MISSION POSSIBLE
"Engineers Without
Borders is a non-profit
humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities
worldwide in order to improve their quality
of life."
The organization at large implements engineering projects worldwide,
building sustainable solutions for problems we take for granted. A larger
part of the world than we want to think about deals
with life threatening problems such as polluted water
or no water at all. This is especially disconcerting when one learns
that these people have streams or rivers just a few miles away or, in
some cases, right by their village.
The children of these villages are sometimes made to carry water all
day in order to support the village, leaving them no time to play, to
have a real childhood, to receive an education. In some cases only the
female children are required to do this, allowing their brothers to
receive an education while
they themselves are being left behind. Many children die of bacteria,
viruses, arsenic, and other pollution when they are still very young.
They die because they are in need of simple solutions such as water
distribution and water treatment. They die because they lack waste treatment;
they lack enough of caring people who have the
power to do something, the power to make a difference.
Other problems are as simple as designing solutions to bring electricity
to hospitals and schools allowing the children of villages to learn
and the villagers to be treated for injuries or sickness. With education
these people are now better able to overcome
their poverty and provide for themselves. Even something
as simple as learning proper hygiene can save lives.
The Engineers without Borders slogan sums up the mission of every EWB
chapter, “building a better
world, one community at a time.”