6th Lecture gifts drops of water wisdom

All about the elixir of life: Prof. Tafa Tulu
delivering World Water Day special
6th Wangari Maathai Memorial Lecture at
Woliso Campus of Micro Business College on 24, March.
PHOTO: SIVAKUMAR K.P. 

World Water Day special 6th Wangari Maathai Memorial Lecture on Environment, Development and Society was held successfully at Woliso campus of Micro Business College on 24 March. 

Highlight was the lecture by Ethiopia’s one of the leading experts in water technology, Prof. Tafa Tulu. Titled, ‘Climate change adaptation through appropriate water technology’, his lecture was well received by the audience comprising of Planning Supervisor, South West Shoa Zone, Mr. Takalegn Diribsa, community elders, teachers and students of the campus. 

Prof. Tafa Tulu’s long experience as a guide and teacher of the subject area was vividly displayed throughout the lecture. He began with introducing climate change, reasons behind it and different manifestations of the phenomenon. The gravity of the issue was explicit in the World Health Organization’s statistics the speaker has quoted. Out of 800,000 annual deaths due to climate change, about 150,000 are due to air pollution to which children are the most Susceptible. In addition are its effect on food, animal and plant resources. 

A gifted teacher, Prof. Tafa Tulu presented six major water technologies that can contribute considerably to mitigate the climate change effects. These include: Rainwater harvesting from roofs; Surface water harvesting; Groundwater harvesting; Desalination; Water reclamation and reuse; and Water safety plans (WSPs).

For those who were technically sound enough, Prof. Tafa Tulu’s lecture had enough technical information to quest their thirst. For those novices to the subject, there were numerical values and graphical representations, making things clear.   

 Since our Woliso campus has school classes also, there were enthusiastic young talents, who added life to the event.  His elaborations on the different types of bunds; flood harvesting and rainwater harvesting were eagerly received by the audience, which was proved by an active interaction between the lecturer and the audience. President of the Micro Business College, Mr. Abera Tilahun in his opening remarks commented about the integral place of water starting from individual human body to the sustenance of the blue planet. 

Coordinator (Research, Development and Communication) of the college, Mr. Sivakumar K.P. welcomed participants. Vice Director of the college’s Woliso campus, Mr. Yadeta Yedesa proposed vote of thanks. Mr. Abera Tilahun honoured Prof. Tafa Tulu with a Certificate of Honour and a paining depicting two Ethiopian women fetching water from a stream - an appropriate memento for a water expert.