Iana Aranda and Adam Goossen from Engineers Without Borders (EWB) talked about the organization and their experiences with the Matunda Water Project at last night’s IEEE meeting. EWB has over 250 chapters, and each chapter bids on projects from EWB’s database. They also raise their own funds for the projects and travel. Projects last at least five years so that follow-ups and evaluations can be done.
The Matunda Water Project began in May 2008 with an assessment trip to Matunda, Kenya. The hospital in the town did not have power or clean water, so many people did not use the hospital for its intended purpose. On the assessment trip, they tested the water, performed a geological survey of the area, develop relationships, and talked with key players about the goals for the hospital. They also talked to local vendors about parts and equipment that would be needed, and they convinced the government to bring a dedicated power line to the hospital.
Implementation Phase 1 began in January 2009 when a 400-foot deep well was drilled; casing, pump, and tank were installed; and the site was surveyed. Implementation Phase 2 lasted three weeks and included five engineers. They built the water tower, dug trenches, setup the drainage system, tested the water, and had a workshop on handwashing. Every day, they had 8-10 local people help as needed. They used local vendors whenever possible, buying supplies from them or using their expertise such as plumbing. Some parts that were common in the US were not available in Kenya, so these local experts taught the engineers other ways to complete a task. At the end of Phase 2, they had a commissioning ceremony and officially transferred ownership of the water system to the hospital. All of Phase 2, including travel expenses, cost $23,000.
In November 2011, they returned for an evaluation trip. Unfortunately, the transformer had been overloaded as local people had tapped into the hospital’s power line. The evaluation team worked with the government to fix the problem, and the water system was back up and running. The team also found that the water system had drawn more attention to the hospital and that it had received more funding and was providing more services. They also saw that the 15 new sinks were being used properly. It is difficult to tell at this point whether the new water system has reduced the instances of disease, but as more people are choosing to use the hospital, they are hopeful that it has helped.
It was easy to see that Iana and Adam had enjoyed their experiences in Matunda and had learned a lot from the project. They have kept in touch with many people that they met in Kenya and are still getting updates on how the water system is faring.
EWB mostly consists of engineers, but they also need anthropologists, educators, statisticians, sociologists, health professionals, public health experts, scientists, business people, and artists to help with projects. If you are interested, check out their website at www.ewbny.org.
