drugs from the private market. Purchasing drugs from the private market is much more expensive, and small clinics do not have the capital to stock the variety of drugs needed on a daily basis. To avoid financial loss, a pharmacist will keep the stock of drugs low to avoid having to discard any expired products. To lower the cost, drugs are bought on the black market, which flourishes in Cameroon. Black markets are also frequented 57

by individuals who self-prescribe and self-medicate. The black market seller who has no formal education or license to dispense these prescription drugs often advises the customer on what to take and how to dose the medicine. Drugs are relatively cheap in Cameroon; however, paying for the doctor and diagnosis is expensive and thus drives the black market. Privately run village health facilities and their personnel face additional obstacles, such as paying the high cost of transportation to and from the black market, if they are lucky enough to find transport. The revolving drug fund is AIDSfreeAFRICA’s response to this lack of access to drugs. A revolving drug fund works like this: AIDSfreeAFRICA donors give the initial amount of money needed that enables AIDSfreeAFRICA to buy a substantial amount of medicine, supplies, laboratory reagents and diagnostic tests. The acquired items are then given to a small rural clinic that has so far operated with few drugs and often no doctor. The clinic is then able to treat patients who pay for the service and treatment, and every week small amounts of money are deposited in a bank account controlled by AIDSfreeAFRICA. When the money in the bank reaches an agreed-upon level, AIDSfreeAFRICA takes the money and buys more drugs and supplies. The fund generates more money than what is required to keep the fund liquid. Thus, salaries can be paid more reliably, small improvements can be undertaken, and most importantly the patients come to a clinic where health providers can do more than just talk to them. AIDSfreeAFRICA’s first established revolving drug fund with the Cameroonian Christian Welfare Clinic in Limbe has shown remarkable success. The fund was established with the help of Alfred and Carole Schwedtner, members of US Servas International, an international peace organization in which Dr. Hodel has been an active member since 1989. Prior to the establishment of the revolving drug fund, the clinic saw very few patients. However, with the establishment of the fund, the number of patients has increased tenfold and the drug supply was utilized and paid for by the patients. In August 2010, a group of Cameroonians living in Maryland, USA came together to hear a proposal from AIDSfreeAFRICA to get involved in fundraising to establish additional revolving drug funds. The group agreed to focus on Mbengwi and Nkwen first. These two villages are still close to the large city of Bamenda, but in the future the group will venture further into the remote villages that are in desperate need of accessing medicine. Tibotec, the Belgium based pharmaceutical company mentioned earlier in this chapter, generously made the antifungal drug, Miconazole or MicMat, available. AIDSfreeAFRICA registered it at the Ministry of Public Health. MicMat, which is used to treat oral thrush, a painful condition affecting 25% of AIDS patients every year, was made available using a revolving drug fund. With the help of a generous grant from Tibotec, Dr. Hodel established a non-profit program selling the antifungal drug at cost. To accomplish this, AIDSfreeAFRICA hired four Cameroonians for the various aspects of the project. The employees included a sales manager, a medical delegate, a secretary, and a pharmacist who would conduct feasibility studies. The jobs were neither full time nor permanent, but they were an excellent opportunity for Cameroonians who had educated themselves, and would otherwise have to leave the country for employment. To 58

date, Miconazole is distributed through Laborex, a large well-organized privately owned drug distribution company in Cameroon. AIDSfreeAFRICA and Drug Production Diamond Pharmaceuticals AIDSfreeAFRICA’s primary mission is to support people in Cameroon to increase their pharmaceutical production capability. The first pharmaceutical start-up supported by AIDSfreeAFRICA was Diamond Pharmaceuticals. Construction of the building, which houses Diamond Pharmaceuticals, was funded by a grant by The New Tudor Foundation. In November 2005, AIDSfreeAFRICA met the investors of Diamond Pharmaceuticals and agreed to consult the group in how to succeed running pharmaceutical production of generic medicines. Since then, AIDSfreeAFRICA has been giving support in the form of expertise, technology and micro loans. However, drug production at Diamond Pharmaceuticals is currently on hold. Once they begin production AIDSfreeAFRICA will continue to offer logistical and financial assistance.

Genemark Pharmaceutical Productions In 2008, AIDSfreeAFRICA partnered with Genemark Pharmaceuticals, which is owned by Dr. Gisel Etame. Genemark, located in Douala, Cameroon’s industrial capital, has been producing malaria, cough and pain medication in the form of syrups. In 2010, Genemark added vitamins to their list of produced pharmaceuticals and began the process of producing oral tablets for malaria and to consult with the company on oral drug tablet production. The production of solid oral tablets was a big step for Cameroon; however, a pharmaceutical industry needs more than one player to become reality. Genemark’s biggest challenge is to produce drugs while adhering to international current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) standards. Implementing these standards retroactively is not an easy feat. Since the factory is running full capacity and has more product orders than it can produce, the owner is left with little incentive to divert time and money to implement cGMP. At this time it is obvious that nothing short of the government inspectors instituting regulatory rules and controls will force the issue. AIDSfreeAFRICA is offering support but can only do so when invited to act.

SIPP and Cameroon Baptist Convention The production of intravenous (IV) fluids has been taking place for years in Yaoundé and Mutengene, located in the Central Region and South West Region of Cameroon, respectively. One company, SIPP, has been supplementing the government’s tender of imported IV fluids with up to 10% of the market share. They made it known that they would love to expand production but cannot due 59

to the lack of capital. AIDSfreeAFRICA had considered collaborating with SIPP to produce urgently needed diagnostic reagents. Cinpharm, however, purchased SIPP before any such project materialized. Over the years, AIDSfreeAFRICA has formed an intense collaboration with the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC), a producer of sterile IV fluids, eye drops and ointments for internal use. More recently, they have also added drinking water/bottling capabilities to their core function. Thanks in part to Hoffmann-La Roche Technology Transfer Initiative specialist Luc Schnitzler’s visit, the main players in Cameroon’s pharmaceutical production came together. AIDSfreeAFRICA’s project to produce diagnostic reagents started at the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) facility in Mutengene. Over the years the moderator of the CBC (the highest manager) and the two pharmacists stayed involved in most of AIDSfreeAFRICA’s projects concerning drug production. When the organization expanded to include drug access, the CBC was included in consultations on what drug to import and which diagnostic was useful. The CBC was the main recipient of MicMat. The CBC was also the first and only place that agreed to hold a meeting inviting all Cameroonian people involved in drug production. The CBC was the first to evaluate a dipstick test for meningitis, which does not require a spinal tap and delivers highly accurate results in mere minutes as compared to the conventional test, which requires the culturing of spinal fluid and delivering results after days. By the time the results are available by the older method it may be too late to save the patient from grave harm and maybe death.

Cinpharm Cinpharm is a high-tech production facility owned and operated by Cameroonians that began drug production in 2011. The CEO, Mr. Celestin Tawamba, is generally known as the pasta king for his success producing pasta in Cameroon and exporting pasta throughout central Africa. When the factory runs well, Cinpharm produces antibiotics, antifungals, painkillers, IV fluids and other essential drugs, including IV fluids with high capacity output. Cinpharm partnered with AIDSfreeAFRICA in hopes of securing equipment, reliable cost efficient sources for raw materials and support with maintenance and troubleshooting. AIDSfreeAFRICA has also done its best to support Cinpharm’s efforts with cGMP training and by attracting professionals from the pharmaceutical industry to volunteer their time and expertise in Cameroon. During the early phases of production, Cinpharm hired and trained people to run the complex production: the equipment, water purification, clean air, intake, storage, warehouse, quality control and quality assurance labs, and so forth. AIDSfreeAFRICA was also instrumental in securing donations of analytical equipment and delivering it to Cinpharm. In exchange, Cinpharm donates their drugs to AIDSfreeAFRICA to support its revolving drug funds. A medical clinic in the rural village called Esu was the main beneficiary of Cinpharm drugs. Cinpharm is a miniature version of India’s drug giant Cipla. Designed without the particulars of Cameroon in mind, the company was doomed to fail. The cash flow was steeply negative. Cinpharm had been built on the outskirts 60

of Douala, the largest city in Cameroon. Douala is also a fast growing city and within a short time Cinpharm found itself in the midst of a lively neighborhood with markets and a large school around the corner. Cinpharm was crammed in, and besides lacking space, it also lacked access to clean water and voltage stabilized electricity. Cameroon, with its mountains and waterfalls, has plenty of hydro electricity, which it exports. However, for local consumption, electricity is expensive and its availability unpredictable. As mentioned before, skilled labor was a problem and so was the lack of mechanics and technicians who could troubleshoot and repair the unique equipment needed for pharmaceutical production. Repairs were especially problematic because the company proudly featured equipment never seen before in Cameroon. Challenges with supply chain management, difficulties in the Cameroon port with bringing goods into the country in a timely fashion and some external political/historical events, which caused the German Development Agency to delay payment of six million euro, brought Cinpharm to a grinding halt only 30 months after production had started. AIDSfreeAFRICA wrote a white paper on the situation of drug production and tried to convince Bill Gates to donate 10 million US dollars to buy the company and to run it as a vocational training center. Gates response was, “we have a training center in Ghana. We do not need another one.” The training center in Ghana is not near to Cameroon. Its activities are also limited to training regulatory issues and detecting counterfeit drugs, both topics of interest to US Pharmaceutical companies. At the time of the writing of this book, a Tunisian company bought Cinpharm and restarted production. We keep our fingers crossed for long-term and successful drug production.

