In 2008, the small farming community of Lela, Kenya asked Engineers Without Borders USA, for help with the Lela Community

EWB-OSU travelers with the Lela Women’s Water Committee

Water Project, an effort to address the community’s lack of access to potable water. In 2009, the Oregon State University chapter of EWB-USA adopted the project and sent their first travel team to Lela. A second team returned in 2011 to conduct a technical water source assessment. After three years of work, which included a health survey, GPS mapping, water quality testing, and an alternatives analysis, EWB-OSU determined the best solutions were to drill a community water well fitted with an Afridev hand pump, and to build a rainwater catchment at the Lela Primary School.

Besides requiring a permit from the Kenyan government, drilling and constructing a well is expensive and uncertain. After fundraising for many months, EWB-OSU hired a local NGO called Operation H2O to drill the well, which was approved by the Kenyan government. The chapter also designed a rainwater catchment to provide water for students of the Lela Primary School.

Drilling underway for Lela’s new well

In July 2012, a team of five students and one technical mentor traveled to Lela to oversee the construction of both systems.

It is often difficult to predict the availability of groundwater, especially in places like Lela where groundwater data is almost non-existent. During their 2012 trip, the EWB-OSU team was thrilled to discover water after only a day of drilling. At a depth of 58 meters, Lela’s new borehole provides a yield of approximately 50 liters per minute.

The community was already capturing rainwater from the roof of the school, but the storage capacity was too small to capturerainfall throughout the year. EWB-OSU quadrupled the storage capacity by installing three 10,000 liter tanks on concrete foundations. The system was built using local materials and local labor. EWB-OSU estimates that with the expected rainfall within Lela, the system has the capacity to provide drinking water to all 450 students of the Lela Primary School.

As a result of EWB-OSU’s efforts, Lela now has improved access to water. Women and children can spend less time out of their day fetching water, and will be healthier due to increased water quality. However, the Lela community has requested a continued partnership with EWB-OSU to further improve access to safe water. The dispersed nature of the community means that many people must walk long distances to get water. Future work may include drilling additional wells within Lela.

For more information about the Lela Community Water Project, please visit www.ewb-osu.org.

Now, the group is ramping up fundraising efforts to support their latest endeavor.

On the evening of February 17th, 2012, the EWB held their annual banquet to celebrate their success in El Salvador and to fundraise for their upcoming Kenya trip. The banquet was held at the Corvallis Country Club and was complete with a catered dinner, presentations about the projects, and live entertainment.

EWB plans to travel to Lela in summer 2012

EWB projects focus on building systems that bring clean drinking water to communities in need. In El Salvador, the community members of La Mercedes and El Naranjito had to travel long distances in dangerous, mountainous conditions to get clean drinking water. The EWB trips to these communities continued over several years and ended with supplying various reliable water filtration systems to improve water quality.

The goal of the current Engineers Without Borders project is to assists the 2,000 members of Lela, a small farming community in western Kenya. In addition to having no access to electricity, those living in Lela are forced to travel miles away to access clean water. EWB has already undergone assessments and planning to improve a rainwater catchment system that is on the roof of the centrally located primary school. EWB plans to greatly expand the capacity for the catchment system so community members can receive around two liters of clean water each day. By alleviating the community’s pressing water concern, Engineers Without Borders hopes the catchment system will decrease health issues surrounding unsafe water, lessen stress about water needs, and overall improve the quality of life for those living in Lela.

“Our vision is a world in which the communities we serve have the capacity to sustainably meet their basic human needs, and that our members have enriched global perspectives through the innovative professional educational opportunities that the EWB-USA program provides,” said James Teeter, Engineers Without Borders president.

Major sponsors of the Kenya project include: Oregon State University College of Engineering, Garmin, Hewlett-Packard, CH2M Hill, the Student Sustainability Initiative and other local companies. Engineers Without Borders hopes to raise $8,000 in the spring for their Kenya trip. If sustainable ways to ensure clean drinking water to those in need speaks to you, visit:

http://groups.engr.oregonstate.edu/ewb/donate