However, before we can implement the system and relieve the suffering, we need to raise some more money:
• We have received strong support from the Rotary Club in La Paz and are trying to partner with a Rotary Club in Colorado Springs.
• We have received corporate grants from CH2MHill, Conoco, and ITT.
• We have received a number of individual donations.
• We have received a grant from the Goldman Foundation and are applying for additional grants through our parent organization.
• We are applying for a USAID grant that is specifically for development work in Bolivia.
• We are planning several fundraising events including an Engineers Oktoberfest with support from the local micro-breweries.

Even though the organization is called Engineers Without Borders, our real need at the moment is for a person or two with expertise in PR and fundraising!!! If you have these skills and an interest in helping a very deserving Aymara community (their culture pre-dates the Incas!) please contact us or come to a meeting.

The agreed upon priorities are: (yes, there are two number one priorities)
1. Repair the leaking pipe at the ravine crossing between Springs #1 and #2.
1. Develop Spring #3 with a new intake and connect Spring #3 to Spring #2.
2. Construct a water storage tank in community.
3. Develop Spring #4 and join it to the pipeline from Spring #3.
4. Provide water taps for those houses without them.
5. Change the size of the mainline pending results of the evaluation.

We have assigned task leads to the first three and begun to look at design alternatives. The task lead develops several alternative solutions and then creates a multi-criteria decision analysis matrix which is presented to the project team. Peer review provides an opportunity for discussion and the criteria are weighted for importance and the various alternatives ranked until we have decided on the best solution.

The results of the decision analysis are then used to prepare the Form 523 Alternatives Analysis which must be submitted to EWB-USA for approval.

After a four hour drive we were received by the community with a great welcoming party. Their appreciation of our arrival was evident, as was their hope that we would meet their expectations. The friendliness of everyone was prevalent throughout the week, and those assigned to work with us were very helpful. The community has an existing water supply from two springs, but as we discovered, some residents do not have water taps and for many others, their taps run dry during the dry season.

At the completion of our work we executed a mutually acceptable written agreement which commits each party to conditions necessary for a successful project. We hope to begin the first of several new facilities later this year.

The date and location for the May Chapter Meeting has been changed. The meeting will be combined with the project meeting scheduled for this week on Thursday, May 6 at 5 PM. The location is the meeting room in the Rockrimmon Branch of the Pikes Peak Library, in the shopping center at Rockrimmon Blvd and Vindicator Dr. We will be reviewing the results of the recent assessment trip to Bolivia and planning our next steps. Come find out what we’re doing and help us move forward!

Pete Eisele
President, Colorado Springs Prof. Chapter
719-599-3316

We certainly would like to have more help, so any of you out there who feel moved come join us, you’re more than welcome! Or if you’d just like to come to a meeting to see what we do, there’s no expectation of commitment Click on the Meetings Tab on our website for time and place.

As many of you may know, our chapter does not get project funding from EWB USA except for a small amount that goes to reduce administrative costs. So It takes a good deal of effort on our part to do fundraising. We have done presentations to two Rotary Clubs this Fall in hopes of getting their support and funding. We have also applied for grants, receiving one in September. We hope to add to that in the next few months, although the competition is very tight for most of the possibilities.

Our project work is ongoing. Our current project involves providing an improved water system, sanitation facilities and an irrigation water supply for the Aymaran Indian community of Suncallo, Bolivia. During our next phase (Phase 2),which is planned for April/May of 2010, we plan to construct a new spring intake for their water system and perform some site surveying as well as other data needed for Phase 3 construction. We will probably send only two of our people to perform the Phase 2 work and solicit the villagers to assist in these tasks. The villagers are very amiable people and are eager to have these projects constructed. The extent of work we can do during Phase 3 will depend on both fundraising and the time commitment required. This phase is planned for the Fall of 2010.

You might wonder how we are able to accomplish the logistics of this type of undertaking. We are fortunate to have the help of a local Bolivian organization called Engineers in Action (EIA). This is a small technical services group located in La Paz that provides services like purchasing local materials, transportation to the village, an onsite cook and an Aymaran to Spanish to English interpreter. They charge reasonable rates to do this and without them there wouldn’t be a project!

We look forward to this coming year as challenging and exciting. Thanks to you many supporters!

Imagine providing clean drinking water, consistent power, stable food supplies, and habitable environments to people for the FIRST time. Imagine enhancing mobility for a person missing an arm or a leg. Imagine improving the quality of human life. Imagine all these things most of us take completely for granted each day, but things that aren’t available in certain parts of the world and even in certain parts of the United States. This exciting Freshman Seminar course will examine a variety of social issues from an engineering perspective.

For the second year in a row the Colorado Springs Professional chapter has been invited to present a guest lecture on Engineers Without Borders. I delivered the presentation to a group of 25 or so young students and encouraged them to get involved in some facet of humanitarian aid. The students were challenged in their thinking of how a large portion of the worlds population really lives and how so many of these people lack access to basic needs.

Our hope is that the students will develop a passion for helping others and seek out a humanitarian organization to participate in.