AIDSfreeAFRICA’s Partnership with Health Centers In 2011, Mr. Polycarp Nji, in conjunction with AIDSfreeAFRICA, opened the Faith Health Center in his home village of Esu. AIDSfreeAFRICA has supported this project by working with the Cameroon government/Minister of Public Health and local health district officers to register the center. Additionally, AIDSfreeAFRICA has provided generic drugs and medical supplies to the Faith Health Center. More importantly, AIDSfreeAFRICA has helped by recruiting medical experts from other countries and by seeking the involvement of other international organizations. Locally, AIDSfreeAFRICA has supported the employment of nurses trained in one of many excellent schools training nurses. These schools are well known in the US. Visit the wards of any US hospital and you will find a nurse from Cameroon. Starting in June 2015, AIDSfreeAFRICA launched a new relationship with the Sirita Health Center in Ndop. Through a lucrative collaboration with Vitamin Angels, AIDSfreeAFRICA was able to donate essential vitamins to children aged 1 to 5 and lactating women in Ndop. In Ndop, Dr. Hodel also educates the local residents regarding malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other health-related topics. In addition, AIDSfreeAFRICA volunteers have, in the past, assisted the clinic with accounting and management duties to ensure that the clinic’s operations ran smoothly and effectively. 61

Current and Future Projects of AIDSfreeAFRICA Cameroon had been a German colony until the end of the First World War in 1919. It was then taken over by the English and later France. Today Cameroon prides itself as being the only other French/English bilingual country besides Canada. With a landmass just a little more than the size of California and a rapidly growing population of 22 million, Cameroon has been peaceful and was never involved in a civil war. Although called the Democratic Republic of Cameroon, the dictator Paul Biya, who is only the second president since Cameroon obtained independence in 1960, rules the country. Biya is holding onto power, changes the constitution at will and to his advantage and has suppressed the opposition party, which only once rose up in 1992 but was brutally squelched. The opposition leader persuaded the population that peace is better than war, but the English-speaking minority has been suffering ever since. Civil unrest started in November of 2016 and has so far forced AIDSfreeAFRICA to relocate its headquarters from Bamenda to Buea. Since the town of Buea is also in the English speaking part of the country, AIDSfreeAFRICA is currently establishing an office in the French speaking capital Yaoundé. The office happens to be a stone’s throw away from the US Embassy – a place whose importance Dr. Hodel understood only after she experienced criminal activities and threats against her life. The US Embassy’s mission is to protect their citizens abroad – and they did. The opportunity to relocate to Buea was made possible by a chance meeting with Dr. Nde Peter Fon, a Cameroonian surgeon who owns the Solidarity Health Foundation and Solidarity Health Clinic. The doctor offered AIDSfreeAFRICA space in the new wing of the hospital he was in the process of constructing. What makes this doctor so special? He does not worry about money. He does not ask for money. He knows it will come. His hospital is also the first of its kind where women do not die in childbirth. In Cameroon it is taken as a given that some maternal death is inevitable — not, however, in Dr. Nde’s clinic. He fights for each life, and if that means performing seven hours of surgery to stop the bleeding, he does it. “No maternal death in 2016” he proudly announced. However, sometimes a baby dies in the process. Dr. Nde cares deeply. He makes sure he is available in an emergency, and so is his wife, who runs the pharmacy and is in charge of international volunteers, interns and students. Malaria Free Zone Project in Littoral, Cameroon In 2015, the World Health Organization reported 1.1 million confirmed cases and 5.3 million estimated cases of malaria in Cameroon (4). In late 2015, AIDSFreeAFRICA along with the help of the Cameroonian people launched its Malaria Free Zone (MFZ) project in the Littoral region in the western portion of the country. The goal of this ongoing project is to provide Cameroonians with the tools and knowledge needed to slow or eliminate the spread of malaria in their communities. To this end, flyers were created explaining how malaria is transmitted, how to prevent the spread, and what individuals should do if they suspect they have contracted the disease. 62

The Cameroonian government has distributed new bed nets donated by the Global Fund, so previously used bed nets should now be more readily available. To create a mosquito free environment used bed nets are being permanently affixed to window frames. The netted window screenings in residential settings eliminate the need for individual bed nets, while screenings of business establishments would prevent patient, caregivers, patrons, and workers from contracting malaria while working or conducting business. In November 2015, AIDSFreeAFRICA implemented a mosquito-free environment at the Family Health Care center in Kompina, Littoral, Cameroon. In the months prior to the implementation of the Malaria Free Zone Project, the health center saw 30-60 new cases of malaria each month. Currently, data from the six months that followed the MFZ are too little to allow reasonable conclusions. Although the overall numbers of infections dropped, it could have been caused by seasonal changes. Cameroon has two major seasons, the dry season and the rainy season. Rain brings additional standing water, which is needed for the mosquito to breed and the larvae to hatch. Not all mosquitoes bite, nor do they all carry the malaria parasite. The male, noisy mosquitoes do not spread malaria. It is the female mosquito that bites humans to suck up a little blood, which is used to feed the offspring. The ensuing civil unrest has forced the MFZ program to be relocated. The project is starting anew in the rural villages close to the capital Yaoundé in the Central Region of Cameroon. Ensuring Drug Safety in Cameroon: Paper Analytical Device and Quality Control Laboratory Low-quality medications in the developing world are a major public health problem. The high cost of post-market testing and the lack of a global system for identifying substandard or fake pharmaceuticals both contribute to the above-mentioned problem. AIDSfreeAFRICA is currently spearheading two independent projects with a common goal of ensuring drug safety in Cameroon. In the long-term, data compiled from these projects should allow organizations to create a map of where standard or sub-standard drugs are commonly found. Knowing these statistics, once enough data have been collected, AIDSfreeAFRICA or other organizations can look into finding a solution to fix the problem spots. The pharmaceutical industry is paying much attention to counterfeit drugs. Non-profit organizations also focusing on detecting counterfeit drugs are likely to get attention and support.

Paper Analytical Device AIDSfreeAFRICA is currently working with Dr. Marya Lieberman from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana in collaboration with Chemists Without Borders to implement the paper analytical device (PAD) project in Cameroon. As a part of the PAD project, AIDSFfreeAFRICA will recruit faculty at colleges and universities in the US to perform analysis of pharmaceutical samples from Cameroon as a part of the university’s analytical chemistry courses. The 63

pharmaceutical/drug samples are given to AIDSfreeAFRICA by hospitals or the Cameroonian government. For instance, the Ministry of Public Health may provide drug samples in cases where the identity or quality of the drug is in question. In the US, the recruited faculty members would give hands-on training to teachers and students at colleges and universities on how to perform drug testing, and each university or college would decide on the best method to use depending on equipment availability. The universities or colleges would be responsible for purchasing disposable reagents, such as solvents, standards, and columns. Ideally, the testing of the pharmaceuticals would easily fit into three or less experiments in an undergraduate instrumental analysis course. Each testing site would receive enough samples for each student (or student team) and analytical standards to use for calibration. As a part of the class, the students would be trained to prepare the samples, carry out the necessary replicates, controls, and calibration checks, and to calculate their results correctly. The data would be prepared into final reports suitable for forwarding to medical regulatory authorities, and the reports from each testing site would be compiled for a complete view of how common fake or substandard pharmaceuticals are in a given area. To ensure that the test results would be useful, each lab would have to validate its analysis procedure using blind samples. Student analyses would have to meet high quality control/quality assurance standards, and samples of drugs that fail analysis would be re-analyzed in an independent laboratory. Support and mentoring by industrial analytical chemists would be valuable to many faculty members at small colleges who need help repairing instrumentation or optimizing the HPLC methods. Any samples deemed substandard would be re-analyzed by Professor Lieberman’s research group to confirm the student work, and reports would be filed with the appropriate medical regulatory authorities. The goal of AIDSfreeAFRICA is to start the PAD project on a relatively small scale, with approximately 10 faculty members over a two-year time period. This trial period will allow adjustments to be made to the logistics, analytical and quality assurance standard operating procedures and for modes of communication and feedback to be worked out. Once the program has been established in the US, the next step will be to implement the same in Cameroon, thus building capacity where it is needed.

