Giving Back

Honduras Town Aided by Engineers Without Borders

By Nicholas Labadie

Participation in humanitarian organizations such as Engineers Without Borders can be life-changing and affirming. It can also help individuals grow professionally, and employers who understand this will also reap benefits.

Nick Labadie, Engineers

A surplus of free time is not something professionals in the construction and development industry are known for having; with any number of responsibilities and other pursuits demanding significant amounts of our time, it is all too easy to get in to a routine; however, there are many reasons, on both a personal and professional level, why it is exceptionally beneficial to volunteer what time we can to worthy organizations.

Groups such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB) are ideal for applying technical knowledge in a foreign and complicated environment, honing problem solving skills on your feet, and learning how to work in and lead teams of other professionals outside of the office. As a member of EWB for several years and a co-founder of the Phoenix Chapter, I have seen first hand how these skills can be applied in the workplace to make employees more effective, productive and creative. Employers who acknowledge this, then support and encouragement participation are absolutely vital.

Engineers Without Borders is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects. The activities of EWB-USA range from the construction of sustainable systems that developing communities can own and operate without external assistance, to empowering such communities by enhancing local, technical, managerial, and entrepreneurial skills.

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These projects are initiated by, and completed with, contributions from the host community working with our project teams which are made up of all disciplines of engineering, from civil, mechanical, and environmental, to chemical and industrial, as well as urban planners, construction managers, health professionals, and members from many other fields in the larger construction and development industry.

The Phoenix Chapter of EWB has recently returned from an initial assessment trip to the small mountain town of Marcala, Honduras, where we were approved for a wastewater project. Asked to determine the condition of an Imhoff tank, installed over 15 years ago and no longer functioning correctly, it is our goal to design and implement a solution that will have the non-functioning tank treating the incoming wastewater sufficiently and to improve the quality of the water in the river in to which the tank currently discharges raw sewage, making the people in the area and in towns downstream who rely on it continually sick.

Assistant Pedro Vasquez removes solids by hand in the town’s deteriorating Imhoff tank. Since workers are prone to accidentally falling in the tank, safety is the first order of business for EWB.

Warmly welcomed by the community, we were very impressed with the commitment on the part of the residents and town’s leaders, with whom we were able to establish great connections, to work as hard as is necessary to improve their situation.

Working together closely, the seven members of the Assessment Team from EWB Phoenix surveyed the tank site, took flow measurements, conducted several interviews, visited the health clinic and schools, and met with the Mayor and his staff to discuss the project issues and potential solutions.

As is often the case with this type of project where it is our intention to maintain a lasting relationship with the community for years to come, we also assessed the existing conditions of the town as a whole to determine the longer term needs and work with the residents to prioritize future projects.

These seven members are now back and working with the dozens of other volunteers from local, national, and international firms all over the Phoenix valley to raise funds, design solutions, coordinate materials, raise awareness, and plan for future trips back to Marcala.

While participation in an organization such as EWB does require varying levels of commitment from a few hours a month to many hours a week, having an integral part in so many aspects of the project, gaining valuable hands on experience, meeting and working with motivated individuals from across the industry, all while helping to make the world a better place, can connect you with new people, companies, and opportunities and be both life changing and affirming. It also gives forward thinking responsible employers the opportunity to broaden and enhance their employees’ skills, increase efficiency and productivity, improve moral, reduce turnover, and create lasting success.

We are all familiar with the fundraising efforts of charitable organizations; we’ve attended the events, made the donations, and pledged money to the 5k walker, but making the time to participate and get active in an organization like EWB is truly "teaching the world to fish".

Nicholas Labadie is senior planner at Rose Law Group and is a co-founder and board member of the Phoenix chapter of EWB. You can reach him at 480-505-3938 or nal@roselawgroup.com.

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