Projects

Kenya
The Kenya project has been active since the fall of 2007 in Orongo, Kenya – a rural farming community located off the shores of Lake Victoria and about 10 minutes from Kisumu. We are currently wrapping up work with two projects. The first is a biosand filter project/business meant to provide clean household drinking water to the community and an entrepreneurial opportunity for 3 young, motivated members of the community. The second is an irrigation project meant to pump water from the lake to the farms and increase the crop output during the dry season. This is important for the community because most of the farmers yield just enough crops to feed their families and could use another growing season to provide additional income. Both of these projects are in the ending stages and we will only be traveling to Orongo two to three more times before moving on to a new program. We welcome you to join our group to finish up strong in Orongo and work on finding new programs to work with!
Rwanda
This year we conducted several trips to re-assess the current needs of the communities. We found that their most urgent need was for more agricultural education. Over 90% of Rwandans are subsistence farmers, this means that a small increase in production can be make the difference to parents struggling to feed their children, or to allow families more time to make crafts or other commodities to sell at the market. We met with a local school and learned that a landslide had severed their main water pipeline. We are currently working to install a rainwater catchment system to provide water in the short-term for cleaning classrooms and latrines while another group works with the local government to fix the pipeline. On top of that, a local clinic came to us during our most recent trip and asked for help in building more patient rooms to prevent the spread of disease and provide more personal space for families who regularly come to care for sick members.
El Salvador
Our group is teaming with Rotary International to construct a wastewater collection system in two communities in El Salvador. Along with construction, two very important aspects of the project are educational workshops that teach local children and community members basic sanitation and health practices, as well as water testing to assess the pathogens that threaten the health of community members. There are many ways to get involved in our group and lots of work to be done, so come join us!
Haiti
Clinic Update
Over the summer our professional chapter partners in San Francisco completed construction of a brand new clinic. Seen in the picture is EWB-UW alum Kyle Akenbauer along with the clinic staff just after the completion of the foundation. The clinic symbolizes hope as an organized source of medical care.
Domestic
The EWB-UW Domestics group has been working on projects with the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior in Chippewa and our local community in Madison. In Fall 2009 we successful implemented a tile drainage system to provide groundwater drainage and stormwater management infrastructure in Red Cliff, Wisconsin. We are currently working with local law enforcement, health care workers, and UW School of Pharmacy students on a “med-drop” program that will enable locals to dispose of their prescription and non-prescription drugs in an environmentally friendly manner. In addition, in Spring 2010 we began a project to develop a sustainable solution to clean Vilas Beach, Lake Wingra. We recently partnered with several local community organizations including Friends of Lake Wingra, Yahara Lakes Legacy Partnership, Yahara CLEAN, Madison Area Permaculture Guild, and Town and Country Water Issues Team RC&D to develop a sustainable and educational solution to clean the beach using biofiltration and mycofiltration methods. It is our hope to engage the local community in this project, so come and work with us!