Last Wednesday we had the opportunity to have a meeting with the president of the NYU chapter of Engineers Without Borders, Amanda Setiawan. It was a super interesting, educational and exciting experience for many reasons. Amanda talked about how EWB works, who they worked with, and what the NYU chapter is currently working on. Engineers Without Borders is a non-profit humanitarian organization working to provide sustainable amd innovative community driven development to rural areas around the globe. Amanda explained how EWB only helps those communities who reach out to them, creating a non-invasive relationship with the people they are helping.

The NYU chapter of Engineers Without Borders also prioritizes aiding the economies of the rural and mainly impoverished areas they work with. They do this by hiring locals to build and help with implementation of the systems, so that they provide jobs and avoid outsourcing. They also strive to create self-sufficient systems that do not require constant external support, meaning that the local community is fully involved in the project and can sustain it long after the EWB team has left. EWB-NYU has just started a brand new project, working to provide a sustainable water supply, sanitation system, and solar powered energy grid to a rural Health Center in Gambia. These otherwise non-existent necessities will save lives because they will immensely improve hygenic conditions, allow surgeries to be conducted at night, and of course provide clean water to those who need it.

The meeting was inspiring, educational and meaningful for me. It was incredibly compelling to hear about all of the communities that are being helped. It that we could be a part of that. We asked Amanda how we could get involved, and she replied simply with: “By doing what you love.” We are expecting her to contact us with information about how we can get our hands dirty, but for now, we learned so much and are thrilled to be working with her!