Student Mentoring in Piedritas, Mexico
EWB-Central Houston
Member Works with Students of Rice University to Help a Community 30 Miles
South of the U.S. Border
 Earlier this year
EWB-Central Houston member Dave Rubin had the privilege of becoming the
professional mentor for the Mexico group of the Rice University chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Their
project involves the implementation of a safe water distribution system for
the residents of Piedritas, a small Mexican village located in the vast
desert expanse of Coahuila, just 30 miles south of the United States
border. On their first trip, in 2005, the group upgraded a critical
solar-powered pump being used by the community to draw well water. Close to
failing, the old pump was replaced with a new, more powerful model,
allowing the community to draw more water from the well. The Rice students
also worked with the community to construct a water distribution system,
improving access to water for a majority of homes within the village. The
trip was a great success and uncovered more opportunities to further
improve the village's infrastructure.
Dave's adoption of the role of professional mentor this year coincided
with the group's plans of returning to Piedritas to accomplish a variety of
tasks including extensive water sampling, construction of a prototype
bio-sand filter, and working with the community members to determine future
projects. With his water filtration experience limited to the Brita filter
in his kitchen, Dave was uncertain about his role on this project. However,
he quickly learned that the position of mentor goes far beyond possessing
technical knowledge. He was able to provide much needed insight into
engineering methods and project management that the students employed to
overcome unforeseen obstacles.
 It
became apparent to Dave early in the trip that, in addition to
disseminating advice, the position of mentor requires the willingness to
learn. Having been active in the Central Houston chapter of EWB for over a
year, Dave was aware of the work and dedication necessary to plan a
development project. It was not until Piedritas that he was able to get his
hands dirty and actually implement the plans that had been in work for so
long. In doing so, he understood that the most rewarding parts of the
project were those things that could not be planned or scribbled on a piece
of paper. He got to see community members get excited at the prospect of
drinking water that would not get them sick. He witnessed leaders coming
together to decide what would be best for their community. Most
importantly, though, he was surrounded by the smiling faces of children
who, perhaps not even aware of the work being performed, would be able to
grow up in a safer environment.
Engineers Without
Borders is a chance to apply your engineering knowledge towards a selfless
cause and affect the lives of many, including your own. To find out how to
get involved in EWB-Central Houston or to learn more about our projects,
visit our website at www.ewbhouston.org
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Next EWB-Central Houston
General Chapter Meeting:
Wednesday August 9th
The EWB-USA Central Houston Chapter meets the second Wednesday of every
month. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, August 9th at
7:30pm at Rice University in Room 253 of the
Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, which is Building 27 on the map.
**NOTE NEW MEETING TIME**
Agenda:
6:30 to 7:30pm: Presentation
Workshop: Interested in presenting about EWB to your company or
another organization? Attend this workshop to review our chapter
presentation and learn what details you should cover.
7:30 pm: Meeting Start
7:30: to 8:00 pm: Chapter
updates: We'll give a status of our projects and upcoming events
8:00 to 9:00 pm: Breakout sessions:
India
Rainwater Catchment
Team
El Salvador
Outreach and Fundraising
New Participants
interested in getting involved.
EWB-Central Houston in the News!
At our June Seminar on Sustainable Engineering and Green Building, local
student, Luke Jones, interviewed our presenter, Dr. Richard Haut.
Listen to the July 6, 2006 broadcast on the KPFT
Local News (15:51-19:46 ) .
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What is Engineers
Without Borders?
EWB-USA partners with developing
communities to improve their quality of life through the implementation of
environmentally sustainable, equitable, and economical engineering projects
while developing internationally responsible engineers and engineering students.
Get involved with the EWB-USA Central Houston Professionals!
The Central Houston
chapter of Engineers
Without Borders was founded in February, 2005. In the last
year and a half, the chapter has grown from two engineers to approximately 40 active participants.
We are succeeding in creating
a chapter that is diverse in age, experience, and engineering disciplines.
Our team members live all over the city, including Cypress, the
Woodlands, Sugar Land, Clear Lake,
and Galveston. If you would like to join our team, please let us know.
There are plenty of ways to get involved!
