EWB‐USA, Portland Professionals Newsletter PDX October ... · “The most amazing part of the...
Transcript of EWB‐USA, Portland Professionals Newsletter PDX October ... · “The most amazing part of the...
EWB‐USA, Portland Professionals Newsletter October 2010
1 www.ewbportland.org
Tanzania By Ada Banasik
PDX PROFESSIONALS PDX PROFESSIONALS NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER
October 2010 Published by Engineers Without Borders, Portland Professionals
The Tanzania Team has another successful project under its belt! A team of engineers traveled to Lashaine Village in June to oversee the installation of a solar energy system and expansion of the rainwater harvesting system at Orkeeswa Secondary School, built and operated by IEFT (www.ieftz.org). Team members were warmly welcomed by the students and staff and amazed at how much Orkeeswa has changed!
Through a generous $12,000 grant from Boeing, EWB worked with Chloride Exide, Ltd., a regional supplier of solar energy systems, to expand Or‐
keeswa’s solar system, donated by Chloride Exide in 2009. The ex‐isting 160‐watt system was relocated from the classrooms to an on‐campus building that will temporarily serve as a dormitory for girls, until a full‐scale dorm is built in the future. De‐spite some “this‐is‐Africa” delays, a new 1‐kilowatt solar energy system, designed and funded by EWB, was successfully installed! It will power classrooms,
staff offices, a newly constructed science lab and future computer lab and library. Orkeeswa now has a sufficient energy supply to power a class‐size computer lab and IEFT is ready to raise funds for the purchase of 35 energy
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In This Issue:In This Issue:In This Issue: ⇒ Tanzania Project ⇒ Kickball Without Borders Recap ⇒ Haiti Project ⇒ Upcoming Events
President’s Letter
EWB‐USA is a not‐for‐profit organization that partners with developing communities to improve their quality of life through the implementation of environmentally sustainable, equitable, and economical engineering projects while developing internationally responsible engineers and engineering
students. The Portland Professionals chapter is working on projects in Ecuador, Haiti, Tanzania, and Portland.
Happy October and a hearty hello!
I hope all of you have had rewarding, enrich‐ing and enjoyable sum‐mers! While some have been busy with our Kickball fundraiser, or our active projects in Haiti and Tanzania, I welcome our returning members and newcomers to EWB ‐ Portland.
In June we fielded project trips to both Haiti and Tanzania installing a water chlorination system, 60,000 l. water storage tank, and a 1,080 watt solar photovoltaic system. Also this summer our Ecuador project team had two members journey there to identify possible new projects in that country.
All of these projects of course could not take place without the support of many sponsors and individuals. In August, our Kickball Without Borders tournament was a huge success, rais‐ing over $11,500! Thank you to all the volunteers, players and sponsors for your time, effort, positive attitude and donations that made this hap‐pen!
I look forward to another successful year of improving the lives of others, sharing with new friends here and abroad, and all the rewards that come with enriching the lives we touch!
Steve Adams
Orkeeswa students excited to watch the installation of a new solar energy system! Photo by: IEFT
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‐efficient computers. The amazing Orkeeswa students are anxious and excited to begin using computers on an everyday basis. Computer skills will have a tremendous impact on these children’s lives. “By learning to use computers, the students of Or‐keeswa will have a huge advantage over students from other secondary schools,” says Matt Barbian, electri‐cal lead for the project. “The real benefit will be realized years from now when these students apply for college. Having been there for a third time, it was wonderful to see them again; their hospitality is always breath‐taking.”
The 60,000‐liter rainwater harvesting system, constructed by EWB in 2009, was expanded with the addition of a second 60,000‐liter ferrocement tank to store rainwater collected from the roofs of two new build‐ings on the Orkeeswa campus.
“The most amazing part of the trip was driving around the villages, meeting the students’ families and seeing their home life”, says Ada, one of the travel team members. “As engineers, we of course en‐joyed seeing our designs imple‐mented, but the hospitality and warm smiles of Orkeeswa students, their families and the literally hun‐dreds of village children that seem to spill out of the bush wherever we show up is unforgettable and rewarded the countless hours of design work, report writing and fundraising that made this project possible. Thank you Lashaine!”
“It was great to see how all of our ef‐forts over the past year have come to fruition”, says Brad Ostapkowicz an‐other travel team member. “You gain a lot of perspective when you are in direct contact with the students who the EWB projects are helping. It also gives us incentive to keep working through the next coming year know‐
ing the students will be progressing in their studies, in part, due to the sustainable sources of water and electricity. Thanks to all the students, staff, and families who were extremely friendly and welcoming!”
Team members also discussed potential future projects with IEFT staff and the village women’s group. There’s much work to be done!
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Tank is almost finished!
Member Spotlight
Please welcome Steve Adams, our new Chapter President and member spotlight! Steve has been an active member of EWB Portland for 5 years. Joining the EWB Portland Professionals chap‐ter in 2005, and in 2006 Steve took on the position of chapter treasurer. In 2007 he became a key planner for the 2007 West Coast Regional Workshop held here in Portland at his alma ma‐ter Portland State University. Af‐ter being Chapter Treasurer for two years, he was elected as President‐Elect and transitioned into his role as Chapter President this last June.
In his day job, Steve is the Deputy City Engineer for the City of Wil‐sonville, and works to oversee both private development and capital projects for the City. Out‐side of work and EWB Steve, his wife Eve, and two adult children are outdoor enthusiasts. Steve has been known to do multi‐day bike trips, backpacking trips, and loves to spend time out on the water. If you’re lucky enough to get to know him, you’ll be invited on a rafting trip!
