By Jessie Hethcoat
In many regions in Northern Guatemala, receiving water is not as simple as turning on a sink faucet. In the subsistence farming village of Agua Negra, water must be dug up from wells. These wells are only usable during wet seasons, and provide water that is unsanitary.
Enter UP's Engineers Without Borders club.
Last January, six UP students along with adviser and professor Mark Kennedy installed rain collectors for the community of 800 native Mayans in Agua Negra. In conjunction with Engineers Without Borders, UP has begun two projects, one in Guatemala and the other in the Honduras.
"The project in Guatemala is the first project that the University accepted from EWB-USA," sophomore Carla Norris said. A member of UP Engineers Without Borders, Norris explained that "the installation of rainwater collection tanks and gutters on the homes of families so that they don't have to hike to shallow, hand-dug wells and carry unclean water back for drinking, washing, cooking and other uses."
Expanding on ideas of humanitarianism, Engineers Without Borders is a national nonprofit organization that oversees volunteer engineering projects throughout the world. Beginning in fall 2006, UP's local chapter has sent students to South America to begin various sustainable projects for local communities.
When the Engineers Without Borders traveled to Guatemala, they also brought two solar panels with which the community could charge their cell phone batteries. They plan on returning to install new composting toilets that can help with sewage problems.
"We try to provide an opportunity to practice and apply engineering skills in a developing country, which is unique," Kennedy said.
The Engineers Without Borders club sent seven student volunteers and one adviser to Honduras last night to begin engineering work in a small village on the coast.
This particular project involves the assessment and all-day engineering for potential projects that the engineers could build. Until Tuesday, Feb. 3, the volunteers will attempt to create a viable project that will improve the lives of the community. This particular trip will focus on water flow and other engineering work.
Along with a $3,000 grant, the project in Honduras was given to UP's chapter by Engineers Without Borders USA.
Kennedy has been responsible for overseeing most of what the Engineers Without Borders club has accomplished.
"We do something for a community in need, but it's tremendous what the students get back from the trip," Kennedy said.
In order to be chosen for a trip, students must be active members of the Engineers Without Borders club at UP. Doing so entails attending meetings and taking part in various fundraisers.
"I just joined the club this year. I haven't gone anywhere with the organization yet, but I'm really looking forward to doing so," freshman Andrew Hudak said. "In the meantime, the Engineers Without Borders club is an awesome community to be a part of."
Students do not, however, need to be engineering majors to be chosen to attend. Club President, senior Teddy Acuña, encourages students of all majors to join.
"The projects require different kinds of skills," Acuña said. "Students from other concentrations have a lot to offer and keep a balance on the engineering team."
For instance, a nursing student is with the engineers in the Honduras will help assess health conditions in the area. Other possibilities include Spanish majors that can help with translation.
"The communities we help are Mayan descendents. They live in small huts and live lives that are very different from what we are used to," Acuña said. "It's a complete change of perspective, and it has changed the way most of the students look at life."
Engineers Without Borders chapters must apply in order to be assigned a project. Once a chapter is assigned a project, that chapter has a five year commitment to the project. Once the chapter begins work in a region, they are required to return to the site, overseeing that their construction has continued to service the community it was put in. Engineers Without Borders has a large emphasis on sustainability.
Visits include complete immersion into the communities. The engineers stay in one of the houses of the community. They live, work, eat and sleep with the locals.
"Most of the time we are lost in translation, but it's a really good experience to be completely immersed in the culture," Acuña said.
Stressing international resp- onsibility, Engineers Without Borders attempts to help communities around the world, giving them the ability to operate their systems without external assistance.
