Dissin, Burkina Faso (Health)
Compone, Peru
Addis Alem, Ethiopia

Anacostia Watershed, Maryland: Completed May 2009
Dissin, Burkina Faso (Recharge): Completed Jan. 2009
Dissin, Burkina Faso (Water): Completed Summer 2008
Dissin, Burkina Faso (Lighting): Completed Jan. 2008
Bebedouro, Brazil: Completed Jan. 2008
Ilha Das Pecas, Brazil: Completed Jan. 2007 and Aug. 2006
Baan Bo Mai, Thailand: Phases I, II and III Completed June 2007, Jan. 2007 and June 2006
Uduzhapa and Conseco, Ecuador: Completed June 2006
Patadel, Ecuador: Completed August 2005
Samli, Thailand: Completed June 2004

Burkina Faso, located in West Africa, formerly known as Upper Volta, is one of the poorest countries in the world, with severe challenges to its development. At present, more than 80% of its population is engaged in subsistence agriculture, and the country has a literacy rate among men of 30%, and 9% among women.

The small town of Dissin is located in the South-West portion of Burkina Faso in the Sudano- Guinean climate zone. Sixteen villages surround Dissin along dusty red dirt roads that radiate out from the city center. The rainy season lasts from June to August and a dry season persists for the rest of the year. Malnutrition, dysentery, malaria and respiratory infections are the most common health problems.

Both energy and water for domestic and agricultural purposes are essential needs for building economic and social development, as well as for maintaining political stability in a region plagued by political crises in neighboring countries.

The rural villagers of Dissin rely heavily on four government funded medical centers located within their communities. Unlike the city center, the small size and relative isolation of these individual villages and medical centers prevents them from receiving electricity from the national electric grid. Nurses rely on villagers to help them carry water to the clinics each morning where it is stored in metal tanks. At night, nurses often deliver babies by lantern or flashlight.

The medical centers require not only solar electrification and direct water access but also point of use filtration to ensure water safety.

An EWB assessment team in August 2009 visited the four rural medical centers to conduct a thorough evaluation of their energy, water and sanitation needs. EWB will spend the fall 2009 semester prototyping and finalizing a design of the pumping system for one of the medical centers, as well as developing and testing water filtration devices. The project team plans to go Burkina Faso in both January and June 2010 for implementation. In January, the team will install solar panels on the four medical centers to give them light in the maternity suites. Students and villagers will work together to place solar panels and create the pumping system while working with the community to set up an educational program on water safety. The team also made improvements to the school lighting and battery recharging systems that were installed in the villages by EWB in January 2008 and 2009.

The EWB team, in partnership with the community, approached the regional medical coordinator, Dr. Issaka Compaoré, to gauge his interest in the project in Dissin. Dr. Compaoré was very supportive and pledged support from his office to help make the project a success.

EWB-USA, UMCP plans to return to Dissin in both January 2010 and June 2010. In January, students and villagers would fully outfit the medical centers with solar panels and fluorescent lighting within the maternity suites. In June 2010, EWB-USA, UMCP students will fully implement the water pumping and filtration systems in the medical centers. Finally, on all future trips to Dissin, Burkina Faso, EWB-USA, UMCP will begin a rigorous impact analysis of our past projects to determine how our projects change and develop over time.

Compone is a community of 1500 in the Andean Mountains of southern Peru, 16 miles west of the city of Cuzco. It is a traditional Peruvian highlands farming community with grain crops, live-stock and dairy products as the main sources of livelihood.

In the spring of 2008, a development engineer working with the Association of Conservation of the Amazon Basin (ACCA) approached EWB-UMCP to propose a water sanitation project in Compone. The community had two water-related issues. First, annual spring output has declined in recent years, causing daily water shortages in the dry season. Secondly, the water is not treated and thus spreads gastro-intestinal ill-nesses from waterborne viruses, bacteria and cysts. It is believed that the contamination stems from animal waste which is commonplace in an agricultural community such as Compone.

Compone’s drinking water is currently supplied by numerous springs located in the adjacent mountains. Since 1997 a total of five gravity-fed systems have been built to supply water from these springs to the 1500 inhabitants of Compone. Each of the five independent systems currently provides water, but lacks adequate treatment to prevent the spread of waterborne illness.

