Alternate spring break: Students bring water to African village, repair Katrina's devastation
Aileen Bachant
Issue date: 3/22/07 Section: News
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Engineers without Borders
A team of six Rowan students traveled to the village of Ngomine, Senegal. Plans to design and build a new water distribution system for the small village in Senegal, Africa were approved by the Engineers Without Borders organization in the beginning of February, according to the team's advisor, Dr. Josh Wyrick.
The need for a better supply of fresh water was first discovered by the father of engineering student, Megan Brown. Dr. William Brown had previously traveled to the region last March and found there to be an obvious lack of clean drinking water.
According to Wyrick, the town had shallow wells, but the water within contained salt and was not fit to drink.
The team of four Rowan engineering students; Megan Brown, Paul Russo, Michael Berry and Christie Walker arrived in Senegal on Sunday, March 11 in the early morning. They began by surveying the town and mapping out where they wanted the pipes and water faucets to go.
"We found out how much water they used and tested the water for pH level and bacteria," said Brown senior civil engineering major. "We got to know the people, their needs and how they wanted to fix this. We wanted this to be their system and not our system."
By interacting with the villagers, students noted the difference in culture and attitude.
"They were in such desperate need, yet at the same time, appreciated life," said civil engineering major Michael Berry. "Things such as having water [and] food to eat … literally meant the world to them."
"For me, the highlight of the whole trip was seeing the joy on the faces of the elders and children alike as they welcomed us into their lives and their families," said Brown. "They were very people-oriented and not so concerned with time. No matter what task was being accomplished, one would stop to greet another."
According to both Brown and Berry, the villagers seemed very friendly and generous. There was a language barrier, but a translator and hand and body communication helped to move conversation along. They camped for three nights in the village and ate with the people. The students were offered lots of bread in the mornings and meals of couscous and meat, according to Brown.
The students will meet and discuss the trip to complete designs for piping and proper location of faucets in Ngomine. In planning, costs will be discussed and considered. According to Wryick, the team hopes to return at the end of the fall semester in December of this year to begin work.
Both teams of students returned to Rowan this week with a sense of achievement. Though cultures differed in the two regions serviced during the week, both teams noted how sincerely thankful the people were for what they had done. Students from both trips felt they had found a repayment for their service through interaction with these people.
Schmazel commended all involved for their efforts. "Rowan students, or as if they were your own kids, you're proud of them."
Katrina Relief Project
The Katrina Relief team of 41 Rowan students and four faculty members arrived in New Orleans on Saturday, March 10 to help rebuild communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in September of 2005. Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) hosted the team for the week, offering its dining facilities and dormitories for the students to return to after the day's work.
The members split into five teams assigned to different projects, including house sheet-rocking, house-gutting, exterior painting, window-scrapping and heavy yard-cleaning. On-site project management members met with the teams daily to assign new tasks and explain how agendas would differ from day to day.
According to advising faculty member, Dr. John Schmalzel, all team members were at their assigned sites ready to work by 9 a.m. every day. He explained that lunch was offered on-site and everyone was cleaned off and back at Xavier's dining facilities for dinner at 5 p.m.
"Students felt a strong sense of community," Schmalzel said, as they interacted with residents in their efforts to rebuild. The overwhelming gratitude was noted as the most rewarding part of the trip.
"It was heart-felt thanks," Schmalzel said, "The most important component in a trip like this … is the community. Communities are people; people committed to the process."
Junior civil engineering major Matt Parisi agreed. "The people we worked with in the community were so involved," he said about his second trip to New Orleans.
"It was a positive experience for everyone… an opportunity to participate in something new and different."
"The trip was probably one of the best experiences of my life and I will never forget it," said junior journalism major Ashleigh Ries. "I was overwhelmed by the generosity of all the people down there."
Ries and Schmalzel both mentioned a local church's offering of a home-cooked dinner as an extremely moving token of appreciation.
Although all the team members received pre-training and had been preparing for the trip since September, much was learned for the students on the job. Students learned skills and adjusted quickly to help when needed.
"I helped to gut houses, did some painting, cleaned up debris from lawns and helped sort through things a woman wanted to get rid of," said Ries, "I personally didn't think I could knock down a wall, but I did."
Seeing how much work still needed to be done was the most "hard-hitting" experience, according to Ries.
"We took a trip to the Lower-Ninth Ward, the place with the most damage and where the levees broke," Ries said. "Just seeing the scant remnants of steps and foundations of homes for a quarter of a mile really brought all of it to life. Going through the neighborhood and seeing homes leaning over, missing walls and having people's possessions pouring out of doors and windows really makes you think."
Despite inclement weather, all team members returned home by Saturday, March 17.
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