Sierra Leone Renewable Energy

Summary

The LemonAid Village Schools in Lower Allentown, Sierra Leone provide services to 505 children in the area. In the words of  head mistress, Francess Browne, “We are having energy failure and we are in desperate need of supplemental energy through source such as solar panels and energy storage facility. Currently the school relies on the inconsistent power grid of Freetown which only runs a few hours a day. In order to power their small computer lab in the evening they must use a generator which does not provide enough power to light the school while powering the computers.

Sierra Leone Water Systems

Summary

Allentown is a growing community outside of Freetown. Our project involves the community’s school, the LemonAid Village and medical center. Currently, the school’s water is provided entirely through rainwater catchment. The water is not treated so it cannot be used as drinking water. The LemonAId village accommodates approximately 500 students.The goal of this project is to provide the school with clean water for drinking, cleaning and cooking for the students and community members of Lower Allentown.

Boliva Water Sanitation

Summary

The community of Asanquiri is located in the highlands of Bolivia. Young adults from this village and others are taught at the Centro de Capacitación Técnica y Formación Integral Asanquiri (CECTFIA). CECTFIA is a local NGO that reaches out to 28 communities in northern Potosí, focusing on reducing child nutrition.  CECTFIA also hosts an agriculatural school in Asanquiri, where the students live and take classes to teach them responsible agricultural practices and other skills to improve their livelihood, all while maintaining the local Andean culture.

Due to the seasonal cycle of rainfall that occurs in this region, the school often runs dangerously low on water during the dry season. The only source of water is a spring, which is also seasonal. The spring box is also open and unguarded, which allows animals to trample and defecate in the spring. Diarrhea is a common problem for children at the Capacitation Center, and the cause most likely comes from bacteria found in the water.

About EWB

EWB – NCSU is a student organization, dedicated to improving lives through the creation and implementation of sustainable projects to address the needs of disadvantaged peoples. EWB-NCSU also works to help the local community through service.

EWB-USA was founded in 2002 by University of Colorado-Boulder Civil Engineering professor, Dr. Bernard Amadei in order to address some of the most prevalent challenges facing the developing world, including water purification and delivery, sanitation, transportation and infrastructure projects, and sustainable and renewable energy systems. What started as a backyard conversation with a landscaper from San Pablo, Belize resulted in a clean water system for the local community and sparked a global engineering movement that has directly impacted more than one million people to date. The nonprofit started with 18 members and one university chapter. And today, EWB-USA is comprised of an expansive network of over 12,000 members and more than 225 university student and professional chapters engaged in over 400 active programs in 45 countries around the world.

The North Carolina State University Student Chapter, founded in 2006, has three active projects; a water sanitation project in Bolivia, an energy project in Sierra Leone, and a water systems project in Sierra Leone.