RedR

Nicole Hahn

Arup is an active member of RedR and in this our 60th year, we are focusing on the issues of improving the water supply of developing countries through The Arup Cause. Nicole Hahn is a civil engineer who worked with Arup from 2002 to 2008. In 2007 she returned from Mbabne, Swaziland where she worked as a water and sanitation engineer with UNICEF on a six-month deployment with RedR Australia.

"I chose to study engineering, and I’ve always had humanitarian issues at heart. Being able to combine two of my passions makes me very happy.” Nicole said. “I was so excited at this opportunity to work in Swaziland and use my knowledge and experience for those who need it most.” Before deploying to Swaziland, Nicole worked for Arup dealing with water issues in the Northern Territory and in 2006 travelled to Timor-Leste on another RedR mission.

Here is an extract from her time in Timor-Leste:

"Although each day flies by, I feel like I have been here for months, as so much happens every week. I am thoroughly enjoying this work. It's so nice to get your hands dirty and to come home covered in dust! From the accounts I have received from home, it sounds as though Timor-Leste has largely dropped out of the media. Although the security situation has definitely improved due to the presence of international forces, there is still ongoing violence here.

Isolated incidents of stoning, machete attacks and house burnings still occur most evenings, and sadly, each time these incidents occur the ‘scars’ being formed between people from the eastern and western districts of Timor-Leste get deeper and will take longer to heal. So the situation is far from over. There is still close to 70 000 internally displaced people (IDPs) living in camps in Dili alone, with virtually the same number again having fled to the districts. To put that in perspective, that's 15% of the population being internally displaced. So what am I doing? The first few weeks here were spent supervising the completion of latrines, showers and water provision for the various camps around Dili. Water is still being trucked to a majority of the Dili camps, so attempts are being made to find more medium term solutions.

We're looking to equip boreholes for most of the bigger camps to supplement town supply and to limit ongoing water trucking. In addition, preparations have commenced for the upcoming wet season, as many of these camps will be a nightmare when the rains come.

There are limited IDP camps in the districts, with most IDPs living with host families. So, we are also busy organising trucks, labour, procurement, agency coordination and means for distributing family hygiene kits and jerry cans all over the country.”