Edge Environment is donating $300 each month to a charity chosen by a staff member. This month, Alexis Demetrious chose Engineers Without Borders. Here’s why…
When I was considering which charity or organisation I should donate to, I thought back to my experience with Engineers Without Borders, knowing that they take on challenges that others would put in the too-hard-basket. A donation to Engineers Without Borders will help empower communities so they can have the basic living standards that we in Australia take for granted. Great engineering solutions have been provided by volunteers stationed in places such as Nepal, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, East Timor and remote Australia.
This year, I had the opportunity to tutor first year engineering students. Their project, designed by Engineers Without Borders in partnership with the UNHCR, looked at delivering solutions such as clean water supply, power, transport, waste management and shelter to the Mayukwayukwa refugee settlement in Zambia. This refugee settlement was established in the 1966 and is home to approximately 11,000 people, many of whom were born there and have never left. The conditions in the settlement are extremely poor, and the people there have very limited access to resources and education. What impressed me is that Engineers Without Borders inspired young engineering students here in Australia to think outside the box, knowing all the limitations the settlement had, in order to find real solutions that would be put in place.
Doing design work to give people the basics when you have limited access to materials as well as no reliable power or water supply make for challenges you would never consider when working in a developed country. It makes you realise how lucky we are, and the impact we can make when we help others.