The Africa Project
In February, 2008, we were approached by the Organization for Cross-Cultural Exchange (OCCE, www.ExchangeForChange.org) regarding the need for developmental aid in a village called Vukuzenzele. This community of approximately 200 households, located in the poverty-stricken province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, lacks safe water and sanitation.
In December, 2008, six students and two mentors travelled to this village to meet with village leaders, health professionals, and municipality representatives regarding their perceived needs for the community. The team also mapped the location of water sources and conducted tests to measure the quality of water sources. In January, the team was awarded a grant from EWB-USA and Boeing to continue work in Vukuzenzele. The next step is to evaluate the difference(s) in water quality and supply during Africa’s winter months, which are typically dry for KwaZulu-Natal. Join us as we continue our work!
Africa Project Gallery
The Mexico Project
In the spring of 2007, a team of Kettering students and mentors travelled to Estanque de Leon in Coahuila, Mexico to assess the health and water conditions in the village. Upon arrival, the team discovered that some of the water sources had evaporated, and the remaining sources were turbid and highly contaminated.
These students, and others they’d recruited, began investigating methods for collecting, filtering, and disinfecting water. In the spring of 2008, new team members accompanied some from the original team to install biosand filters in a few locations within the village, along with a solar disinfection (SoDis) units. The purpose of these systems are to (1) mechanically filter large parasites and bacteria, (2) “suffocate” smaller aerobic bacteria, (3) eliminate turbidity, and (4) sterilize the remaining bacteria and viruses with UV radiation. Select residents in the community were trained on the use and maintenance of these systems.
A larger team of students and mentors travelled to Estanque de Leon for a third time in the fall of 2008. During this trip, the team worked directly with members of the community to install water filtration systems and SoDis units at or near to every household. Kettering-EWB is now monitoring the use of these systems in the village and exploring the possibility of delivering this technology to neighboring villages.
Mexico Project Gallery
Local Projects
Partnering with local nursing homes, hospitals, and The Disability Network of Michigan, we have been able to identify several families in the Flint area who are in need of a wheelchair ramp for their home. In the spring of ’08, we constructed a deck for the family of Cherokee Davison, for whom we were to build a wheelchair ramp.
Cherokee suffered complications of her bone marrow transplant and died just prior to the date we’d scheduled construction of her ramp. We decided to proceed with building a deck for her family’s home. In the summer and fall of ’08, we build wheelchair ramps for three additional families. We’re grateful to Home Depot and the Carter Foundation for their financial support.
