Engineers Without Borders: Changing the World

“I can change the world / With my own two hands / Make a better place / With my own two hands / Make a kinder place / With my own two hands,” sings Ben Harper in his song With My Own Two Hands. This is exactly what the organization called Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is doing.  Everyone has heard of Doctors Without Borders who provide health care to third-world impoverished countries.  EWB is similar.  They provide engineering to these regions based on the needs identified by the communities they are helping.  It could be building a bridge, fixing a school, purifying the water supply or even building a solar fridge.

TerraPass’s blog detailed a project that is currently underway in Guatemala by the San Francisco chapter of EWB.  They are making wind turbines that remarkably cost only $100 each.  While these don’t generate a ton of electricity, they do generate enough to power LED lights and run small appliances.  This is better than the current alternative which is no electricity at all.   Here are some pictures from their Flickr feed and here is a video of the prototype.  Click here to donate to this project.  Just select ATDT wind turbine from the drop-down.

Water purification, collection, and storage are recurring projects throughout the world.  There are a lot of student and professional chapters all over the United States.  Each chapter is working on several projects at once.  They could all use your help.  Check out Wikipedia to see a list of all the chapters or go to the EWB-USA site. 

Other projects include fuel-efficient stoves for Darfur, water purification systems in India and photovoltaics in Haiti. 

Current TV Video: Beneath The Southern Cross

YouTube video about the EWB-USA Rwanda Project