Quality Control Laboratory Cameroonians have recently approached Dr. Hodel, to assist in analyzing pharmaceutical drugs for their potency, composition, and possible contaminants. Due to the lack of proper supply chain management, the “health” of a drug cannot be guaranteed. In addition, infrequent rumors of “faked drugs” entering the supply chain scare the population. Cameroon has to become self sufficient in analyzing drugs, and building a good quality control laboratory is paramount. Most recently, AIDSfreeAFRICA has worked out an agreement with the University in Bamenda to establish a laboratory capable of conducting analysis of drugs as well as water samples at the university. The quality control 64

laboratory is being designed and setup by Dr. Elliot Bay. AIDSfreeAFRICA is currently working to procure used analytical equipment for this laboratory. The organization, working alongside Chemists Without Borders, is also seeking to partner with universities and colleges in the US to acquire sample drugs for content analysis.

Great Things Can Be Accomplished in Cameroon Despite the technical and logistical challenges that go along with establishing and running an organization in Cameroon, there have been great local successes. One example of this is the work of Blaz Esomba. In 2010, Christopher Ekom, from the business development office of the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé, introduced Dr. Hodel to Blaz Essomba. At the time, Blaz was concerned about drug access, and Christopher knew AIDSfreeAFRICA was working on just that. Blaz had big plans and had turned them into reality by building a large two-story hospital, in Yaoundé that is named if after his wife, Maria Nissim. Maria, who is a nurse by training, manages the facility. Once open, the Maria Rosa Nissim Foundation Hospital had a dozen staff and housed patients recovering from a variety of surgeries, such as C-sections and tumor removal. The opening and success of this hospital shows that where there is will there is a way, and a poor country, such as Cameroon, can have a state-of-the-art hospital with modern equipment and capacity to do surgery and save pregnant women and their babies. With the help of AIDSfreeAFRICA, Cameroon will in the near future produce enough pharmaceuticals to supply the needs of its population.

References 1. 2. 3. 4.

Global Health Observatory Data Repository. http://apps.who.int/gho/data/ view.main.22500?lang=en (accessed May 30, 2017). Global Fund Overview. http://theglobalfund.org/en/overview// (accessed February 9, 2017). Doing Business Measuring Business Regulations. http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings. (accessed March 2, 2017). http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/ profile_cmr_en.pdf?ua=1 (accessed December 19, 2016).

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Chapter 5

Science Education Projects in Guatemala Regina M. Malczewski* *E-mail:

[email protected].

With the assistance of a grant from the American Chemical Society, private donations and logistical support from HELPS International, three teacher workshops have been developed and conducted in Guatemala over a 2.5 year period. Formats have been consistently hands-on and feedback has been positive. Although it is too early to verify long-term benefit, these efforts show the receptiveness of the audience, the challenge represented by teachers of minimal background, and the utility of simple and practical lessons for engaging educators and students at various levels.

Introduction Guatemala is a country of contrasts that has endured a brutal internal conflict and is facing many internal challenges. Education and equality are among the goals that will allow Guatemala to conquer its past and create its future. This chapter describes some efforts to improve teacher science education in Guatemala, with emphasis on the rural town of Santa Avelina, where the local language is Ixil and the people are of Mayan descent. Guatemala (Figure 1) has a young population (the largest segment is 0-14 yr) due to its high population growth rate (1). Although it is the largest country in Central America, the Guatemalan per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 50% of others in the region. Significant gains in GDP growth rate have been made since 2000, and poverty rates declined between 2000 and 2006, but in 2016, 59% of the population was living below the poverty line, with 23% subsisting in extreme poverty. More than half of the Guatemalan population is rural, and about 40% is indigenous Mayan. The latter has been and continues to be disproportionately impacted by political, health and developmental challenges. There are 23 officially recognized Indian dialects in Guatemala, but even in remote areas, children are learning Spanish, the official language (1, 2).

© 2017 American Chemical Society

Figure 1. Map of Guatemala showing Ixil Triangle. Courtesy of the Center for Environmental Studies and Biodiversity (CEAB), University of the Valley of Guatemala. When the Spanish conquered the Mayans in Guatemala in 1523 and again when Guatemala achieved its independence from Spain in 1821, pressure was placed on indigenous peoples to assimilate into the culture of the elite ruling class. The authoritarian government practiced exclusionary policies that promoted violence against the majority. During the 36-year civil war (1960-1996), 200,000 Guatemalans disappeared or were killed; 83% of these were Mayan (3). Over 400 massacres [defined as “collective murders associated with community destruction” in reference (3) (REMHI project). An even narrower definition: “collective murders with community destruction” results in a count of 422.] occurred during the war as part of the government’s policy to extinguish insurgency (4). Between March, 1982 and August, 1983, the Ixil triangle (where Santa Avelina is located, near San Juan Cotzal in Figure 1) was the nexus of the terror, where 70-90% of the local villages were destroyed and 5.5% of the population was killed. These actions have been officially labeled genocide (5). Many of the surviving women have struggled with economic hardships, increased responsibilities, and inter-family conflicts, in addition to grief and loss (4). Today it is not uncommon for Guatemalan children to leave school to help support their families, and girls on average attend less school than boys, who typically attend to the age of 11. Only 30% of indigenous girls attend secondary school, and these girls are the group most at-risk for chronic poverty (6). In 1981, during some of the worst years of the civil war, Steve Miller, CEO of Dillon Gage, visited the Ixil area in response to a government invitation to external 68

investors. Steve and Paul Townsend (a Guatemalan translator) co-founded HELPS International in 1984, based in Dallas, TX.Their initial efforts to help widows and provide dental care in Guatemala have expanded to include stove and water filter installations, agronomic support, medical clinics and educational assistance (7). The latter began when HELPS offered literacy classes in Santa Avelina, about 17 miles (1 hour’s drive) east of Nebaj; after great success, the elders of the village requested Miller open a school there. The William C. Botnan Experimental School was built in 1996 to house four grades (8). It has now grown to include classes from pre-K to grade 6. Many students who attend this school receive financial support to do so; the scholarship program run by HELPS has also extended to students who attend higher education outside Santa Avelina. The Botnan School is one of many in the network of private institutions that help address the scarcity of public schools, especially in rural areas (9). Part of the HELPS effort to maintain quality education at the Botnan School has been teacher in-service training; at two such workshops in 2016 and 2017, hands-on science was offered to Botnan educators as well as others in the area. In 2017, in response to an invitation from the University of Guatemala del Valle in Altiplano, an additional all-day teacher workshop was conducted for educators there.

