The Unreasonable Man
Jose Moreira tells the story of how
people of action can affect change
George Bernard Shaw was once quoted as saying that "the reasonable
man adapts himself to the world, while the unreasonable man persists in
trying to adapt the world to himself. All progress, therefore, depends upon
the unreasonable man." This idea has been quoted and interpreted in
many different ways. In its truest form, the message is simple: in order to
create change, a person shouldn't allow for dust to settle on his thoughts;
he must act. And often times, this act requires extraordinary thinking and
motivation.
On a recent Engineers
Without Borders project implementation trip, I was able to view for myself
how unreasonable people can affect change. The Colonia Esmeralda Project in
San Salvador, El Salvador consists of the drilling of a well and the
construction of a retaining wall for a community of about 70 families on the
outskirts of the capitol city. The community's only water source, a
30-meter hand-dug well has run dry in the past and is expected to run dry
in the future. Additionally, the only access road to this hillside
community is susceptible to significant erosion. The current aim of
EWB-Central Houston is to help Colonia Esmeralda with these two major
problems
Recently, Brian Davis and I traveled to El Salvador to establish the
logistics of the project. During the trip, we had plenty of help from
Ingeniero Argueta, a Salvadoran engineer who offered to assist us on behalf
of San Salvador's Rotary Club. As Brian and I were being driven to a local
hardware store by Ingeniero Argueta, he began to tell us about his
struggles during the El Salvador Civil War. With detailed emotion, he
recounted stories of how he was forced to hide his identity as an engineer.
In order to help rebuild schools in towns that had been devastated by the
war, he had to work under the guise of a common laborer when entering
guerrilla territories. He knew the dangers of what he was doing, but his
argument for doing it was: "If not me…if not us…then who else would
have done it?" Because of the sacrifices he made, and in spite of the
dangers he put himself in, he helped rebuild countless schools in the El
Salvador countryside. It was his willingness to act amidst great adversity
that made this possible.
Twenty years later, El Salvador is now a stable democracy. Its people,
however, are still in great need. There are innumerable communities around
the world in similar situations. What Ingeniero Argueta did may seem
unreasonable to many, but it helped make a change in the lives of many
children. That simple fact can't be denied. As engineers, we may think it's irrational that F = ma
can help change the world. But it can. Little by little, EWB strives
to do so.
As of mid-January, Colonia Esmeralda has a new 80-meter well that gives
clean water to 70 families each and every day. Excavation for the retaining
wall that will protect their only road has begun and is right on schedule.
The work that we do at EWB-Central Houston follows in the same vein as
Ingeniero Argueta's work. We're engineers.
Engineering is what we do. But we also want to help. If not us, then who
else?
If you think that your knowledge of circuits, gears, fluids, soil,
or chemistry can't help change the lives of people…think again. Engineers Without
Borders is a chance to apply your engineering knowledge towards a selfless
cause and affect the lives of many, including your own. It's amazing to see
what you can learn about yourself in the service of others. To find out how
to get involved in EWB-Central Houston or to learn more about our projects,
visit our website at http://www.ewbhouston.org
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Next General Chapter Meeting:
Thursday, February 15th
2007
(THURSDAY, NOT WEDNESDAY!!)
To avoid conflicts with Valentine's Day, our next chapter will meeting
will be Thursday, February 15th at
7:00pm at Rice University in Room 253 of the
Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, which is Building 46 on the map.
Agenda:
7:00 to 7:30 pm: Chapter Updates
7:30 to 8:30 pm: Breakout Sessions:
India
El Salvador Phase 1&2
Bolivia
Professional Development
Seminar
Our next Professional Development Seminar is scheduled for Thursday,
March 22, 2007 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Aramco Services Company. The
planned topic is "Peak Oil: Has the World Reached the Peak Oil
Production Rate." We are still working on getting speakers
with different opinions on the topic. If you have suggestions for this
or future seminars, please send a note to acuclis@houston.rr.com
See our 2007 Seminar Series
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UPCOMING EVENTS
February 23rd: Sara
presents Kleinfelder Prof Development and Technical Training Seminar in
L.A.
March 15th: Brian
presenting on "Designing Across Cultures" at Rice University.
March 22nd: Seminar at
Aramco Services Company
April 2nd: EWB-Central
Houston giving Bovay Lecture at Texas A&M Univ.
May: AnnMarie presents
to Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta.
April 12th, 2007 EWB-USA International
Conference at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst,
MA. Register here.
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INDIA
The design team for the SRPP Housing project in India is starting with
the initial stages of final design. The architectural team, with
assistance from partner members in Italy, has developed design layouts and
house elevations per the figure shown below. Houston team members
have been working closely with them to coordinate the rainwater catchment
system design and water storage tank locations at the houses. In
addition, members of the Houston team have been working to finalize design
of the Water Stations for the community. The team is currently
focusing on the structural design of the shelter structures (in
collaboration with members from North Texas), as well as the design of an
artificial wetland system to aid in the treatment of graywater runoff from
these Water Stations. Initial implementation of the Water Stations is
currently anticipated to occur in Spring of 2007. For more
information or to join the local team in Houston, please contact the
project managers, AnnMarie Spexet, PE at aspexet@gmail.com and Guo-Pin Fuan, PE at gpfuan1@sbcglobal.net
****WANTED****
Structural
Engineer to Assist Rice Univ. EWB Students with Ongoing Projects
1. Nicaragua I Bridge Project - much of the preliminary
design has already been done and the team is designing a pedestrian
steel-truss bridge to cross a river that floods during the rainy season,
cutting off the community from school, medical facilities, food, and other
communities. They have taken a few survey trips and also done other work in
the community. The team is hoping to complete implementation of the bridge
within a year. While they are making significant progress on the design,
they really need a structural engineer who can oversee their work and
provide technical help.