Welcome, Steve! We look for‐ward to your leadership!
Discussions with the village women’s group. Ashley Holmer, IEFT Executive Director and Ada Banasik with the Lashaine Women’s Group. Photo by: Mzee Lesinet, IEFT
“The most amazing part of the trip was driving around the villages, meeting the students’ fami‐
lies and seeing their home life”
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The EWB Portland Professionals’ annual fundraiser, Kickball Without Borders, was a huge success this year bringing in $11,500 for the chap‐ter! 23 teams entered to compete in a one day tournament held at Glen Haven park in Portland. GL Garrad Hassan took home the first place tro‐phy yet again to become a two‐time defending champion. This year a couple of new features were added to the event to enhance and stay true to our values as a chapter:
⇒ Facebook Competition ‐ This competition requested each kickball team submit a creative team picture on the Facebook page of EWB Portland Professionals (www.facebook.com/EWB.PDX ), and the team that accumulated the most “likes” won a case of beer. The win‐ning team for 2010 was Parametrix.
⇒ Zero Waste Event – In our efforts to “green” our chapter, we set the goal of making KWB 2010 a zero waste event. Thanks to the hard work of Kelly Boreing (our fundraising co‐chair), and the support of the tournament participants, we had only two cubic feet of waste for an event of over 500 people! Kelly set up several recycling stations at the park and made sure that all materials used for the event were either recyclable or composta‐ble. If you have questions about reducing the waste at your next event or at your office, contact [email protected].
Check out the video of Kickball Without Bor‐ders 2010, which should be posted on the website this year.
Finally, thanks is in order for all the partici‐pants who played, volunteered on the day, volunteered to organize the event, and of course, all the willing, enthusiastic, and pa‐tient referees.
See everyone next year!
Kickball Without Borders 2010 Recap By Brooke Weeks
The WINNER: GL Garrad Hassan
The TEAMS:
GL Garrad Hassan
(Our defending champs!)
The Defpoints
Shannon & Wilson Inc
Iron Mullet (Otak and friends)
Brown and Caldwell
Black & Veatch
PGE
Infinity Images
BIAMP Systems
Kennedy/Jenks Consultants
Cardno WRG/ Kittelson
Carollo Engineers
Kleinfelder
GSI Water Solutions
DKS Associates
Parametrix
Ash Creek
KPFF
Parsons Brinckerhoff/PSU
HDR Engineering
ESCO Corp
DEA Inc.
PBS
The Facebook competition‐WINNER: Parametrix
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A Thank You to Our Sponsors
‐‐‐‐‐‐Platinum Level‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ ($5,000 to $10,000 Level)
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐Gold Level‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ ($2,500 to $5,000 Level)
‐‐Silver & Bronze Level‐‐‐ ($500 to $2,500 Level)
PAE Consulting Eng. StormwateRx
PBS Eng. and Env. GSI Water Solutions
Garrad Hassan Parsons Brinkerhoff Black & Veatch Tzvi’s Place
To learn about sponsorship opportunities, visit www.ewbportland.org/sponsors
Upcoming Events Calendar October 12 : Haiti Team Mtg. (and every other Tuesday night)
October 13 : Chapter Mtg. ‐ Social (Location: Ringlers Pub on W. Burnside)
October 30‐31st: EWB West Coast Regional Workshop in San Francisco
November 9 : Chapter Mtg. ‐ Chapter Summit (Location: DEA)
November : ASCE ‐ UP Joint Mtg
December 8 : Chapter Meeting ‐ Presentation (Location: DEA)
January 12 : Beer without Borders
March : EWB International Conference in Louisville, KY More details at www.ewbportland.org/calendar
Our chapter’s activities are funded through donations and sponsorships. Donations are tax‐deductible and can be made online at www.ewbportland.org/donate, or can be mailed to EWB‐USA, Portland Chapter, P.O. Box 14734, Portland, OR 97293 . Thanks!
This past June a team of six EWB Port‐land professionals traveled to Les Ang‐lais for their third field trip since the program began. Travel had been post‐poned from February due to the 7.0 earthquake in Port‐au‐Prince and was rescheduled after our partners in Port‐au‐Prince were comfortable support‐ing our trip.
In Les Anglais, the team successfully installed a passively controlled chlorine tablet feeder and steel enclosure to treat part of the community water system. They trained six local volunteers as op‐erators. Sanitation workshops were held with a variety of stakeholder groups to get community input on a new sanitation project. Additionally the EWB program is in the process of developing a partnership with an organization called IFC‐World Bank to provide financial management training to the various water boards in Les Anglais. IFC‐World Bank sent a representative to Les Anglais from Sofitraining, their Haitian partner organiza‐tion. Madame Michaelle Fortune conducted a large scoping meeting with the water boards from Les Anglais and neighboring districts. Ul‐timately EWB hopes to work with Sofitraining to complete training for community leaders so they are better able to manage their infra‐structure in the future. Special thanks to Par‐sons Brinckerhoff and Biamp for their gener‐ous grants that directly supported this work.
EWB Les Anglais Program ‐ June 2010 Field Trip By Carolyn Shapiro
EWB project team with the enclosed chlorina‐tor on the Bassin Simbi reservoir.
Kim Slack (EWB) training a group of Les Anglais residents to operate and
maintain the chlorinator and to monitor and adjust chlorine con‐centrations in the drinking water.