E-NEWSLETTER
(Vol.I, Issue # 1)
Mail to ewbindia@ewb-india.org
Affiliated to
"Engineers Without Borders-International
www.ewb-international.org
Women's
Solar Barefoot Engineers Association members at NIRD's solar technology training centre
assembling solar powered lamps (click on picture to enlarge/view)
[Contents---Letter from the Editor, NIRD Workshop- A brief report,
Earthship- A self sufficient home, Mobile School Project, Cooking Fuel
Briquettes Project, Proposal for Women's Chapter, Announcements]
A Letter from the
Editor (Ali Ansari,
Chairperson, EWB-India)
Hello!
We hope this first
issue in our newsletter series will open a door to a virtual "world without
borders" and help us reach out to the many people who have written to us
upon seeing the website. So, let me begin by informing you that the site has
just been revised. It now has Membership Application forms for those interested
in becoming members in one of many categories: Students or Professionals in
India, Students or Professionals Living Abroad, and Institutional Members. (If
you live in India and wish to become an EWB-India member, please send us the
application form and membership fee by post, per instructions on the website.
For the convenience of people living abroad the relevant form on the website
will shortly have a Submit facility – but for the time being they can just
email their membership application without sending the fees. We are in the
process of setting up a system to receive membership fees from members living
abroad in US$ or Euros. We will inform you when this facility is set up.)
EWB-India's
mission, like that of other EWB's across the globe, is to serve disadvantaged
rural / urban communities through sustainable technological and socioeconomic
solutions. Many of these groups are powerless in the face of government and
corporate policies that have, wittingly or unwittingly, sapped their strength
and ability to meet their own needs. With this in mind, we organized our first
major event, a workshop on Technologies For Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, from
January 8 to 12, 2006. Conducted by resource persons, Dr. Bhattacharya and Dr.
Gangi Reddy, from National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad, it
was attended by participants from UK, USA and Uganda and Indian participants,
including faculty members of Muffakham Jah College of Engineering and students
from local engineering colleges.
You will find in
this issue a report by one of the student participants, brief statements by a
few participants and some pictures. For many of us, it was an unforgettable and
deeply meaningful experience of a world in microcosm. We felt humble before the
villagers we met, elevated and inspired by their strength and bonded to them in
their suffering.
We were also
inspired and fascinated by NIRD's solar technology training center, where rural
womenfolk are being trained as "Barefoot Solar Engineers". (Couldn't
EWB-India chapters help replicate and multiply such projects, I thought to
myself, as I watched these "non-literate" women using PCB's to make
solar lamps.)
As the workshop
closed in the hi-tech conference room of NIRD with the song "We Shall
Overcome" I couldn't help but wonder if this was another urban educated
hype or a haunting personal challenge, namely: How may I, in my position of
leadership and responsibility within EWB-India, meet this challenge of
facilitating an extraordinary movement of voluntary participation of engineers
and others to sow and nurture, as in St. Francis' prayer (suitably modified),
the seeds of justice where there is exploitation, peace where there is strife,
compassion where there is selfishness and greed -------. It takes courage to
turn away from the enticements that enslave people in an endless circle of
desire and want, often frivolous want, while the basic, survival needs of
millions – their right of access to food and water and shelter and a dignified
existence, are denied.
We hope you will
join us in meeting this challenge and call of conscience. EWB-India is so
structured that small groups of motivated individuals are encouraged to start
affiliated Student and Professional chapters (in India and overseas), in order
to undertake projects that would help protect the land through responsible uses
of technology and help small communities become sustainable and more independent
in meeting their basic needs from local resources. In the words of a visionary
engineer: "Engineering is not just about doing things right but also about
doing the right things". (See our website for guidelines on starting
chapters.)
Let me share, in
closing, a recent experience, at once poignant and uplifting. Divya, a 4th year
engineering student, invited me to an amazing project – a Mobile School for
the children of construction workers living in a slum in Jubilee Hills,
Hyderabad (see below). The school is supported and run by an extraordinary group
of youngsters, part of a student social service movement called Bharat Uday
Mission. This was on 26th January. The nation was celebrating its
Republic Day. And here were some 50 families, living in 8 ft. by 6 ft. temporary
shelters, cloistered on a tiny patch of hilly land in a wealthy suburb of the
city, surviving without running water, electricity or sanitation. I asked what
they used for cooking fuel. The answer (not unexpected): whatever they can
forage that can be burned – sticks and pieces of wood, collected daily by
children to cook the family's one daily meal.
