Water without borders

Setting up a Concordia chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), whose first project is to build a water filtration system in Kenya this September, is how some engineering students decided to use their knowledge for the greater good. “We said: let’s do something meaningful that will actually make a difference,” stated Patrice Desdunes, vice-president of EWB-Concordia.

Setting up a Concordia chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), whose first project is to build a water filtration system in Kenya this September, is how some engineering students decided to use their knowledge for the greater good.

“We said: let’s do something meaningful that will actually make a difference,” stated Patrice Desdunes, vice-president of EWB-Concordia.

The group’s goal is to provide potable water to 600 villagers in Mauta, a small village on Mfangano Island. Presently, all water in the region is drawn directly from Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Kenya, Africa. There is no filtration system and, without sanitary means, disease spreads rapidly.

There are six main diseases associated with water supply and sanitation, namely diarrhea, ascaris, dracunculiasis, hookworm, schistosomiasis, and trachoma.

According to the World Health Organization, almost 50 per cent of all the people in the developing world are suffering from one or more of these diseases.

Waterborne diseases represent 80 per cent of illnesses in developing countries, and they result in an estimate 5 million deaths and 2.5 million illnesses each year.

“We would rather people that need our knowledge to use it, instead of some bogus company,” said Mark Vukadin, founder and co-president of EWB-Concordia.

Vukadin started the Concordia chapter of EWB last year, after the first conference proved that there was an interest on campus by attracting over 60 people. In July, he was contacted by Mark Matunga, a native from Mauta who moved to Canada and set up a non-profit organization called Global Idea Network.

Matunga told the engineering students about his homeland and asked them to develop and fund a project to help the villagers.

“It reached our hearts and took us,” explained Desdunes.

The group has since focussed their energy on fundraising and researching the project. “It’s become a full-time job for me,” admitted Vukadin.

Part of the research involves finding the right filtration system. The group decided to build a Solar Water Pasteurization system, which uses a solar panel to heat the water up to 75 degrees Celsius, thereby killing almost all harmful bacteria. A similar system is used in El Salvador and has proved to be successful.

Desdunes will be going to Kenya this June to do some preliminary research of the region, such as taking soil samples and checking the level of water contamination. In September, Vukadin and his co-president, Hany Sarhan, will head to Mauta to install the filtration system with the help of the villagers.

The students hope that potable water will only be the first step in helping Mfangano Island’s residents. “No one is sending volunteers there until there’s pure water,” said Vukadin, referring to European volunteers being rushed to the nearest hospital in 2002, when their water-cleaning pills proved to be insufficient.

EWB-Concordia will be hosting a party at Lucifer this Saturday, January 25th, 2003. Tickets are$8.00 at the door; $5.00 in advance and are available at ECA on the 8th floor of the Hall Building. All proceeds from ticket-sales go to funding the Kenya Project.

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