This workshop is hosted by the Colorado Springs Professionals chapter of Engineers Without Borders. It will be facilitated by David Bartecchi, Executive Director of Village Earth, The Consortium for Sustainable Village-Based Development, an NGO from Fort Collins, Colorado. This is a highly interactive two-day training carried out over a weekend. You will be an active participant in this class. It is not a lecture!

COURSE DESCRIPTION
What is it about a project that makes it successful and sustainable? What structural, social, or even psychological barriers inhibit or prevent individuals and groups from getting involved and working together for change? In this training, we focus on a model for how NGOs can fit into the overall process of community change, focusing on the relationship between local partner organizations and communities. We will explore the concept of appropriate technology as both the “hard” physical technologies, but also the “soft” social-organizational technology that ensures equitable distribution and long-term sustainability.

COMMENTS FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS

“The course was eye-opening as a platform for self-reflection as a group. It allowed me to learn more about the perspectives of my peers and understand, first-hand, the power of inter-group dialog.”
“To put it mildly, this course has changed the way I view myself in the world. I have no doubt that it will affect how I conduct myself as a member of a team and as a leader. I am especially interested to see how it affects my interaction with my existing social groups of work, family, school, and friends.”
“I feel like I am better able to understand our position in the community as a mediator and listener. I also feel like the participatory planning model is a great way of engaging what the community really wants and where our project fits into their vision for their village overall.”
“The Participatory Strategic Planning was great because I showed us a practical way to generate self-mobilization and participation where is does not already exist. As engineers, we always want to be able to see how whatever we are learning is applied in the real world.”
“It made me realize that the most sustainable project is one that the community decides on implementing and to not just dive straight into a community and try to fix all their problems like an oppressor. Also, I realized that it takes a long time and commitment to really see a project succeed all the way through.”
“I have benefited a lot from this course. I feel much better prepared to interact with other cultures in a respectful manner.”
“It allowed me to step out of my engineering mindset and look at the communities needs above the design.”
“I have gained a completely new understanding of the importance of humanization, community participation, and self-mobilization. This has given me a completely new perspective on working in other countries.”

Suncallo is located 16 kilometers east of the town of Escoma and the eastern edge of Lake Titicaca in the Bolivian Altiplano, a flat region that lies between the eastern and western cordilleras of the vast Andes mountain chain. The community sits in rugged, mountainous terrain at 4000 meters and is spread out about 1.6 kilometers along the hillside.

Travel to the site was delayed by unexpected airline requirements, road blockades, poor road conditions, and steep terrain, but with resourcefulness, teamwork, and community support, the EWB teams finally reached Suncallo.

During the initial meeting between EWB team members and Suncallo community leaders, it was determined that the community’s top priorities were to improve sanitation and to increase the capacity of the present drinking water system in order to provide service to the entire community. There is presently only a small pit latrine inside a small brick building located near the school. The latrine has four stalls with a hole in the concrete floor and two showers. Obviously, this single sanitation facility is inadequate for a community of 55 families.

On the following days, the EWB teams traversed the surrounding slopes, guided by community leaders. The teams walked their proposed route of the new pipeline/aqueduct system, taking GPS coordinate data along the proposed pipeline transect. EWB members carefully examined the three main spring-fed water sources, took water samples, measured intake flow rates at the two springs with existing PVC inflow pipelines, and examined the existing condition of the PVC pipeline and its structural support across wide ravines. Teams also installed a weir and measured stream flows along the valley floor. The water samples indicate that the springs have good water quality, with high mineral content and only slightly elevated pH levels. Agriculture and irrigation techniques were also documented with soil samples collected and analyzed.

Aside from collecting engineering data to help define priorities and community needs, the assessment trip also accomplished another important goal: to establish a respectful relationship with the community. The public festival in honor of the “Ingenieros” also helped build a sense of friendship and fellowship.

A tentative second assessment trip, and possibly a partial implementation trip, is under discussion for the October 2009 timeframe. In the meantime, all of the teams involved in the assessment trip will be reviewing collected data, discussing lessons learned, examining solutions for the community’s drinking water and sanitation needs, and researching and testing improved infrastructure designs.

If you can help support the implementation trip with a donation, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be made online at www.ewb-usa.org (use the following link)

Donation Link

or by mailing to: PO Box 51421, Colorado Springs, CO 80949

A special thanks to those who have contributed funds and/or equipment to support this project:

Weirs are structures which are inserted in the channel to measure flow. As water flows over the weir, the depth or “head” of the water is measured. Weirs can be made with plywood or with l-inch boards and 2 x 4’s. The reliability of weir measurements is affected by construction and installation, but when properly constructed and installed, weirs are one of the simplest and most accurate methods of measuring water flow.

A given water resource may or may not provide a reliable, sufficient amount of water for a particular purpose. We know there are definite seasonal variations in the water volume and we must limit the irrigation to that which can be adequately supported by the water resource. Our site assessment will occur during the dry winter period when stream volume will be lowest. This is also the time when the irrigation system will be most needed so the timing is fortuitous.

Our survey training did not progress well as we had equipment failure. The level we planned to use has developed some optical problems and would not focus. Better to find that out now than down in Bolivia! When we can locate another level or repair this one we will reschedule our survey training.