Education in Guatemala Primary education in Guatemala is free and compulsory for ages 7-13, but public schools are scarce and school quality often poor in the mountainous areas of the country where indigenous people predominate. Many children do not complete the three years of “basico” secondary school, which is followed by “diversificado” or specialized education. There are also some vocational schools. Two million eligible Guatemalans do not attend school, and most of these are female. The literacy rate is overall 81.5 % (but is lower for girls), (1), and Indian populations attend school for about half the number of years that other groups do (2). Reported primary school attendance figures (based on the number of children eligible to attend) are often greater than 100% due to repeat students and under- or over-age children present in primary classes. For example, 2% of the students in 4th grade nationwide are 15 years old (the age at which one type of standard assessment testing is done), but only 33% of the 15 yr olds are in school by the last year of secondary instruction (when that age should be highly respresented) (10). Regular attendance is also an issue. Only 59.2% of Guatemalans complete secondary school (6). There are not many recent data available on the status of general science education in Guatemala, because there is little consistent national assessment, and Guatemala typically has not participated in international evaluations like TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), and PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) (11). Guatemala is currently making good progress in a “capacity building plan” to perform a PISA-like evaluation, however (10) , since assessment is believed to be helpful in identifying successful educational methods. Only 60% of Guatemalans speak Spanish, 69

the official language; the others speak one of 23 indigenous (mostly Mayan) languages (9). Especially in the lower grades, rural children are transitioning from instruction in an Indian language to lessons in Spanish, and the language capabilities of their teachers influence their success, in the classroom as well as on assessments (offered in Spanish). Few instructional materials, if any, are available in indigenous languages; some of the latter have only oral traditions. Guatemalan education overall is considered substandard (6), and a 2013 TERCE (Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study) assessment shows many deficiencies. As reported by the World Bank (2), “Educational achievement in Guatemala is among the worst in the Western Hemisphere, excepting Haiti...and low achievement may appear along with high inequality.” After the peace accords in 1996, reforms were initiated to increase funding, obtain greater participation in education, expand opportunities, and include Mayan culture and language in the curriculum, but these and other initiatives seem to have resulted in few changes in the classroom, although progress has been made. (12, 13). Of performance results obtained for 3rd and 6th grade reading, writing and mathematics in the 2013 TERCE, only 6th grade writing results were equivalent to the regional average; natural science scores for 6th grade (the only grade tested) were also well below the 50th percentile. Science questions tested knowledge in health (body structure and function), the diversity and characteristics of living beings, interactions between people and the environment, properties of matter and types of energy (14). Because detailed questionnaires were completed in parallel with performance assessments, factors with significant impacts on results are being teased from the test data. The first is financial; Guatemala spends 3% of its GDP on education, putting it 139th in the world (1). Classrooms are inadequately supplied, especially in the rural areas where the author visited. Public schools lack computers as well as wi-fi access. Students may drop out because their parents cannot afford school supplies, or they may be removed from school to contribute to family resources by working in the fields. Other factors impacting educational success for students include the availability of reading materials at home, parental education levels, and parental encouragement (15). School-related factors include teacher quality, especially in indigenous schools (16). A lack of highly trained educators (especially for technological topics) is also a problem; to teach in Guatemala in primary grades, one has only to complete the equivalent of high school. Just 30% of Guatemalan teachers have tertiary education (12), and teachers in indigenous schools may be less experienced (16). Some schools have multiple grades in one classroom (16). While in-service training is available, quality is not consistent, content may be more government news than teaching method-oriented, and one report says attendance is poor (17). Some data indicate that in-class effective instructional hours may also be much lower than the school calendar dictates, which is already below standards set in Asia and Europe (12). There is much evidence of the lower quality of indigenous public education compared to non-Mayan (16), although interestingly enough, at least one study shows that children attending Mayan “middle schools” (aged 11-18) scored higher in reading skills and mathematics than those attending non-Mayan schools, presumably because the feeling of 70

mastery obtained from achieving skills in two cultures (Mayan and Spanish) promotes more learning in general (18). The Guatemalan curriculum is not nationally cohesive, and is difficult to piece together from information provided by the Ministry of Education. Teaching methods are primarily lecture, using little inquiry and, in science, minimal if any hands-on (12). During the first workshop in Guatemala, the author was told by those in attendance as well as interpreters that many had never seen a thermometer of any kind in person, indicating the dearth of science-related supplies. The Botnan school has microscopes, but the instructions are missing. The digital weather station with internet access purchased for the school and set up during the first workshop was still not collecting data when the author returned a year later; the situation was corrected. The Botnan school, as a private school, is more fortunate than most public institutions relative to it supplies, and it has computer curriculum taught by a teacher dedicated to this subject. Organizing the supplies and maintaining instructions as well as equipment are separate issues, however.

The Need for Science Edcuation in Guatemala Based on 2012 data, a large portion of the research and development (R&D) in Guatemala occurs at academic institutions and that portion has been growing (19). The percentage of GDP used for R&D declined from 2007-2012 to less than 0.1% (versus 2.5% in the US), but a considerable amount of financial research support has been coming from outside the country, and the US is the most frequent collaborator for publications with Guatemalan authors. R&D employs only 50 researchers for every million inhabitants in Guatemala (versus 4000 in the US) (20). Of the eighty countries assessed by US News and World Report in its “Best Countries” study for 2017, Guatemala was rated #80 for Entrepreneurship, based on evaluations for innovation, legal framework, education and skilled labor force, transparent business practices, global connectivity and infrastructure. Labor force skills were rated a “0” (21). Guatemala ranked 15th out of the 19 Latin American countries in patent applications between 2009 and 2013 (20). These facts represent significant challenges to the development of high value science and technology in Guatemala, but there is also evidence of some progress: Guatemala exported over $211 MM of high technology products in 2014; these include aerospace materials, computers, pharmaceuticals, scientific instruments, and electrical machinery. This number has been showing steady and significant growth since 2006 (22). A 2006 study reported that over 70% of employers in Guatemala have insufficient skilled labor (23), so demand exists for those with motivation to stay in school and specialize. Furthermore, it has been determined that secondary schooling in Guatemala offers the advantage of a12.4% increase in earning potential over just completing primary, and 11.2% for tertiary over upper secondary (females usually seeing more) (23). The University of Guatemala del Valle has an emphasis on STEM (Science, Technoloogy, Enginnering and Math) 71

with training workshops offered intermittently (24), and in Guatemala City an industrial park called “The Tec” was completed in 2012, employing young people in computer jobs such as video game and special effect generation, and software development (25, 26). These examples show increased interest in STEM fields, and evidence that efforts are being made to promote education and employment in those areas. Guatemala’s top 10 exports in 2016 included pharmaceuticals (up almost 50% in the five-year period since 2011), petroleum, food oils, beverages, and plastics, all of which require chemists and engineers (27). Agricultural science is the second most-funded area of Guatemalan research and devlopment, and as an agriculture-based economy (13.6% of GDP employing 31% of the labor force (1)), Guatemala stands to gain substantially from better land use management. USAID says there is “tremendous potential” for growth in Guatemalan agriculture, and that it is recognized as “leader in non-traditional agriculture exports in Central America” (28). A focus on agronomy (including the in-country HELPS-based effort) will help Guatemala achieve food security and increased employment. Sustainable growth in Guatemala and the reduction of poverty depend on improved science and tehcnolgy education.

Project Objective and Goals The Year 1 project objective (2016) was to provide a high-quality in-service opportunity for all educators we could reach, so that teachers could immediately use their learnings to enrich and enhance science education in their classrooms. Goals were: 1) to successfully and safely conduct and discuss hands-on experiments on curriculum topics in a non-threatening atmosphere so that teachers gained confidence in doing them and saw value enough to commit to trying them, and 2) to obtain periodic reports from the school to find the teachers had used the experiments and the other tools given (weather station, supplies, and posters, for example) and determine what further assistance was needed to keep the program sustainable. The Year 2 objective in Santa Avelina (at the Botnan School) was to provide a clinic where selected experiments from the original set used in 2016 could be modified,re-taught and then practiced with audiences. The goals were to increase teacher familiarity with the material and overcome impediments to its use in the classroom, as evidenced by their documented intention to apply what they learned. The objective of the Altiplano workshop (Year 2) was to provide an hands-on training opportunity for educators that would provide ideas they could transfer relatively easily to their classrooms to enhance their science teaching. Goals were 1) acceptance of the experiments as relevant, motivating and enriching, and 2) feedback that teachers intended to do them with students.

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Project Implementation Year 1 (2016) at the Botnan School Hands-on experiments were developed for a 4.5-day workshop, with content based on the best information available about the Guatemalan curriculum; these were translated into Spanish, with a format like an experimental procedure. They dealt with basic chemistry, biology and physical science concepts; the list of all 27 are shown in Table 1, along with a correlation to grade level concepts shared afterward by the principal (Table 2). Experiments were also chosen to be relevant to everyday life; water and weather were expected to be of great interest, for example.Experiments explaining how to build and use crude weather-related instruments were included just to provide an alternative way to collect data that could then be compared to that acquired digitally on the AcuRite weather station that had been donated to the school.