A logical
question: Couldn't we make solid fuel briquettes cheaply and simply from agro or
paper waste and help set up small production units that could be operated by
rural communities? A student study project to do this has begun (see below) at
Muffakham Jah College of Engineering & Technology (MJCET). I hope it can be
supported and developed. Perhaps some existing foreign EWB chapters or other EWB
–India chapters, as they start up, would like to collaborate on this project
with the MJCET Student Chapter.
Can we
collectively pledge to make engineering a "helping profession" and not
rest until a foundation is laid?
Ali Ansari aliansari@vsnl.com
Note:
1)We look forward
to receiving your membership application form if you wish to become a member.
Also, please pass on this newsletter to anyone you know who might wish to become
an EWB-India member, and/or may wish to be kept informed of our activities.
2)NIRD frequently
conducts workshops and trainings on demand for Indian and international groups.
See http://www.nird.org.in/
3)Lt. Col Naresh
Bana (
nareshpsbana@gmail.com) plans to start an EWB-India
Professional Chapter in northern India. Interested persons may contact him
NIRD Workshop – A Brief Report (H. Rouha)
Aerial view of the
cost effective rural houses at RTP, NIRD (click on picture to enlarge/view)
The International
Workshop on "Technologies for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods",
organized jointly by National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), EWB –
India, EWB – International, Muffakham Jah College of Engineering, Engineering
for Developing Communities (University of Colorado – Boulder), was conducted
by NIRD resource persons at the NIRD campus in Hyderabad from 08th -12th January
2006. It was attended by participants from USA, UK, Uganda and India.
The Workshop
included visits to villages where sustainable engineering and socioeconomic
solutions have been successfully implemented, such as watershed projects,
innovative rainwater collection models, farmers' collectives and a school for
underprivileged children operated by Deccan Develoment Society at Zaheerabad. At
NIRD's Rural Technology Park (RTP) we saw numerous models of appropriate and
sustainable technologies, like vermicomposting, manufacture of handmade paper
and organic dyes and rural housing and sanitation techniques appropriate for
various parts of rural India. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, the Gandhi Handmade
Paper Unit at NIRD converts cloth and agro-waste to paper. We were impressed and
inspired by the sight of rural women assembling solar lamps using printed
circuit boards at NIRD-RTP's Solar Technology Training Centre. These women have
formed themselves into Women Barefoot Solar Engineers Association (WBSEA) to
train other women to assemble solar lamps and light up villages. At Kothapally
Village we observed the watershed work undertaken by villagers under the
direction of ICRISAT staff, which has resulted in a dramatic increase in ground
water table in just five years. ICRISAT is working in Semi-Arid Tropics to
design technologies that will enhance the farm productivity of dryland crops and
improve rural livelihood opportunities.
We also saw a
number of good presentations by NIRD faculty, Dr. Bhattacharya and Dr. Gangi
Reddy, and a representative of the NGO, BASIX on land management, village
development and biodiesel production. Erica Rosenfarb from the architectural
firm, Earthship at Taos, New Mexico, showed a fascinating film on sustainable
and low cost housing, utilizing waste materials like discarded tires, bottles
and cans. The Earthship team has built several such structures around the world.
Robyn Sandekian gave a presentation on University of Colorado, Boulder, USA's
Engineering for Developing Communities Program and Prof. Ali Ansari on EWB-India's
mission and work.
The workshop was
altogether a delightful learning experience and the village visits were the
icing on the cake. I am looking forward to practically implementing the
knowledge I gained from the workshop.
H. Rouha, MJ
College of Engineering and Technology, India ( rouha.h@gmail.com
)
The International
Workshop on Technologies for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods gave an excellent
overview of the issues facing life in rural India, and solutions that are
currently being implemented. It also acted as an open forum to discuss the
issues which were addressed and the cross cultural exchange allowed people to
question their assumptions and discover more about solutions in other parts of
the world. As a British engineering student, I found it very interesting and
inspiring to see how rural India is dealing with its problems such as by
constructing watersheds to rejuvenate the local water table and improve
agricultural productivity. The workshop was also professionally run and very
enjoyable (including excellent food!). As a direct consequence of the workshop,
my EWB student group in Oxford is hoping to work in collaboration with EWB-India.
