ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS

Engineers Without Borders Implementation Trip in Tzununa, Guatemala. 

In May of 2018, I joined a group of 13 engineers and scientists on a trip to Tzununa, Solola, Guatemala, where we ran the fourth phase of the Penn Engineers Without Borders Latrine Sanitation Project. Beginning in January, we spent a semester planning our trip, focusing on the mechanical design, material selections, and prototyping for our latrines, as well as creating educational outreach programming for the community. After the trip, I spent a semester working on an independent research paper focused on the water quality in Lake Atitlán.

Overview

Courses: Sustainable Development: Technology for Sanitation and Gravity Water Systems; Independent Study

Focus: Research; Prototyping; Manufacturing; Testing; Education

Timeline: January 2018-December 2018 (Trip in May of 2018)

Project is approximately 3’ long, 3’ wide, and 10’ tall. Project designed and manufactured in a team of 15. Materials used include: concrete, hardwood, steel rebar, and plastic piping.

Research and Trip Preparation

Before the trip, I took a semester-long course with the other students selected for the trip. To begin the course, we learned about the first 3 phases of the latrine project, and established the overall goals that we wanted to accomplish in this implementation trip. Throughout our ideation process, we listed the needs of the Tzununa community, and prioritized specific areas to focus our efforts. We decided to focus our efforts on a health and sanitation project, where we would build latrines to limit the amount of open defecation in the community, and lead a community outreach initiative about washing hands in schools and community centers. We conducted a preliminary study on the community’s resources, the availability of which influenced the direction of our project. Because Tzununa has readily available water, we established that the pour-flush latrine was optimal for our project. We then planned the structure of our trip and learned about the language and cultural customs of the region.

Implementation

In May, we spent an immersive 2 weeks building around 30 latrines, meeting community members and leaders, and opening ourselves up to the narratives of these people. One of my favorite aspects of the trip was hiking to different bodies of water to test levels of coliform bacterial and other pollutants in the water. Our sustainability protocol demonstrated our interest in the entire lifecycle and effect of our latrines on the community. It also served as a way for me to tap into my interest in water quality, which I then wrote about for my capstone paper after the trip. Finally, we engaged in a community outreach initiative, where we performed skits about the importance of hand washing in schools and community centers. This trip showed me the ways in which I can use my engineering skills to create a real impact on a community.

If you are interesting in learning more about my individual research, read my capstone paper here!