by Jeffrey Graf

Created on: March 18, 2010   Last Updated: March 19, 2010

Introduction

There has only been one group which I have ever witnessed that I sincerely feel was making a positive contribution to addressing the water sanitation problem in developing countries, and so then, this article is about them. I graduated with a Masters in Science Education from the University of Delaware in 2007, and although I am a nontraditional student in that I am much older, I took interest in clubs that I felt were worth while. Particularly, since I had to do a lot of writing, I was always looking for things that would provide new ideas. As I was graduating, a new group was forming at Delaware called Engineers Without Borders ( EWB ), an extension of an

national and international organization. Although Delaware organization was in formation when I first visited a meeting, when I returned for Forum and Reunion weekend of 2009 I had a chance to catch up with their activities and progress, during what I felt was the best presentation of the weekend. They also have a web site and a blog that have provided some additional information to what I would like to relay here. Although they now have a number of working groups, their Cameroon project is most directly devoted to the development of potable water.

 EWB is not a water development organization, it is a problem solving organization. The distinction must be kept clear because even as the Delaware students and faculty support surveyed the situation in Cameroon, it was immediately apparent that the landscape was littered with failures, not only related to water but to all aspects of sustainable existence.

  From previous attempts that EWB studied,  it was apparent that the system they designed and installed would be able to rely on no presumed infrastructure. There was no electric power grid to plug in to, There  would be no gasoline to operate motor fueled pumps, there was no repair crew to service or rebuild gasoline engines.

 The students determined that to provide necessary power to wells and pumps, they would have to rely on solar power, and quickly found generous gifts and support for solar cells in the U.S. They knew they could not transport  large equipment to Africa on a student charity budget, so they had to come up with designs for equipment that could be built and assembled by local labor and supply houses. Even with the best of design work, they often encountered challenges beyond what they even expected. For example, when they hoped to have a well drilled in 3 days, and it takes 14 days instead,

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