Table 1. Experiments Written for Guatemalan Teacher Training (2016) Number

Title

Concept

1

Observations and Measurements

Observing, describing, units and sensitivity of measurements, quantitative and qualitative

2

Measurement with Time

Using thermometers to measure heat vs. time; graphing

3

Mixtures

Colors, following directions, mixtures (that are not reactions)

4

Separation of Colors of the Rainbow

thin layer chromatography; mixtures can be separated back out

5

Separation using a coffee filter

separation of all water-based colors using diffusion; art integration

6

States of Matter

7

Properties of Matter: Solubility and Reactivity

Dissolving baking soda in water (and recrystallizing) vs. reacting with vinegar

8

Polarity and Hydrophobicity

using treated sand, how materials repel water (nonpolar) or attract it (polar)

9

Density

differences in density of liquids (making a column)

10

Properties of Water: Surface Tension

Polarity of water and hydrogen bonding; Surface tension as a force caused by attraction of water molecules

11

Properties of Water: Acids and Bases

Testing of liquids with homemade cabbage juice indicator Continued on next page.

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Table 1. (Continued). Experiments Written for Guatemalan Teacher Training (2016) Number

Title

Concept

12

Purification of Water: Aeration and Sedimentation

Using a model “dirty water”, removal of volatile and dense contaminants

13

Purification of Water: Filtration and Distillation

Separation by filtration using different media, and distillation using beaker and pie pan

14

Energy Transformations

Solar energy, hand warmers, Potato clock (measuring temperature changes with warmers using an IR thermometer)

15

Anemometer

wind speed measurement using cups and pencils, straws (to compare to weather station)

16

Barometer

air pressure measured using a jar and balloon (to compare with weather station)

17

Hygrometer

humidity measured with hair, a board, plastic piece, dime (to compare with weather station)

18

Climate models

climate vs temperature; measuring temperatures of different compartments (land, water, air) in large jars

19

Air pressure

demonstrations of air pressure with water, paper and with the collapse of a soda (air pressure is lower than water pressure)

20

Bernoulli effect

low air pressure and high pressure areas are responsible for air movement

21

Marshmallows

how changes in pressure, volume and temperature are interrelated

22

Making Gas

how the ratio of reactants can affect reactants; measuring the outcome of reactions, making a gas from a solid and a liquid

23

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide displaces oxygen, is denser than oxygen

24

Light

Interactions with matter: reflection, refraction, absorption, transmission

25

Luminescence and Sunscreens

Fluorescence, phosphorescence, chemiluminescence, UV light, how sunscreens work (health)

26

Microbiology

Using gelatin to show bacteria and fungi are everywhere, some place more than others.

27

Glo-Germ and Hand-washing

Using a luminescent powder to demonstrate passing “germs” between people and from objects to people, and demonstrate good hand washing technique

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Table 2. Correlation of Curriculum and Experiments, by Grade (where information was made available) GRADE

Curriculum Concepts

2016 Experiment

pre K and K

(not provided)

Probably 1,3, 5

1

Five senses

Observations and Measurements (#1)

Colors/odors of materials

Observations and Measurements (1), and 3, 4, 5 (Mixtures, Rainbow separation, coffee filters)

3 states of matter

States of Matter (with water, #6)

states of matter

6

physical properties

1, 9 (density), 10 (surface tension of water)

moon phases, weather, Earth characteristics

weather station, (15-20,weatehr instruments, air pressure) climate models

cells

microscope, growing bacteria (26)

five senses

1

rain, snow, clouds

6 (states of matter)

water

6

recycling

12. 13 (purification of water)

3 states of matter

6, 22 (making a gas)

mass

9

energy

14 (energy transformations)

5

(not provided); scientific method, energy as stated in Reference (20)

14, throughout

6

physical changes

6

chemical changes

22, 11 (acids and bases)

Mass, thermal energy

2 (time and temperature)

properties

8, 10, 9, 23 (carbon dioxide)

reflection of light, etc.

24, 25 (light and luminescence)

Hygiene

27 (hand-washing)

2

3

4

General

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Introductory concepts like the structure and prevalence of chemicals and the electromagnetic spectrum, were given prior to each lesson as appropriate. Supplies were listed in detail in each procedure, and all were left behind or easily obtained locally. (An example of a procedure is provided in English in Appendix 1.) Lessons were printed out to give to teachers, with an agenda, vocabulary list and some Spanish language video resource links. A digital copy was also left behind with the computer teacher. A $1000 American Chemical Society (ACS) Global Innovation Grant, along with donations from churches and others local to the author were used to purchase supplies. The author self-funded travel and other arrangements made through HELPS International with the help of Cheryl Weeks-Rosten who runs the scholarship and in-service programs for the Botnan school. The author had been made aware of in-service opportunities through two earlier trips to Santa Avelina as part of a HELPS stove team. Besides Cheryl, the in-service team also included a US-based native Spanish speaker who did the written translations, helped with donations, and assisted with verbal translation during the workshop. The supplies were gathered and organized by experiment in large ZiplocTM bags which were divided up among four large suitcases,two of which were left behind. Delta Airlines gave the group two humanitarian exemptions for free bags (a non-profit can apply for these once per year). Perishables were purchased from a list given to local HELPS personnel in Guatemala. Attendees included 12 teachers from the Botnan school (grades pre-K to 6), educators from a nearby institute, and some teachers from a local public school for a total of 20, though not all were present the entire time. The lessons were presented with the assistance of three translators, two of whom were in-country, arranged by HELPS, and obtaining credit toward their five-year university program in Translation and Interpretation. Teaching was done from 8:30 in the morning to about 4 pm with short breaks morning and afternoon and an hour for lunch (provided for all attendees at the school). Supplies for each experiment (one at a time) were set on all four tables where the educators sat in groups and followed verbal instructions given by the author. The scientific method was heavily stressed throughout all presentations, and hypotheses were requested from the participants at every opportunity. At the end of the workshop, attendees were asked to fill out a feedback form; the collated results (responses and associated numbers) are given in English in Appendix 2. After the workshop, the supplies were reorganized into suitcases for storage. Many non-Botnan attendees requested supply donations or access to supplies; the Botnan principal told them arrangements could be made for supply loan-out by contacting her. A Botnan School teacher was placed in charge of the supplies. During the year between the two Santa Avelina workshops, communication with the Botnan School principal established that three of the experiments had been done in the classroom, some in more than one grade, but the bulk of the lessons had not be conducted with the children. The correlation grid was done to show the connection between subjects in the curriculum and the experiments; the decision was made to follow up with teaching clinics to increase teacher confidence levels rather than introduce new material the following year. 76

Year 2 (2017) The Botnan School Invitations were again extended to the local institute and nearby public schools to attend the workshop in January 2017. The week chosen for the workshop was 7 days later than in 2016, still during the break before the new school year starts. No other teachers outside the Botnan school participated, although they had indicated they would attend during the planning process; this was a disappointment. The workshop did not suffer, however, and in fact, the fewer, more familiar attendees may have allowed the Botnan educators to be comfortable taking risks, since they were asked to be much more involved. Six lessons were chosen from the 27 developed for 2016; some of these were combinations or modifications of theorginals. For example, experiments 3,4 and 5 were combined; the purple mixture made in Experiment 3 was concentrated, and instead of separation by thin-layer chormatography (Experiment 4), it was used for coffee filter analysis alongside Vis-a-VisTM pens (Experiment 5). The purple Visa-Vis pen does not separate into components, so comparison to the concentrated mixture provided evidence that similar colors from different sources can be made of different materials. Other eperiments were also changed to clarify concepts and/or expand on some themes (#22, for example.) Background and summary sections were also added to all the experiments re-taught in 2017; these had not been written up the first year (although they were discussed) to encourage listening and note-taking. Several of the lessons could be used in some form for multiple grade levels. Five days (8:30-4:30, with breaks as above) were structured so that each of the six lessons were done four times,all hands-on. The first time, the author taught the Botnan faculty; for the second, children of an appropriate grade level who lived nearby (off for the holidays) were recruited to participate with the author teaching. The third iteration involved a chosen teacher leading the lesson for an audience of Botnan faculty (and receiving critique afterward), and the last involved a selected educatorteaching volunteer children from a target grade level. The scientific method was stressed throughout. It was gratifying to see the teachers internalize the lessons and become more comfortable with the concepts. The children were shy but also warmed to the lessons; they apparently enjoyed the hands-on and all were given stickers (made from scratch, in Spanish) for their participation. The biggest challenge was the younger children (K-1 and perhaps beyond) who were not yet fluent in Spanish; their teachers could communicate in Ixil (the local dialect) but the translators could not. At the end of the workshop, teachers completed feedback forms as before; results are shown in Appendix 3.

