Newswise — Ft. Lauderdale. Cancun. South Padre Island. Ngomine.
Ngomine?
Typically, college students spend their spring break sunning under the palms. Not Paul Russo, 21, a Middletown, N.J., resident in his junior year as a civil engineering major at Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J.
Russo will join several peers, professors and others who will spend spring break this year (March 10 to 18) in Senegal on the west coast of Africa, volunteering in the village of Ngomine, home to about 850 people.
The Student Government Association representative is part of Rowan's Engineers Without Borders?— USA (EWB?) group. He and three other students and Dr. Josh Wyrick, a civil and environmental engineering assistant professor, will start the work needed to bring a water distribution system to the village, whose residents now have to walk about two miles to another village to get water for all their needs for a fee. One student's father, Dr. William Brown, a physician, also will make the trip to provide health care for villagers.
"My main goal is to help people less fortunate," Russo said. "These people cannot hire professional companies but need engineering services. We work alongside our classmates and many of our professors to provide a helping hand. We also we will be seeing a side of life that I would never be able to see any other way. I will be in Senegal, Africa, over spring break experiencing another culture and way of life while gaining real-world engineering experience."
Rowan students and faculty have participated in EWB projects since 2004, but the Senegal one is unique. Generally, EWB teams apply to the organization for projects it has listed. In this case, Rowan approached EWB with the idea of the Senegal work after Dr. Brown, of Ingleside Medical Associates, Thorndale, Pa., traveled there on a mission trip to provide medical care in April 2006 and suggested to his daughter Megan,a Rowan engineering student, that EWB assist. Megan Brown brought the idea to the Rowan EWB chapter, which opted to gain more experience last year before venturing to Africa.
Wyrick, of Pitman, N.J., said the team will use the March trip to assess the situation in the village. The members will survey the land to determine how best to install a water distribution system and the people to see what they need, what they can afford and how they can help.
"We want to do some water quality testing to see if there needs to be some additional work to clean and purify the water," Wyrick said. The group also may explore establishing an irrigation system and using renewable energy as a power source.
While in Senegal, where temperatures can reach 112 degrees by mid-morning, the team will live in a hotel about an hour from the village. The EWB team would like to stay in the village, but it would be hard for the residents to provide for the team.
When the group returns to Rowan, it will work on a design. Later in the year, members will return to Senegal to implement the plan.
The work is important for a lot of reasons, including helping the village, allowing the students to put their skills to use and contributing to engineers who will have a global vision.
"The students get practical experience with engineering design as well as practical experience with environmental and sustainability designs. They get experience with problem solving and overcoming obstacles, which will get them on the right path for their engineering careers," Wyrick said. "And it's certainly a powerful trip for students who never experienced those kind of living conditions."
Rowan's EWB? teams are no strangers to visiting far off places to put their skills to use. In 2006, they traveled to El Salvador and South Dakota. In 2005, they spent spring break in Thailand. In 2004, a Rowan team volunteered in Honduras.
NOTE: Other members of the Rowan EWB Senegal team are:"¢ Carolyn Braun, 23, of Telford, Pa., a junior mechanical engineering major (not going to Africa but working on the project in New Jersey)"¢ Megan Brown, 21, of Glenmoore, Pa., a senior civil and environmental engineering major"¢ Michael Berry, 20, of Stratford, a junior civil and environmental engineering major"¢ Christan Walker, 22, of Port Monmouth, a senior electrical and computer engineering major
The Rowan chapter of EWB is a student group that always is looking for new members who are interested in helping in any capacity, regardless of major or experience. Students can find more information at: http://www.rowan.edu/ewb or by emailing [email protected] or [email protected]
RSS