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Project Engineering
– Volunteer as a project engineer on our current projects. A listing of
engineering needs can be found here.
Technical Reviewer
– If you can't commit to working on a project, but can spend a few hours a
month reviewing technical designs, let us know. We're starting to form the
South Central Technical Advisory Committee.
Fundraising
– Serve on our Fundraising Committee. Help us build partnerships with local
companies and organizations to provide financial support for our projects.
Join our team of grant writers.
Sponsorship
– Ask your company to sponsor an EWB-Central
Houston event.
Outreach and Public Relations –
Present about EWB to local companies and organizations. Set up our booth at
your company's volunteer fair. Get involved with K-12 volunteer
opportunites pertaining to science and engineering.
Professional Development Seminars
– Attend or present at our seminars, which are designed to
help Professional Engineers
(PEs) obtain required professional development credit.
Workshops and Training Programs –
Are you an expert in a particular field? Give a workshop on
a sustainable engineering topic to teach local engineering students and
professionals.
Graphic Arts–
Apply your right brain to help us create chapter-specific promotional
materials
Join EWB-USA!
Engineers
Without Borders (EWB-USA) and EWB-Central Houston are looking for people
who are committed to improving the quality of lives of those in
disadvantaged communities. Annual membership cost is only $100, and chapter
meetings are free. Click here for more information and to join EWB-USA
today!
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El SALVADOR
Retaining Wall and Community Well:
Both Colonia Esmeralda
projects have seen unexpected complications in the last month. While
drilling the community well, Living Water encountered a rock
formation they could not safely drill through.
They plan to obtain a new drilling rig and we're soliciting
quotes from commercial well drillers in the process. The retaining wall
design will be reviewed this month by EWB-USA. We have
tentatively planned a trip to El Salvador this September to set up
for construction in November.
Sanitation System:
One of the objectives this
month is to establish a date for the assessment trip. Anyone who is
interested in participating in this trip please attend the August 9th
meeting, particularly if you speak Spanish or have experience in the
industry. We will discuss an initial set of objectives for the trip and
begin creating an overall project schedule and path forward
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INDIA
Housing Project
The Housing project to design
and build 23 new permanent homes for the the
people of Sri Rama Pattapu Palem (SRPP) has been
officially sanctioned by the Indian government. Houston
volunteers will work on incorporating rainwater harvesting into the
individual home designs, to provide a means to supplement existing
groundwater supplies. The are currently no updates on the Community
Center project. For more details, please contact Guo-Pin Fuan.
Composting
Latrines
Many of the villages
throughout the coastal areas impacted by the tsunami in 2004 do not have
adequate sanitation systems. There is presently an urgent need for
latrines to be implemented at these locations. This is not only so
that sanitary conditions can improve, but people there (especially women)
have expressed a need to restore proper privacy. EWB
intends to design and develop educational programs to build and maintain
composting latrines. In addition to villages such as the one where
the Housing project will be built (SRPP), this project will also benefit
smaller villages that have been overlooked in terms of getting
outside assistance (such as Jalamma Palem). We are currently
seeking a volunteer member who is willing to serve as project lead.
For more information, please write AnnMarie Spexet or Guo-Pin Fuan.
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How you can make a difference:
Donate! Like all EWB projects, our projects are
completely financed by donations All donations are tax deductible. You may
send your donation via mail or use the internet at your convenience.
To donate by internet, go here .
To donate by check or money order:
Address to EWB-USA, but write "Central Houston
Professionals" in the memo field. Send your donation to:
Engineers without Borders
– USA
1880 Industrial Circle, Suite B-3
Longmont, Colorado 80026
Future Projects:
As described at the July meeting, we have looked at future projects in
Bolivia, Cambodia, Kenya, Macedonia, and Uganda. Members of the
Executive Board are creating a rating system to determine which projects
best fit with our chapter. Depending on the status of our El Salvador
and India projects as well as other chapter resources, we'll consider
applying for a 3rd project later this year.
EWB Central
Houston and the communities we're working with thank you for all you're
doing to help improve the lives of people around the world!
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Got Questions?
If you have a question or would like to find out how you can volunteer
with EWB-Central Houston, contact any member of our current Executive
Board.
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