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University of Guatemala del Valle at Altiplano Dr. Adrián Francisco Gil Méndez, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Humanities at the University of Guatemala del Valle (UVG) was an in-country contact for the 2016 ACS-funded workshop. He did not attend the program, but had contacts at the institute and met with the teaching team after the workshop was over, at which time he extended an invitation to give a similar workshop at the University. As the schedule was being planned for 2017, contact was made again, and arrangements were finalized for an all-day hands-on workshop for 30 teachers or teacher candidates (to be recruited and registered by UVG) at the Sololá campus after the Santa Avelina workshop was finished. The HELPS team from Sant Avelina (two translators, and several others) assisted the author with preparation and presentation; attending teachers were given a free lunch and the workshop was no cost. In the absence of grant money to cover the supply costs for this workshop, the author solicited and received donations to cover those. Teachers were organized into groups (of about 6) and the lessons were given in a manner similar to those at the Botnan school, using substantial emphasis on the scientific method. Time proved sufficient to teach just six lessons (an addiitonalone was shortened to a demo during lunch), but write-ups for all eight on the agenda were printed for the teachers in-country by HELPS. UVG was given the supplies to loan out or use for addtionaltraning sessions--or to use in any other way they saw fit. There were 18 male and 13 female teachers in attendance, and all were asked to complete evaluation forms; the collected data are presented in Appendix 4.

Project Outcome and Follow-Up The two most recent workshops were completed just months before this writing. A invitation to give additional workshops at the University over a longer period has been extended to the author; it has been also confimed that the supplies left behind at UVG are being utilized. Santa Avelina teachers are still intending to do activities as they reach the appropriate subject matter in their curriculum. Appendix 2 (Santa Avelina workshop, 2016) shows that 100% of the attendees were satisfied with the workshop teaching; 93% committed to using workshop materials in their classrooms (although as already indicated, by the following summer, only a few had actually done so.) Learning occurred across all topics, and the variety of esperiments allowed everyone to find concepts they truly enjoyed.As expected, reactions in the classroom indicated the teachers seemed to relate to experiments about water and weather most easily; much discussion centered around the phase transitions of water, and the water cycle (although there is no preference shown for these lessons in the documented feedback.). Purification of water was also stressed since there is no access to improved sanitation for 36% of the population, and waterborne disease is a major health risk (1). The experiment that focused on germs and proper hand-washing technique was also of great interest, but again this cannot be discerned from the 78

written feedback. Documented feedback shows no overwhelming preference for any particular lesson. Suggestions for improvement were wide-ranging and minor, so there were no glaring flaws. The reward for this activity is actually reading comments like the following: “It is very important to learn about results after each experiment. One day one of my daughters asked me why [a piece of] orange floated on water while a grape sank. I had no explanation--now I do.” The results of the Santa Avelina workshop in 2017 (Appendix 3) indicate that all teachers found it valuable to see the lessons taught to children AND to practice them in front of their peers. Learnings were again broad, and suggestions for improvement showed no obvious shortcoming that was feasible to fix given the format, time constraints and goals. Once more, all teachers showed intention to use workshop materials in their classes. Overall experience rankings (1-10; 10 highest) were higher than in 2016. UVG feedback (Appendix 4) shows the higher education level of the participants; they indicated METHOD/STRATEGY learnings in addition to topic-related ones. 96% of the attendees ranked the experience a 9 or 10 on a scale (worst to best) of 1 to 10. Every teacher intended to use their learnings in his/her classroom; “more time” was suggested in many different ways as a means of improvement. Sample sizes are small here, so results should not be over-interpreted, but these data indicate that for two different teaching populations (one rural and indigenous and the other more urban), the same types of practical hands-on science activities had significant value.

Conclusion Teacher training in a country like Guatemala does not have a guaranteed outcome. Teachers must see the value of what they have learned, and given the inconsistent levels of education and experience they possess, incorporation of new material requires risk-taking that not all will embrace. Not only did these workshops offer new lessons, practice in doing them, and the supplies needed to do so, but they also challenged educators (especially the indigenous ones) to consider modifying their teaching methods to include inquiry and student participation. The teachers indicated they found what they learned useful and practical and WOULD apply it with their students; they were encouraged to do so as soon as possible while memories and skills were fresh. These projects prove that with little money, much can be accomplished--or at least started-- toward improving science education in developing countries. Having an in-country connection and a base for logistical support has substantial impact on the probability of success. Language differences MUST be considered and honored; these will continue to be part of the challenge in Guatemala for years to come. Supply needs can be addressed more easily than can confidence deficits; patience and persistence are required. Rewards are great-- besides the potential benefit for the recipient students and teachers (and the country, longer-term), 79

those who provide services such as the ones described here come away with great respect for these people, admiration for their struggles, and hope for their future.

APPENDIX 1 Experiment 10: More Water Properties--Surface Tension Purpose: To show how water “sticks together” and how that special force (called “surface tension”) can be reduced. Safety: Wear safety glasses. Supplies (each group): -

one coin dropper bottle with water dropper bottle with 1% detergent paper towel

Procedure: 1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7.

Divide class into groups of four or five. Everyone should use the same side of the coin to start. Hold water dropper vertical; drop one drop at a time. Drop water onto the center of the coin from a short distance (don’t touch the dropper to the coin) and count the drops it takes for the water to overflow the edge. Record the number for each group. Dry the coin off. Turn over. Hold the dropper with soap vertically above the coin and drop one drop at a time as before. Count the drops it takes to overflow the coin. Record the number for each group. What do you notice? What happened?

Further work: Surface tension is also responsible for the movement of water up the stem of a plant. To see the effect of this, place blue or red food coloring into a small cup of water (for a fairly strong color), and place the stem of a cut white or light yellow flower in the water. Wait a week and observe. Work with WATER MOLECULES (models) 80

APPENDIX 2

81

82

APPENDIX 3

83

84

APPENDIX 4

85

86

87

References 1. 2. 3.

4.

5.

6. 7. 8. 9.

10.

11.

12.

13. 14.

15.

16. 17.

18.

The World Factbook: Guatemala. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/ the-world-factbook/geos/gt.html (accessed 3/19/17). The World Bank: Guatemala. http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/ guatemala/overview (accessed 3/19/17). Commission for Historical Clarification, The Memory of Silence.https:/ /www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/migrate/uploads/mos_en.pdf (accessed 3/19/17). REMHI Recovery of Historical Memory Project; The Official Report of the Human Rights Office, Archdiocese of Guatemala. Guatemala: Never again!; Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 1999; p 134. Guatemala Human Right Commission, Genocide in the Ixil Triangle. http://www.ghrc-usa.org/our-work/important-cases/genocide-cases/ genocide-in-the-ixil-triangle/ (accessed 3/19/17). State of Education in Guatemala. http://www.globaleducationfund.org/ guatemala/ (accessed 3/23/17). HELPS International Mission and History. https://helpsintl.org/about-us/ our-history/ (accessed 3/23/17). HELPS International Education. https://helpsintl.org/programs/education/ (accessed 3/23/17). Guatemala - Educational System—Overview, 2017. http:// education.stateuniversity.com/pages/567/Guatemala-EDUCATIONALSYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html (accessed 3/23/17). Huerta, L. C. PISA for Development Capacity Building Plan: Guatemala. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/ Guatemala%20CBP%20report_FINAL2.pdf (accessed 3/23/17). Ferrer, G. Educational Assessment Systems in Latin America: Current Practices and Future Challenges. http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/ Documents/Ferrer.pdf (accessed 3/23/17). Di Gropello, E. Barriers to Better Quality Education in Central America http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/423501468290154269/pdf/ 331960ENGLISH0Mar051641CA 3/23/17 (accessed 3/23/17). Poppema, M. Guatemala, Globalisation, Societies and Education 2009, 7, 383–408. Learning Acheivements: Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of theQuality of Education http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002439/ 243983e.pdf (accessed 3/23/17). Associated Factors: Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002439/ 243979e.pdf (accessed 3/23/17). McEwan, P. J.; Towbridge, M. Int. J. Educ. Dev. 2007, 27, 61–76. Avivara: Giving Hope to the Future through Education http://www.avivara.org/aboutguatemala/educationinguatemala.html (accessed 3/23/17). Falbo, T.; di Baessa, Y. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 2006, 12, 601–614. 88

