Cas van Schaik

YEP period 2022 - 2024, batch 25

YEP Role

I will live and work in Lao PDR to support the Water Operator Partnerships between World Waternet and the Lao water utilities. I am very glad to be working closely together with my Laotian yep-partner Somboon which will help me understand the culture, lines of communication, and way of working that I will have to adapt to, in order to build and maintain relations with our partners and the people there.

Through Invest International and WaterWorX, the general goal is to increase access to safe drinking water in Lao PDR. My responsibilities include identifying investment opportunities in all eight provincial water utilities currently affiliated with the project, and writing a business case for each according to their individual needs. Parallel to this, the project plan for WaterWorX phase II will be written. My main tasks will include:

• Establishing improved relations and communication with Lao partners
• Identifying opportunities for improvement with Experts from Waternet
• Data acquisition for project plan phase II and FMO feasibility study
• Organising and planning live/online missions

Through field visits, data acquisition/processing, live meetings, workshops and literature studies, I will strive to increase our knowledge of the needs, wishes, and possibilities in terms of Water management in Lao PDR.

Skills

• Open/communicative, sensing/diffusing tension
• Quick to learn, pragmatic/creative problem solver
• Fluidisation process
• GAC filtration (backwash)
• Data acquisition

Background

• Nationality: The Netherlands
• Education:
  • B.S University of Applied Science Utrecht

Experience before YEP

I worked for Waternet ever since I graduated in 2019. During my time there I have contributed to various projects at the department of drinking water production. Most of this time was spent on research projects which led to the production of two academic articles.