Success in Tanzania (2011)

Valparaiso University's chapter of Engineers Without Borders returned from a successful humanitarian trip to Masaera, Tanzania, a village nestled at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The team from Valparaiso University has been working diligently the past few years to improve a canal system which supplies most of the water for the area. Recently, this canal has suffered serious damage due to erosion. With help from villagers, the travel team has been able to install a drop box (a cement slab which helps to absorb energy from falling water, reducing erosion) at Junction 1 along the village's vital canal system. Without this dropbox, water would have continued to erode through the hillside, resulting in 3,000 villagers being in desperate need of water. The travel team was thrilled to find that they were able to finish work on the dropbox one day earlier than anticipated. While in Tanzania, the team also met with the Masaera Water Council to discuss improvements that can be made to its organization and the assurance that the council will pursue regular maintenance and repairs on the canal. The trip also allowed EWB to build a closer relationship with the people of Masaera. The trip has been extremely successful and with a dropbox firmly in place, the villagers are more reassured about the reliability of their water supply. If interested, EWB-Valpo's former president Michelle Roy accompanied the travel team and is writing a blog on the experience. There are also more pictures from this 2011 trip in the projects section as well as on our Facebook page.

 Mt. Kilimanjaro

 Installing drop box