19. Guatemala: Science, Technology and Innovation. http://uis.unesco.org/en/ country/gt?theme=science-technology-and-innovation (accessed 3/23/17). 20. UNESCO Science Report: Towards 2030; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. https://books.google.com/ books?id=SDHwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA185&lpg=PA185&dq=guatemala+ push+for+science+and+technology&source=bl&ots=AIQ3Ktihhb&sig= cleDKgQv6W-pPMiA2KDtl1elqA&hl=en&sa=X&ved= 0ahUKEwjk9tyPxdbSAhWp1IMKHUDMBawQ6AEIWjAQ#v= onepage&q=guatemala%20push%20for%20science%20and% 20technology&f=true (accessed 3/23/17). 21. Best Countries: Guatemala. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/ guatemala (accessed 3/23/17). 22. Guatemala: High-Technology Exports. https://knoema.com/atlas/ Guatemala/High-technology-exports (accessed 3/23/17). 23. di Gropello, E. ed.; Meeting the Challenges of Secondary Education in Latin American and East Asia: Improving Efficiency and Resource Mobilization; International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEAPREGTOPEDUCATION/ Resources/Meeting-Challenges-of-Secondary-EDU.pdf (accessed 3/23/17). 24. UVG STEM. http://uvg.edu.gt/stem/es/stem.html (accessed 3/23/17). 25. Cave, D. A Silicon Valley Dream Grows in Guatemala, Despite the Risks. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/world/americas/a-silicon-valleydream-grows-in-guatemala-city.html (accessed 3/23/17). 26. Valladares, D. Seedbed of Technology Flourishes in Guatemala. http:// www.ipsnews.net/2012/04/seedbed-of-technology-flourishes-in-guatemala (accessed 3/23/17). 27. Workman, D. Guatemala’s Top 10 Exports. http:// www.worldstopexports.com/guatemalas-top-10-exports/ (accessed 3/23/17). 28. Guatemala: Agriculture. https://www.usaid.gov/guatemala/economicgrowth (accessed 3/23/17).

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Chapter 6

Exploiting Lignin: A Green Resource Jianfeng Zhang1,2 and Michael A. Brook*,1 1Department

of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University , 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4M1 2Northboro Research and Development Center, Saint Gobain Performance Plastics, 9 Goddard Rd., Northboro, Maine 01532, United States *E-mail: [email protected].

Lignin is a readily available bioresource that is currently underutilized. Techniques to extract lignin from its biological matrix are well established. The development of mild processes to modify lignin, particularly its polar surface, has been accelerating over the last two decades, in particular. It is, therefore, now possible to create high value products, especially biocomposites, from lignin in both developed and developing economies. This review seeks to provide an overview of processes that are particularly amenable to practice aound the planet and that take advantage of the many beneficial properties of lignin.

The ‘Greening’ of Products by the Incorporation of Naturally Occurring Polymers Such as Lignin Lignin is one of the most available biopolymers on the planet – the second most abundant organic polymer after cellulose. Our Canadian perspective is biased by the ready availability of both hardwood and softwood lignin, which constitutes an abundant resource. However, many other plants, including food crops, contain significant quantities of lignin – about 10-30% (1) – that is currently, at best, underutilized; it is estimated that less than 1% of lignin is used in industry, aside from as a source of fuel (2) (in pulp and paper plants, lignin is used as a fuel if its calorific content is cheaper than the price of oil) (3). Any source of biomass, particularly waste biomass, may contain accessible lignin that could be utilized to make higher value materials. For example, lignin has been extracted from rice hulls (4), sugar cane bagasse (5) and switchgrass (6), among many other plant © 2017 American Chemical Society

sources. The industrial production of lignin for its own merit is increasing for applications ranging from surfactants, antioxidants, dispersants to adhesives (7); there is a long-standing market for vanillin derived from lignin (vanilla extract) in food (8). A sustainable world requires us to utilize natural materials responsibly, which is not a simple task. It implies a switch from non-renewable to renewable resources, and a significant decrease in the inputs needed to produce goods from those natural materials. In addition, a complete life cycle analysis must direct us to create products that (bio)degrade to non-toxic entities that themselves act as nutrients, not pollutants, with little or no energy input; the loop should be complete. In light of the humanitarian focus of this book, rather than a comprehensive review (1, 9–12), we have emphasized technologies for the exploitation of lignin that are sustainable (or could be made so), and which should be practicable around the world, including in (economically) resource challenged areas. By this, we mean areas where lignin is readily accessible, and where the current exploitation of lignin is inefficient or insufficient. We will briefly examine the exploitation of lignin in the ‘biorefinery’ to produce low molecular weight products, typically monomers, or other higher value materials. Our bias, however, is that the world will more readily benefit from exploitation of the intrinsic beneficial properties of lignin by incorporating it – possibly after some modification – into other polymeric materials; this will be the main focus of the chapter.

The Chemical Units and Linkages of Lignin Lignin is crosslinked polymer network of “infinite” molecular weight. Although there are no well-defined repeating units, lignin is a polymer derived from three different phenylpropanoid monomers: p-hydroxyphenylpropane, guaiacyl propane (G), and sinapyl propane (S) (Figure 1) (2, 13). The ratio of these monomers varies between plant species (13). In general, hardwood lignin contains almost equal amounts of guaiacyl (G) and sinapyl (S) groups; lignin obtained from grass and softwood has much higher fractions of G units (2, 13). The synthesis of lignin involves biomediated polymerization within the plant. This process, ‘lignification,’ is catalyzed by enzymes, produces a three-dimensional network from the conversion of the noted three monomers crosslinked with both ether and carbon-carbon bonds (13). The dominant linkage (β-O-4) is an ether bond condensed from the β alcohol and 4-phenol, which accounts for more than ~50% of the linkages (14). The 5-position of the guaiacyl propane (G) is very reactive (15, 16), resulting in various other ether and carbon-carbon moieties like 4-O-5, β-β, β-5, and 5-5 (Figure 1) (13, 16). As a consequence,of their higher G content, lignin in grass and softwood is a very highly branched and crosslinked structure (16, 17). The organofunctionality of lignin includes large amounts of methoxy, phenolic hydroxy, and some terminal aldehyde groups (13).

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Extraction of Lignin A clear requirement for the exploitation of lignin is separation from its original biological matrix. While there are applications for which the complex biological lignin-containing matrix can be used “as is”, for example, mechanical pulp for newsprint (18), it must normally be extracted from the cellulose, hemicellulose and other plant constituents with which it is found in nature. This normally involves a pulping process (19, 20). The aromatic ether moieties render lignin soluble in some organic solvents (unlike the sugar-based materials from which it must be separated) including low molecular weight alcohols and ketones (21, 22), although more expensive solvents (23) or ionic liquids (24, 25) may do the extraction more efficiently. More commonly, the isolation of lignin requires chemical modification. Unlike the celluloses and hemi-celluloses with which it is normally combined, lignin contains acidic phenolic groups (the pKas of phenols ~ 10, while the pKas of saccharidic alcohols ~16-17). The water solubility of lignin is therefore enhanced after treatment with base to form phenolates (soda process) (10, 26), which can be accompanied by lignin degradation in the presence of Na2S (kraft process) (27). Acidic sulfite pulping (28) that forms sulfonate anions generated from SO2 also increases lignin solubility in water (Figure 2) (10). Note that these processes are normally followed by chemical bleaching to create bright papers from cellulose. Most of the processes require elevated temperatures (150-200 °C) for a few hours. The kraft pulping process is currently the most popular for large scale papermaking processes, but the older soda process is particularly practicable because of its simplicity. In some cases, prior to lignin separation, the biomass is subjected to an acid hydrolysis step that is used to facilitate the isolation of sugars such as xylose from the mixture, which can be sold or otherwise used. A direct comparison of the processes used to extract lignin (after the removal of xylose) permitted an assessment of their relative costs and environmental impact. The cost estimates (Table 1) were based on prices in the United States and will be affected by the scale of process, labor costs, energy costs…. Extrapolation of these data to other locales is not trivial. Nevertheless, it can be seen that the simplest processes to practice lignin extraction involve the organosolv process (provided there is access to the appropriate organic solvents) and the soda process, which needs only base and which operates very well on biomass from grasses, sugar cane bagasse, etc. An examination of Table 1 provides guidance on which processes could be most easily operated with limited resources. Direct soda extraction, in particular, uses relatively mild conditions, produces lignin at a lower cost, and has a low relatively low environmental impact (29). The other processes require more sophisticated equipment, with a corresponding higher cost. The organosolv process needs some further consideration. In certain locations, for example, Brazil, the cost and availability of sugar cane bagasse and ethanol will be lower than in many other areas. The high environmental index for this process is directly related to release of ethanol that constitutes a greenhouse gas. Better capture of these byproducts would lower the level of impact significantly. 93

Figure 1. (A) The structure of monomers and their approximate abundance in lignin from different plants, (B) the major linkages in lignin connecting the propanes.

