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Borders don't stop Canadian engineers
Aug 18, 2007 By: Crystal Crimi(Originally published May 8, 2006)
Canada’s Engineers Without Borders is among those organizations helping Zambia develop its agriculture industry.
Started in 2000, Engineers Without Borders helps bring and teach technology methods to those in developing communities, reports on the impact of projects and helps find solutions to problems.
With volunteers such as Alberta’s David Damberger and Paul Slomp, it provides people to live and work in developing countries through local partnerships, such as the International Development Enterprises.
“I ended up living in a village for a year and biked to and from work on a bicycle, 16 kms,” said Mr. Slomp.
Mr. Damberger, located in Choma, helps farmers understand the benefits of treadle pumps and how to use, maintain and repair them.
As volunteers, they integrate into the local lifestyle, have to learn the culture and sometimes push their personal comfort levels. He added the social side accounts for 95 per cent of their work.
Each project focuses on impact and helping the small, rural African person. The group also works to make students and government more aware of what the engineers think could be good international aid projects, said Mr. Damberger.
For more information on Engineers Without Borders, visit www.ewb.ca, or for more on IDE, www.ide-international.org.
