Students bridge gap to developing nations
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/EWB_Volunteers.jpg” caption=”McMaster engineering students, and volunteers with Engineers Without Borders joke around at their both in the student centre. Pictured from left are, Justin Grenier (fourth year), Lyanne Quirt (fourth year), Luis Anderson (fifth year) and Yvonne Ng (fourth year).”]McMaster students are hoping to bridge the gap between Hamilton and developing nations during today's Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Day.
Students with the McMaster chapter of EWB will construct a bridge in front of the John Hodgins Engineering Building. They also will showcase a treadle pump used in water-deprived areas of Ghana and Mali in front of The Barn in University Plaza, Dundas, and have a display set up in the McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC).
“This year's theme is Make Poverty History,” says Dan Olsen, a member of the McMaster chapter of EWB. “You will be able to learn about poverty in the world and its consequences at two locations across the city, and more exciting, what you can do to change that.”
The bridge will be constructed primarily from recycled materials and will be about the size of a small footbridge (10-15 ft in length), and approximately 30 inches wide. Construction will take place from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. People can help build the bridge by adding planks, each of which have a message attached.
“As more people come to the display and learn, the bridge will emerge,” says Brad Statham, another member of McMaster's EWB. “Eventually, the gap between Canada and developing nations can be crossed.”
In MUSC, a display will contain information about EWB's activities in Canada and overseas. EWB members will be on hand to distribute pamphlets and buttons that say, “I want to make poverty history.” Donations to support EWB activities will also be accepted at the display, which will feature information about a lecture on appropriate technology by Bob Hudspith, former director of McMaster's Engineering and Society Program. The free lecture will take place on March 10 at 7 p.m. in MDCL 3020.
Engineers Without Borders Day is a national day of awareness held by engineers from universities across Canada. The two McMaster events will reach out to the general public in the hope that it will create awareness on the importance of eliminating poverty at home and in the international community.
EWB is a registered Canadian charity dedicated to international development. The organization consists of more than 10,000 members located in chapters across the country. As opposed to working with disaster and emergency relief operations, EWB concentrates their efforts on promoting long-term and sustainable solutions to global poverty by building technical capacity within local partner agencies in developing countries. They have sent more than 120 volunteers overseas in the past four years to work in areas such as water and sanitation, food production and processing, information technology, and rural energy.