Figure 2. Typical processes for extracting lignin (showing model reactions). 94

Table 1. Processing steps, production and environmental costs for lignin isolation (28) Soda process

Kraft process*

Sulfite*

Organosolve*

Temperature (°C)

90

170

120

170

Reaction time (h)

1.5

3.5

0.7

1

11.25% Na2S

NaHSO3 2%

EtOH 50% (v/v) 1:6 solid/liquid

2%

3.75%

11%

Sugar cane bagasse

5.10

6.30

7.80

16.00

Rice husk

3.50

4.30

5.30

10.20

Reagent/solvent % (w/v) Base % (w/v) NaOH Lignin cost/kg US$

Potential Environmental Impact/kg

*

Sugar cane bagasse

0.02

0.09

0.03

0.25

Rice husk

0.02

0.09

0.03

0.25

Requires a pressure reactor.

Degradation to Higher Value, Small Molecules – The Biorefinery There is an old joke in the pulp and paper business that, “You can make anything from lignin except money!” However, that view is changing because of market driven interest in green chemistry, new commercial sources of lignin, lower oil prices that incentivize creation of value added products from lignin and, more importantly, the observation that many interesting, beneficial properties result from the incorporation/utilization of lignin in biocomposites. We start, however, with degradation to useful organic compounds. The rich aromatic composition of lignin has inspired scientists and engineers to consider it, once decomposed, as a supplemental green resource for petroleum-based feedstocks. Lignin has evolved to resist to enzymatic and chemical degradation (9). Biodegradation (30, 31) is too slow to be a practical as a source of chemicals. Although much effort has been expended over the years to develop degradation processes to overcome strong C-C and ether bonds, most processes remain too costly, too inefficient and, for the purposes of this book, too expensive thermally or in the costs of catalyst used. Currently, only a small portion of lignin it is utilized and converted for vanillin (32–34). A significant change can be expected in the near future with the numerous emerging technologies (3, 16, 35–41). Due to the limitation of space, only selected examples are presented that, in our opinion, show particular promise. Many very efficient routes to the decomposition of model lignin compounds have been reported. Few, however, have been practically applied to actual lignin (16, 42). To better understand the challenges to degradation that the polymer 95

provides, as opposed to individual constituents, we examine the complexity of network structures in both hardwood and softwood lignin.

Hardwood Lignin – Relative Linear Structure Hardwood contains a relatively higher concentration of sinapyl propane (S), where the 5-position is blocked by a methoxy group; the position is not available for condensation with other monomers (15, 16). Thus, hardwood lignin contains large linear polymeric fractions (16, 17) and is, therefore, relatively readily decomposed by cleavage of the β-O-4 linkage (43). To give some context on the difficulty of decomposing (hardwood) lignin, already in 1938 very high conversion (~70%) was achieved using Cu-CrO (44), but at 250-260 °C under 200-350 atmospheres of hydrogen for about 18 hours. The aromatics were degraded and reduced to cycloaliphatic derivatives such as 4-n-propylcyclohexanol, 4-n-propylcyclohexanediol, and 3-(4-hydroxycyclohexyl)-propanol. With active carbon-supported noble metal catalysts (45) under modest H2 pressure (4 MPa at RT), decomposition occurred at 200 °C over 4 h to give ~42% conversion to aromatic monomers (~33%) or dimers (~8%) with Pt/C as the catalyst. More recently, Ni-based catalysts, including Ni/C (46), and Ni-noble metal bimetallic catalysts (47, 48), were used for degradation of birch wood-derived lignin for propylguaiacol and propylsyringol. However, degradation using mild, efficient processes and inexpensive catalysts remains a challenge. The condensation of ethers, alcohols, and other oxygenated groups (49–52), catalyzed by tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (B(C6F5)3), with hydrosilanes or silicone hydrides is a new chemistry route for structured and functionalized silicones (53). This reaction also efficiently converts alkoxyphenyl and phenol groups to aryl silyl ethers (53–55). The process could also be applied directly to both model compounds and actual hardwood lignin (Figure 3) (56, 57). The β-O-4 linkage of the model compound is cleaved efficiently (>90% conversion) using hydrosilanes (some of which are relatively inexpensive) in the presence of B(C6F5)3; other oxygenated groups like methoxy, phenol, and alcohols are also reduced to silyl ethers or alkanes. This reaction only requires mild sonication under ambient pressure at 50 °C for 3 h.

Figure 3. Silane reduction of a model hardwood lignin compound. 96

The efficiency of the process with model compounds could be extended to hardwood lignin decomposition (57, 58). The reduction of dominant β-O-4 linkage led to mixtures of monomers and low molecular weight oligomers in only 10 to 20 minutes of sonication at room temperature. In real samples, deactivation of the catalyst accompanied the process, such that catalyst loadings of over 5% were required to convert 90% of the lignin into organosoluble materials. Although the carbon-carbon and diphenyl ether linkages are resistant to reduction under these mild conditions; alternative Lewis acid catalysts may permit hydrosilanes to cleave the diphenyl ether linkers (59, 60).

Softwood Lignin – A 3D Cross-Linked Network The decomposition of softwood is generally more difficult due to its more highly cross-linked network structure. The higher content of linkages like 5-5, β-5, β-1, and 4-O-5 are resistant to degradation by most processes, preventing the fragmentation of such a branched network. For example, the B(C6F5)3-reduction with hydrosilanes did not result in satisfactory decomposition of softwood lignin (57); only 30% of lignin could be rendered organosoluble. Only very few other catalysts have been found that can destroy the softwood lignin structure (up to 60% conversion), however, they require very harsh conditions. For example, the solid acid (SiO2-Al2O3) is used to decompose different lignin into monomers at 250 °C for 30 min; and the catalyst to lignin weight ratio is at 1:1 ratio (61). In more recent research, only organosolv lignin could be effectively decomposed using basic conditions in dimethyl carbonate (62). Softwood lignin depolymerization remains a very potent technical challenge. Interest in this topic has experienced explosive growth during the last few years with various other emerging strategies, including microwave (63–66), ionic liquids (67–71), and supercritical fluids (72–75), etc. coming on stream. It is anticipated that methods using increasingly mild conditions (low temperature and pressure), and higher degradation efficiency (faster depolymerization rate/high conversion) and environmental efficiency (low energy input/pollution), will become viable in the next years.

Conversion of Lignin to Higher Value Products: Carbon Fibers Carbon fibers are increasingly used as low weight, high strength reinforcing agents. They are commonly produced from polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Several strategies have been adopted to utilize lignin in this application on its own (76), doped into PAN, or copolymerized with PAN (77) and then thermalized to give the carbon fiber. Fibres of diameters as low as 200 nm (78), solid or hollow, could be achieved using electrospinning without the need of binders. It is not clear that the quality of these fibers match those derived from PAN (1), but the ability to convert lignin into high value materials will encourage continued research in this area. 97

The Useful Properties of Lignin Itself To Be Exploited in Performance Materials Irrespective of the means of isolation (see above), the chemical features of lignin that are associated with its utility are linked (from a chemist’s perspective!) to the functional groups it presents. The highly aromatic constituents of lignin are excellent sources of energy; as they are less oxidized, the calorific content is much higher than cellulose. The high aromatic character provides lignin with a much higher refractive index, ranging from 1.55-1.65 depending on the wavelength of the light, than aliphatic polymers (79). Many of the properties of a given lignin depend on the specific species from which it was extracted and the method of extraction. One reference amusingly suggested that there is no consistency in the literature regarding lignin because every tiny variation in processing leads to changes in the resulting isolated products. For example, the molecular weight of lignin depends highly on the method of extraction. Organosolv lignin is the lowest molecular weight (MW) 500-3000 g/mol material (the higher molecular weight fractions do not readily dissolve); the MW of kraft lignin is higher ~1000-5000 g/mol (higher molecular weight fractions are more soluble because of free phenolates at higher pH); and the highest is 5000–400,000 g/mol for lignosulfonate-derived lignin (10, 80) (at lower pH (