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EWB-WYO Raises Funds With Their 5K for Kenya
April 11, 2011 — Engineers Without Borders-Wyoming (EWB-WYO) needs
your help! EWB-WYO is working on two different projects around the
world. Last summer EWB-WYO sent a team to Kenya to implement Phase I of a
water distribution system. At an estimated cost of $20,000, the team is
planning another trip to implement Phase II of the network and to
assess additional community needs. This past winter break, the club also
sent a team to Guatemala to renew community relations and to assess the
school that EWB-WYO completed in 2008. During the visit, the team
discovered multiple additional needs of the school and plans on sending a
team back, this semester or summer, to address those needs, at an
estimated cost of $10,000.
Please help EWB-WYO support communities across the globe by
participating in the 5K for Kenya. The race will be held on Saturday,
April 23 and anyone can enter!
For a full schedule and registration information please contact Josh
Fuller at jfuller@uwyo.edu. Thank you for your generous support of
EWB-WYO student projects.
Mbita is located on the shores of Lake Victoria in the far South Western
corner of Kenya and has an urban population of approximately 6,000.
There is dire need for a life-sustaining clean water system. The
community severely lacks water for most of the year and is often
dependent on rainwater, local streams, and Lake Victoria. Water
collection is daunting and time consuming for the villagers, taking up
to four hours per day, and is a chore assigned mainly to women and
children. The back-breaking work and long hours of water collection
leave little time to consider health, education, or income generating
activities. Water gathered from the lake is polluted, since there are no
wastewater treatment facilities in the area. The unsanitary conditions
have led to water-transmitted diseases such as amoebiasis,
schistosomiasis, bacillary dysentery and cholera.
UW students, along with their faculty advisors have reviewed and adopted
this project in an effort to improve the quality of life in Mbita.
Goals for the upcoming assessment trip will be to establish strong
community relationships, survey community concerns, and perform
technical analyses of the water and terrain. With this information,
EWB-WYO will pursue design options appropriate for a clean-water system
within the community. To ensure sustainability and success of the
project, EWB-WYO will work closely with the community and continue to
build upon relationships for years following the project.
An EWB project offers UW students an unparalleled opportunity for
technical development and personal growth. It also provides essential
aid to those in most desperate need of help. Contributions to the Kenya
project will serve both objectives: educating future engineering
leaders and providing critical life-support systems for the poorest of
the poor.
Thanks again to everyone who participated in the raffle. Additional
donations are appreciated to help us improve a community.
Tax-deductible donations are being accepted to assist students with the
cost of travel to and from Kenya to assess the feasibility of helping
the community design and build a life-saving water system. Please make
checks payable to the UW Foundation with a notation that the donation is
for the EWB-WYO Kenya Project Fund, and mail donations to the College
of Engineering and Applied Science, Development and Communications
Office, 1000 E. University Avenue, Dept. 3295, Laramie, Wyoming 82071.
Online donations may also be made through the website, http://uwsecureweb.uwyo.edu/GIVEONLINE/.
