"What is your mission statement?"

Bernard Amadei, the founder of the entire Engineers Without Borders organization gave a talk at Smith College a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see it, but I wish I had-he is quite the speaker. I watched this video of Dr. Amadei giving a short acceptance speech for the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Leadership Award he received in 2009 and I encourage you to check it out. In it Dr. Amadei encourages every organization and individual to know their mission statement and act on it. The mission statement of Engineers Without Borders is to help communities worldwide develop sustainable solutions to better their qualityof life and that is what we strive for in our projects. But Dr. Amadei takes the idea of a mission statement one step further. The mission statement, traditionally thought of as something only organizations and companies have, he thinks should be something every individual has to guide their life. To have a mission statement is to have something to work towards. A mission statement gives you something to look at when trying to make a decision or when assessing past actions--will this decision further my mission? Did that action fit into the goals of my mission? We all know we want things in life and have goals, but in hectic times it is often difficult to remember what they are and what our major life priorities really should be. Dr. Amadei encourages us to take the time to figure out what those priorities are and how we want to impact the world we live in. "What" Dr. Amadei asks "is your mission statement?"

EWB KENYA NIGHT 2010!

It is that time of year again when we at EWB-UMASS are planning our annual EWB Auction Night! This is our biggest (and funnest!) fundraiser of the year. Last year we raised ~$10,000 to support EWB-UMass Amazon and Kenya Projects. The event is a silent auction with a lot of great items, from Brazilian jewelry to Kenyan wraps and lots of great items donated from local businesses that offer their support. We always have great music, drinks, food, and entertainment, and to top it all off--it takes place in a barn!
This years theme will be Kenya night (last year's was Brazil Night). We are already preparing the night's details and procuring items to be auctioned. Stay tuned for more details about this event.
Go to our website at www.ecs.umass.edu/ewb. to find out more about the auction, past donors and info about our current projects.

Assessment of Spring Boxes in Western Kenya

While in Western Kenya during January EWBers Ben Taylor, Patrick Border, and Peter Rasmussen traveled to local spring box sites in and around the town of Webuye, which is the town near Namawanga where we stay when working in the village. Spring boxes are structures, typically made of concrete, which are built around natural springs and function to collect and filter the natural spring water. Ben, Patrick, and Peter collected data and pictures of the spring boxes in order to determine improvements needed at each water source. They found several recommendations that could be made to improve the quality of the water coming from the spring boxes and protect the water sources. We are currently working on a report to send to the Webuye Municipal Council that outlines recommended improvements that could be implemented to improve these spring boxes. This is the first step in expanding our work outside of the Namawanaga village and into neighboring communities. To learn more about our projects or make a contribution go to www.ecs.umass.edu/ewb.

Well Drilled in Namawanga!

Since beginning work with the village of Namawanga a major goal of the EWB Kenya Project has been to provide the village with a groundwater well. We are happy to announce that we achieved that goal this past fall! The well was drilled at the Machakha Polytechnic School in Namawanga which is a centrally located site in Namawanga that will be accessible to many village members. It is estimated that at least 1,000 people will collect their daily drinking water from the well. Three members of our project traveled to Namawanga over winter break to witness the opening of the well and help establish a plan for managing and maintaining the well. Ben Taylor, Patrick Border, and Peter Rasmussen traveled to Namawanga over the winter break and worked with the village of Namawanga to develop a system for collecting funds from users of the well and using those funds to maintain the well pump when future maintenance is needed. While there the team also traveled to nearby villages to perform assessments on village water sources. It is the hope that while continuing our work with Namawanga, we will be able to expand our projects to other villages in Western Kenya. To read more about EWB-UMASS projects or to donate to help make the projects a success please see our website at www.ecs.umass.edu/ewb

Brazil Night!

Come out and help us raise enough money to travel to Kenya again this summer!

NEW LINK!

Check out our new link:

http://blogs.umass.edu/ewbumass/

Fundraising for the well

With our third trip to Kenya down, it's time to get back to work. We've committed to drill one well (about 300 feet down) at a Polytechnic School in Namawanga. The well will be located far from any other reliable water sources, and will make a big difference to the school and the surrounding homes. (In the picture, Pat Border poses with the marked location of the future well)

The well has been quoted at around $21,000 by a reliable driller in Kenya. With the help of the Westfield Rotary, we've currently raised over $7,000, leaving us with $14,000 more to raise!

There are several ways we can go about this. We are currently applying for grants. We can also contact companies and do small local fundraisers. We've created a website, as well, that we hope will aid in raising money. The website makes it simple to donate using a credit card... simply click on the link and it will take you to our EWB-USA page! All donations are tax-deductible as well.

Here's the link. If you know anyone who might be interested in donating, companies, and potential large donors, please send this their way.

sites.google.com/site/ewbkenya