- Welcome to EWB, Valpo Chapter
Engineers Without Borders - Valparaiso University is a service-based organization consisting of university students from all majors committed to partnering with international, national and local undeveloped communities to effect transformation change through common action. EWB-VU seeks to aid these communities by using technical and engineering skills to design and implement sustainable projects which incorporate environmental and cultural awareness and which aim to broaden the global perspective of our local community.
- Current Project
EWB - Valpo is currently seeking to work with the village of La Palma in Nicaragua to help rehabilitate their piped water distribution system. This project aims to improve the leaking and overflowing piped water system that carries spring water to La Palma and to bring water to the homes that do not currently have access to piped water. We would also be looking into the water treatment methods the village currently uses. A possible assessment trip during the fall of 2013 would explore solutions to these problems, during which data would be collected to better understand the hydraulics, condition, and location of the piped water system. This potential trip should provide enough information for EWB-Valpo to begin the design of improvements for the piped water system.
If you would like to join us on this project, contact EWB- Valpo at ewbvalpo.president@gmail.com. Organizations can also help us in our project by donating. EWB-Valpo is grateful for any support we can get in our work.
- Recent EWB-Valpo News
Success in Tanzania (2012)
In summer of 2012, the EWB-Valpo team once again traveled to Maesera, Tanzania, to continue its rehabilitation of the Maesera canal project. The 2012 trip had implementation, assessment, and mentorship character. Our Valpo team worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Maesera-Kilema community on rehabilitation of 8 problematic areas which generated the most concern to the normal functioning of the canal. The community, starting to develop more and more sense of ownership for the canal, determined these “problematic” points during our team’s absence and requested us for technical assistance. While working with community members on construction sites, EWB-Valpo students were able to see how much of technical knowledge the villagers had acquired from previous EWB-Valpo work in the community and how much more they could potentially learn. All planned repairs were complete in less than a week and the rest of the time EWB-Valpo team dedicated to the canal survey whose focus was to accurately determine the water quality in the area. The water survey and GPS mapping of the village were planned in order to help us try and come up with the best sustainable practice to provide the village of Maesera with a clean water access. The Valpo students had more time to interact with the villagers and to experience hardships of their daily life while walking their routine routs to fetch water.
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The following is a brief list of upcoming chapter events.
Chapter general meetings are held every other Thursday during Chapel Break. The location and times for this and all other group meetings can be found in the above calendar.
More information on the EWB-USA national organization can be found at their web site