Many thanks to all who helped organize it and to everyone who took part.
Anna Lea, Oxford
University, UK ( anna.lea@wadham.oxford.ac.uk
)
The NIRD-EWB India
workshop was a unique experience. I have only worked with the urban
underprivileged and this was really informative. It made me understand that
their problems are completely different and the way we approach these issues was
also truly enlightening. But one similarity that exists, and almost unites these
efforts that we put in, is that we need to involve the people we're helping to
ensure that we have a sustainable model. I hope we will all come together and
make a difference to our country
Divya, Jawaharlal
Nehru Technological University, India (divyashri@gmail.com
)
The workshop was
an enriching experience where we learnt and witnessed the successful
implementation of the various techniques adopted by the rural development
agencies to provide economical, sustainable and appropriate technology to
empower rural masses.
Haritha Sree, MJ
College of Engineering and Technology, India (haritha.veeraghanta@gmail.com
)
The EWB - NIRD
workshop was a very interesting and enlightening experience.I got a chance to
understand the different aspects of sustainability and its effects on
livelihood. We had the opportunity to communicate with both the elite and the
masses. This workshop was indeed a step towards bridging the gap between
Engineering and agriculture.
Deepti Dutt A, MJ
College of Engineering and Technology, India (deeptidutt.a@gmail.com )
Earthship
Biotecture believes in building houses that work to sustain themselves and the
people that live in them. We design and build homes that heat and cool
themselves naturally via solar/thermal dynamics.... Collect their own power from
the sun and harvest their own water from the rain and snow melt...As well as
contain and treat their own sewage on site. Also these houses are constructed
using largely the by-products of modern society like cans, bottles and tyres.
We believe that
this must be done in small steps that people can understand and actually grasp
and thereby empower themselves. This would contribute to slowing down and
ultimately reversing the downward spiral of the condition of the planet as it
relates to supporting all plant, animal and human life. These home shapes been
developed and put into practice in Taos, New Mexico as well as Mexico, Bolivia,
Japan, the Himalayas and most recently in Hut Bay Andaman Islands, India. Please
check out www.earthshipbiotecture.com
for more info, pictures and video.
My name is Ericka
Rosenfarb and I work for Earthship Biotecture and recently had the honour to
attend the Technologies for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Workshop, through NIRD
and EWB-India. It was an amazing group. We visited some wonderful projects but
most important to me was the new connections we made. As a small group I think
this is what allowed to forge such wonderful dialogues and plant the seeds for
future projects together - we already have a yahoo brainstorm group in place. I
am currently in India for four months, spreading the earthship word and hoping
to put together more projects for the future and funding for more disaster
relief work or other worthy projects. As well as research and hopefully getting
to work on a project pertaining to sustainability. I am grateful to EWB-India
for putting all this together and look forward to working together on our shared
mission. Feel free to contact me with any comments, suggestions or questions rosenfarb2000@yahoo.com
Ericka Rosenfarb
Briquettes offer a
low-technology direct substitute for wood fuels for household or industrial use.
At EWB-India MJCET Chapter we are currently working on providing alternate
cooking fuel to the needy. A five-member team (me, Md. Ghouseuddin, Md. Jawwad,
Zoheb khan), with Ms. Ishrat Mirzana (Assistant Professor, MJ College of
Engineering and Technology) as project guide, is working towards making fuel
briquettes by compressing paper and agricultural wastes. Calorific value tests
have been conducted on varied samples and the results are encouraging.
For more
information, or to provide us with useful information, please contact H. Rouha (
rouha.h@gmail.com
)
The Mobile School
Project is an innovative project of Bharat Uday Mission's Hyderabad Chapter,
aimed at bringing education to the doorsteps of migratory children. Construction
workers or daily-wage workers are reluctant to send their children to regular
schools because they are not sure about their location the next day. We have 4
schools that are functional in different parts of Hyderabad. We aim to open 25
such schools by December 2006. The schools teach these children functional
literacy through an interesting encounter with education, thereby motivating
them to join mainstream educational institutes. Bharat Uday Mission is an
all-India youth movement with more than 1800 members dedicated to improving the
present sociopolitical system in our country. We have 25 chapters (including one
in the USA and Germany) with motivated members who've taken up several social
activities and are devoted to making a difference. In Hyderabad, we are working
on 3 different projects. One is Muskaan in tandem with IIIT, another is where a
group of members have joined hands and are using the RTI-Act to file petitions,
and the Mobile School Project in association with Samyuktha, an NGO working for
basic child health care and education. It takes Rs. 42,000 per annum and Rs.