Each of the systems begins in the mountains, collecting water from a spring by means of a spring box. The spring boxes are connected to a series of underground pipes that take the water down the mountain to small reservoirs. From the reservoirs, the water is piped to individual buildings and homes, which each have one tap. The exact entry point of contamination into the water system could not be readily determined, and therefore a solution had to be devised that could address a range of scenarios. The challenge is to find a simple and sustainable solution to provide clean water to all five systems for a variety of cases.

A secondary challenge for the community is the variable supply of water throughout the day. Peak demand can exceed the available supply, draining the reservoirs and leaving community residents without water for hours at a time.

A EWB assessment team comprised of two engineering students and two professional geologists traveled to Peru in August 2008to assess the extent of the community’s water needs. With the help of in-country contacts, the team conducted interviews with local community members, assessed the current state of the five water systems, and took water samples in various locations to test for contaminates. The team also identified possible suppliers of materials in the nearby city of Cuzco.

During fall 2008 semester, the Peru project team has taken the data collected from the assessment trip and brainstormed possible solutions. Several designs were considered for treatment of the water. The project team researched sustainable designs including passive filtration systems such as slow and rapid sand filtration, UV treatment, solar pasteurization, clay pottery filtration, as well as passive and active chlorine dosing systems. The team considered effectiveness, reliability, ease of use, environmental and spatial footprint, cost, and maintenance for each option, as well as the preference of the community, and common practice in Peru.

After nearly a semester of research and analysis, the team has decided on chlorination as the most feasible treatment option for the five water systems of Compone. The spring 2009 semester will be spent on engineering design, securing in-country sources of materials, developing an educational program supporting water safety, and organizing logistics for travel in summer 2009. EWB-UMCP hopes to establish a lasting relationship with the community of Compone as we work together to improve the safety of their water supply.

Ethiopia is a land-locked country on the Horn of east Africa. Although it hosts the African Union headquarters and is a major player in the international community, the country remains very poor with an average per capita income near $2US/day. Its population of 82.5M is young, with a median age of 17.

Because Ethiopia’s economy is largely based on agriculture, it is sensitive to natural challenges, such as drought, and to international export prices. Although all land in Ethiopia is owned by the state and leased to tenants, poor water and land management practices have exacerbated environmental pressures. Agricultural development, the widespread use of wood for timber and fuel, and inadequate reforestation programs have led to accelerating deforestation.

Addis Alem is a small town 50 kilometers west of Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. The total population of its encompassing region is roughly 14,000 people, most of whom lack access to basic health provisions like clean drinking water and adequate latrines. In a country so heavily dependent on its agricultural economy, urban unemployment is deepening, especially in areas where educational opportunities are limited. This is the case in Addis Alem.

Most young people spend their time out of school on the streets and the town is increasingly worried about substance abuse and delinquency among its youth. Following the example of other similarly troubled communities seeking solutions, the town has proposed a youth center where young people can meet to play games, read, or relax. However, even the simple facility proposed is beyond the town’s financial reach.

An assessment team, including two undergraduate students, a civil engineering professor and a professional engineer, visited Addis Alem in January of 2009. They met with local government leaders, town residents, and a professor from the University of Addis Ababa with deep connections to the community, to discuss a range of community issues that might be addressed by Engineers Without Borders. Various problem areas were identified, including a lack of water and sanitation, but it was ultimately determined that a youth center is the right first project—a decision strongly influenced by the importance given by EWB to local preferences which is essential to cultivate ownership of the project among the community and ensure proper use and routine maintenance.

A construction project also created an opportunity to address sustainable building practices in Addis Alem. The fast-growing, non-native Eucalyptus tree has become entrenched as an economic linchpin in the area and is widely used for construction and fuel. Although Eucalyptus is widely used as a strong and cheap construction material, the spread of its cultivation has had a drastic impact on the environment, draining the water table and supplanting many indigenous species. The quickening pace of building development in the nearby capital city highlights the need for safer, more innovative, and environmentally-friendly usage of Eucalyptus and alternative materials like concrete block. The construction process will incorporate design innovation that maximizes natural ventilation and lighting, ideas that are being developed with the community’s input.

The city administration completed site preparation and foundation construction, and an assessment team followed with a second EWB assessment in June, 2009 to further build a relationship with the community and prepare for a full implementation. The project team is currently working on a technical design and constructibility plan for the community center, while interacting with the community to develop operations and maintenance plans for its use. The implementation will follow in January, 2010.