2. Nicaragua II Health Clinic Project - This is much more urgent, as
the team is hoping to implement in May. We're traveling down the first week
of March to do the foundation work (which is being contracted out to a
local contractor), scope out supplies, and make medical arrangements. For
construction in May, EWB-USA requires that we have a structural engineer
with us. Also, we really need someone to oversee the design process
during the coming weeks. We are hoping to build with strawbales, but plan B
is locally-made bricks. We have some preliminary technical designs in
AutoCad and SolidWorks, but are in need of someone with technical expertise
to oversee this.
The responsibility involved in being
a mentor is flexible - some come to meetings every week or two, others
meet up with us separately whenever is convenient for them, and/or are in
touch by phone/email. Even someone who can't really commit to being a
mentor, but would be willing to look at our designs would be helpful.
For mentors who can travel, there is a
required Rice University training. The date of the next training will
be sometime in March (TBA, as exact date not yet
set).
If you are interested in working
with the EWB chapter at Rice University, please contact either the chapter's President -
Deepa Panchang (panchang@rice.edu) - or the Central
Houston Professional chapter's Rice University liaison - Yvette Mirabal ( ymirabal@rice.edu).
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Getting Involved at the
National Level
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Engineers Without Borders-
USA has experienced tremendous growth since starting as a tiny student
project in 2000. With our amazing growth, we need the professionals more
than ever. Even if you do not have the time to travel or work on projects,
there are still many ways you can help.
Every single project at EWB-USA must be examined by professionals, who
evaluate the safety and appropriateness of the project. Professionals
should be qualified in a relevant field of engineering or development work
(water, sanitation, electrical, geotechnical, structural, mechanical,
medical, cultural, etc.). We are actively seeking more people who can help
us with the following tasks:
Technical Advisory Committee (TAC): Every project group
presents to the technical advisory committee prior to implementing a
project. The TAC meets every month by teleconference, and views
presentations by both student and professional chapters. They are the ones
to approve or decline project implementations. The time commitment is
approximately 5 hours/month.
Application Review Committee (ARC): Every new project is
reviewed by three people who can evaluate the feasibility and
appropriateness of the project to the mission of EWB-USA, and decide if it
can be performed by volunteer students or professionals. The time
commitment is approximately 2 hours/month.
Country Liaison: For many countries, multiple EWB-USA
projects are underway. The country liaison is in charge of keeping an eye
and ear out for all the projects in a particular country. This is an
especially appropriate task for individuals who are from or have previously
done a lot of work in that country. These individuals keep in contact with
all of the chapters with projects in the area, and try
to help them with finding resources and knowledge-sharing. The time
commitment varies depending on the country, and is generally around 6-8
hours/month.
If any of these tasks intrigue you, please contact AnnMarie Spexet at aspexet@gmail.com for
more information.
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El SALVADOR
Phase I and II: Colonia Esmeralda
Our projects in Colonia Esmeralda are moving along smoothly. The well
project is nearly complete. For the retaining wall, the community members
completed excavating and laying the stone base. The concrete intermediate
base should be complete this week followed by wall construction. Tim
Wippold, PE is currently in the community to test the water quality of the
well, follow the progress of the retaining wall, and obtain Certificates of
Conformance for the construction materials. Bill Davis, the president of
the Humble Intercontinental Rotary Club, which is our primary donor, will
be joining him this week.
BOLIVIA
The Bolivia project has made a lot of progress in the last month.
A strong project team has emerged and weekly meetings have advanced the
project design dramatically. Current goals are to prepare a
preliminary design and budget and submit a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant
application by late March. Our current partners in Bolivia, the
Rotary Club of Cochabamba, have been doing a lot of work as well with
several visits to the project location. During one of these visits a
well drilling contractor surveyed the well location and found it
appropriate for an 80-100 meter well. On another visit, a local school
opening was attended and residents and community leaders were approached
for comments on the project. The feedback is very positive and we
hope to conduct a site visit in the summer of 2007 to conduct detailed
surveying and commence well drilling.
Current design options are a single large tank at the top of the hill or
a three smaller tanks distributed in strategic locations around the
populated areas. Detailed health and population density surveys will
establish the merit of each design. A follow up trip is planned in
December 2007, where survey information will be used to build the water
tank or tanks and install an appropriate pump and pipelines.
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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!
EL
SALVADOR
Phase III: Tiembla Tierra and Santa Carlota
Sanitation System: Our El Salvador Phase III project
has completely stalled due to lack of involvement. If you would like to
work on this project, contact John LeBlanc and Sara Beck as soon as possible. If we do not have a Co-Project Manager and more volunteers by the end of the
month, we will submit the project for another EWB chapter.
DONATE!
Like all EWB projects, our projects are completely financed by
donations. All donations are tax deductible. You may contribute 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
1881 Lefthand Circle, Suite A-1
Longmont, Colorado 80501
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**Please
forward this to whomever you think may be interested.
EWB-USA
is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization that partners with
developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life,
while involving and training internationally responsible engineering
students and professionals.
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