3500 per month to sponsor a school. We do not have any overhead costs and the
monthly costs are towards the teacher's salaries and teaching material.
Please contact divyashri@gmail.com
if you are interested in contributing for this project.
Please visit www.bharatudaymission.org
and join us http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bharatudaymission/
If you want a
change, be the change!
Divyashri
Proposal for a
women's chapter
Following the NIRD
Workshop the idea of starting an All India Women's Chapter of EWB-India
germinated. Its objective might be to organize / network women
engineers and focus on social, economic and technical solutions to problems
faced by women among the poorer sections. To give your feedback or suggestions
regarding this proposal please email Ms. Ishrat M. Mirzana, Faculty Advisor EWB-India
MJCET chapter at ishratmm2001@yahoo.com
Announcements
The International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering
Call For Papers
The International
Journal for Service Learning in Engineering (IJSLE) is a faculty-reviewed
electronic journal offered free, semi-annually, over the World Wide Web. The
Journal welcomes manuscripts based on original work of students and researchers
with a specific focus or implication for service learning in engineering,
engineering entrepreneurship in service, or related service learning pedagogy.
For more information about IJSLE see:
http://www.engr.psu.edu/IJSLE
IJSLE requests authors submit articles relating to the latest design and
research pertinent to local communities related to:
• engineering research projects as service
• engineering
design projects as service
•
engineering-related entrepreneurship projects as service
• engineering
service learning pedagogy
Manuscripts must
be submitted by May 30, 2006 for inclusion in the next issue of IJSLE.
Strategies to Accelerate Sustainable Rural Development
India Development
Coalition of America (IDCA) is organizing a conference in Jaipur on February
24-25. The theme of the conference is:
Strategies to Accelerate Sustainable Rural Development
For further
details contact
Mohan L. Jain, Ph.D.
President,
India Development Coalition of America www.idc-america.org
m.jain@idc-america.org
"Working Together to Accelerate Sustainable Development in India"
630-705-3080 (O)
630-325-7571 (H) India Mobile: 9312831220
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING
DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
-
African Solutions
for African Problems –
-
June 4-8, 2006
-
Yaoundé, Cameroon
-
Hosted
by: Association of
Engineers Graduated from Polytechnic Institute Yaoundé, Cameroon
Organized
by:
WFEO
Committee on Capacity Building
Engineers
Without Borders – International
Engineers
Without Borders – Cameroon
International
Network of Women Engineers and Scientists, Canada
Canadian
Council of Professional Engineers
National
Engineering Council, France
Conference
web sites: www.ingenieurs-polytech.org
and www.ewb-international.org/ASAP06.htm
.
NIRD is
organizing a 3-day workshop titled starting March 6 th 2006 "
Partipatory Technology Development".
International
Conference on Environmental Geosciences , 15 - 16 February, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
South
Asia Energy Conservation Conclave 17 - 19 February Ranchi, Jharkhand,India
Appropriate
Technology for the Developing World Workshop , Mexico City, March 13-16
4th
World Water Forum , Mexico City, March 16-22
Central
Biofuels Conference and Expo : Panama City, March 21-23
International
Conference on Renewable Energy for Developing Countries , DC, April 5-7
Conference
on Service Learning in Engineering National Academy of Engineering, DC, May
23-25
Conference
on Comparing Design in Nature with Science & Engineering , New Forest
UK, May 24-26
Sustainable
Engineering Development in Africa , Yaounde, June 4-8
Conference
on Waste Management and the Environment , New Forest UK, June 21-23
Conference
on Quantified Eco-Efficiency Analysis for Sustainability , June 28-20
International
Conference on Appropriate Technology , Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, July 12-15
Conference
on Urban Regeration and Sustainability , Tallinn, Estonia, July 17-19
Conference
on Sustainable Irrigation Management , Bologna, Italy, Sept. 5-7
Union
Pan Americana de Asocianones de Ingenieria (UPADI), Atlanta, Sept. 18-22
International
conference on Biotechnology in water management 18 10 21 September, Madurai,
Tamil Nadu, India
Conference
on Management of Natural Resources Argentina, Dec. 12-14
