Rick Miessau 1982 believes he can claim a few “firsts” for Hamden Hall. During his senior year at our school, Rick was the first exchange student to live and study in Madrid, Spain. Upon his graduation, Rick was the first Hamden Haller to attend the Florida Institute of Technology where he earned an Associate in Science in Oceanography in 1984.

That same year, following his graduation from FIT, Rick married his high school sweetheart, Cordella Ocoma, who graduated from Hamden High School. The couple moved to Florida and soon both started working for the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). While working for SFWMD, Rick returned to school at night and received an Associate in Arts in engineering and a Bachelor of Science in information systems. The combination of degrees served Rick well in what became a 30-year career at SFWMD. Rick is now a supervisor in the hydrologic modeling section where he works with “brilliant engineers and scientists” from more than 30 different countries.

“Cordella and I have worked on multi-billion dollar water supply and environmental restoration projects—the largest in the world—throughout our careers, including the Everglades,” Rick said.

Rick participates in UNESCO-IHE (Institute for Water Education). It is the largest international water education facility in the world and is based in Delft, the Netherlands, offering master’s of science degrees and doctorates, in collaboration with partners in the Netherlands.

Rick lectures to UNESCO-IHE hydro-informatic students that have resulted in him meeting people from all over the globe who are dealing with common water issues. Teaching ultimately led Rick to join forces with two coworkers. Together, in 2012, they formed a non-profit, Water For Small Villages Inc. Rick reports that the organization has cleaned, repaired, and installed wells in Haiti over the past few years. He and his coworkers and their families have worked alongside each other on the projects.

 

Rick and Cordella and their two sons, Troy, 22, and Eric, 20 (who passed away in July), have also been doing mission work in Honduras, Madagascar, and Haiti for over 10 years where they work with orphaned children and people who lack access to clean water. Over the next five years, they plan to expand Water For Small Villages.

“It’s very rewarding being able to apply our skills where they are truly needed and seeing that we can make a difference,” Rick said. “We teach people the importance of sanitation and provide access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water.”

Rick notes that in 2010, the United Nations declared access to clean water as a basic human right.

“I have spent many hours sitting under trees and at picnic tables talking with adults and teenagers about the importance of water and the impacts it has on life and success,” Rick said.

“In Madagascar, I had the most amazing experience communicating with a man when we had no common language. We resorted to drawing pictures in my journal in order to communicate.”

In Haiti, Rick continued, he stood shoulder to shoulder with men digging trenches to lay water pipes to a school and clinic in a village that had never seen running water. Cordella, who is a geographer, shared a map with a person who had never seen one before.

Once, during a break from doing a geologic survey, Rick taught a hard-working 21-year-old man how to write his name.

“It’s very humbling to come home to the United States and realize how fortunate we are to have running water, reliable electrical power, an abundant food supply, access to education, and the opportunity to prosper,” Rick said.

Rick has shared his experiences speaking at conferences in Berkeley, San Diego, the UN-UNESCO, and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“We have the ability to impact everyone, even when we only briefly come into contact with one another,” Rick said. “I tell my friends in Africa about my friends in Haiti, and I tell my friends in Haiti about my friends in Honduras. I’ve learned that we all share similar desires, struggles, and dreams.”

The group plans to complete one more project in Haiti and then branch out to partner with organizations in other countries that are in need of clean water.

“Using sustainable technology and methods, our goal is to help villages in remote areas who are in desperate need of clean water,” Rick said. “This means sometimes the solution will be a hand pump well or it may include using solar panels or other energy sources. Without education, there is little chance for success and without clean water there is little chance to lead a healthy, productive life. So, what we really offer is opportunity.”

Rick’s passion about his work can be traced back to days at Hamden Hall where he recalled that he had “many memorable experiences.”

“I think most importantly I gained a love of learning,” Rick said. “I still have a hunger to learn about so many new things and that will never change. When I was an exchange student for a year in Spain, I would escape by reading. Now, I usually have five books going at once not to mention the mountain of technical journals I read to stay current in my job.”

As for Hamden Hall faculty who made an impact, Rick gives a nod to Bruce “Duke” Zundell who taught Rick to be humble and to understand that he didn’t know everything. “But if you look closely,” Rick recalled of Dr. Zundell’s advice, “they are hidden right under the surface, which comes in the form of an inclined plane.”

Dr. Barbara Beitch also made a difference in Rick’s life, introducing him to science and inscribing in his yearbook that he was a “deeply caring idealist.” When Rick was back home a few years ago, he was said he was privileged to talk to Dr. Beitch’s students about his work with water management.

Bob Schroeder, who coached Rick, taught him the value of teamwork. Rick played on Hamden Hall’s ice hockey team in 1981, the year they traveled to Nova Scotia for an international tournament.

“Of all the institutions where I have had the privilege to study and learn, Hamden Hall was the beginning,” Rick said. “I think everything else builds on the foundation we lay in high school, and I was lucky to have had a solid start at Hamden Hall.”

Rick stays in touch with his classmates and invites them to see what he’s up to on his website at www.miessau.com. He’d also enjoy hearing from his classmates (many of whom he keeps up with on Facebook). And although his 35th class reunion is two years away (in 2017!), Rick is already looking forward to coming home and catching up with his friends and faculty from his days “under the pines.”