Our Crowdfunding Groups
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Our organization is the University of Pittsburgh chapter of the global organization Engineers Without Borders (EWB-Pitt). Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is dedicated to improving the quality of life in developing local and worldwide communities and pledges to address problems affecting health, sanitation, economy, technology and education within these communities with an appropriate sustainable solution. Our organization consists of mainly Pitt engineering students who focus on technical, public health, and financial aspects of projects. Our last project was in Mali, Africa, where we succeeded in implementing a sustainable fish pond to provide a source of food and income.
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This goal of this project is to bring clean drinking water to the Tapagém, Brazil community. Currently, the community is removing water from the Tapajos River, a tributary of the Amazon River, and a well, both contaminated with E. coli. Research done by Amizade, a Pittsburgh based NGO with an office in Brazil, within the community indicates that while nearly all villagers recognize that the river water is unsanitary, there is a wide variety of cognizance about what health issues result from the consumption of untreated river water. Results from our last trip signified the importance of providing the community with a clean water source.
EWB-Pitt is currently in the process of designing a sustainable water filtration and distribution system for Tapagém. This system will be effective and will also fit within the comfort limits of the community members. Educating the community is another goal. Our public health team is working to incorporate water sanitation safety in the local school. Several educational seminars are also being planned for when our team travels to Brazil again.
We are currently raising funds for our next trip to Brazil in August of 2015. During this trip, on the technical side, we will collect and test more water samples, determine the feasibility of different filtration designs, and re-map the area. On the public health side, we plan to provide educational seminars for the community, survey members about general water safety, and discuss possible filtration systems with community leaders and members to gauge comfort and interest.
Please consider donating to our fund to help with the cost of travelling, staying, and experimenting in Brazil.
Thank you for supporting the University of Pittsburgh chapter of Engineers Without Borders!
Support at this level will allow one team member to receive CPR training.
At this level, your donation will fund one team member's wilderness first aid training.
