How it all began

I was recently told that it might be interesting to hear about how I got involved with "all of that stuff" (i.e. social justice issues and Engineers Without Borders). In retrospect this is something I should have dealt with right off the bat, but better late than never.

A few years ago I was wondering around the CAW Quad on Clubs Day looking for a group to join where I could do something valuable with my time and meet new people. I made my way over to an orange booth and noticed that it was "Engineers Without Borders" (EWB). I spoke to Kyle and Justin who were at the booth and I signed up, got some info and planned on heading to the next meeting.

Honestly, I was hesitant about becoming involved and not being an engineer. I wondered if they would talk about complex aspects of the technology or show some charts or something. To my surprise I did not feel like an outsider at all. It was great. Engineers Without Borders- not just for engineers!

I ran into a friend randomly a few days later and asked her if she was part of that "Engineers Without Borders thing" and she said yes. I told her I was considering going to a meeting and at her persuasion I actually applied to be on the Executive.

To my surprise I actually got the position.

I began to learn more about EWB. Their mandate is to "promote human development through access to appropriate technology." Basically this means working in developing countries (primarily in Western and Southern Africa) through projects in water and sanitation, rural energy and agriculture. They want to use technologies that are stable, help reduce poverty, and have positive long term effects. An example of such is a treadle pump. Picture a stairmaster and a hose. By stepping on the planks the water gets pumped from the water source to the field. Irrigation is faster and more effective. More can be yielded and the pump can be repaired locally. Sustainable, effective.

These projects (and many others) happen year round. Universities can send students for 4 months (during the summer) on a placement to work with a non gov't organisation/gov't organisation/local organisation. There's fundraising all year long for these placements. There's also 13 month + placements for students who have graduated.

One of the coolest things that happens every year (and one of my favourites) is the National Conference. It's held in January in a different location and 500+ EWBers from across the country get together for four awesome days and do workshops on leadership, advocacy, and skill building. There are guest speakers (past speakers have included Stephen Lewis, Romeo Dallaire and Michaelle Jean) and a fun banquet on the last night. It's also a little like a family reunion (but with no weird Aunt Sally).

Locally, Chapters (that's what the 27+ University based sections of EWB are called) engage in School Outreach, fundraising, public outreach and advocacy. School Outreach is something I was, and am, highly involved in. We will go to local (and sometimes not so local) High Schools and give interactive presentations on energy, food, and water issues. Students will have to either husk rice or make a water filter. It gets them thinking outside of their local bubble to the world at large and how their actions can impact others. It's awesome. The kids have great reactions to the presentations (did you know that Canada dumps 3 trillion litres of untreated sewage into the water each year? or that 1.2 billion people live on less than a dollar a day?)

Public outreach and advocacy are year round but are at their biggest for Oct 17th- the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty- and the beginning of March for EWB Day. This is where we engage the public, on and off campus, about issues such as foreign aid, fair trade, or debt cancellation.

There's also Development Dish. This is a bi-weekly session that lasts about an hour where we will talk about poverty related issues. We explore case studies, past projects, have guest speakers, debates, and watch films about poverty and what's being done (and what more we can do). You learn a lot no matter how much you know going into it. And it's always nice to hear other people's opinions/ideas. And we usually have food which is always nice (I make killer mint chocolate chip cookies). Development Dish will actually be this Thursday at 5 if you're interested. It's in the Board Room of the CAW Centre (upstairs).

Some of the things I've done with EWB include: VP Communications (basically contacting the media), VP Education (facilitating bi-weekly meetings) and right now I'm President (basically a bit of everything and making sure everyone is on top of their game).

I've also interned at the EWB National Office in Toronto for the summer of '06. I was responsible for writing website content, fundraising documents, newsletter, articles of the week, volunteer coordination at the office, and co-coordinating a Massive Outreach Event. (They seemed to have really taken advantage of having an English student.)

The Massive Outreach Event was a day where 90 volunteers took downtown Toronto by storm. They were at 13 subway stations, Union Station, 3 malls and the Rogers Centre handing out 35, 000 newspapers about what we need to do to eradicate poverty. It was dated 2025 and read "G8 leaders declare end of extreme poverty" and inside there were events that happened that led to it (i.e. fair trade, end of subsidies, debt cancellation, etc). It was pretty exciting, a little stressful, and so much fun.

So I think I've gone on about what I've done and how I started doing it but I'm not sure I've fully addressed why.

I want to do something to promote social justice and end poverty because it is an injustice. There is no reason why I was born in Canada or white except by pure chance. There is no reason why I can have access to medical care, clean drinking water, and leisure time while other people struggle to make it through the day. There is so much we can do, in many capacities, that will make a better quality of life for people in poverty. They didn't do anything wrong. They aren't lazy. They just need an opportunity. And I want to help in any, and every, way I can.

"A man is but a product of his thoughts; what he thinks, that he becomes."
- Mohandas K. Gandhi