Engineers Without Borders

The village of Chirimoto, Peru has a varied assortment of engineering and public health issues. The community has infrastructure in place for delivery of electricity, however no firm time table for activation. Communication with the outside world is limited to one telephone and one computer for the entire village of 300. Both these devices are powered by a single solar panel installed by a national satellite provider, which limits use of these devices based on solar resource availability. While water may be plentiful, as the village is on the banks of a river, the quality varies and most of the water is left untreated . A decline in the health of the community has been observed since flooding in the early 1980's destroyed the center of the town. Quality of education is limited by the size and condition of the small schoolhouse, which houses at most two teachers.

The village is actively contributing to the improvement of their situation by building a community center , which opened in the summer of 2007. The community center is a two-story structure designed to provide a library, pharmacy, and art room to the community. Additionally, the center will provide supplementary classrooms for the instruction of children and adults as well as an indoor location to hold community meetings and events.

Our initial assessment trip , which took place in January 2008, had two primary goals. We assessed the newly completed community center and determined the best way to provide power for lighting of this building. Our research into previously implemented power systems in similar Peruvian villages leads us to expect that we will install solar panels to provide the power for the lighting (see Prof. John Duffy's of UMass Lowell work). We also conducted a health survey and analyzed the water at multiple water sources to see if we could determine the source of the health decline.

Upon completion of the assessment trip, we adjusted our goals based on the wealth of information gathered. Having learned that power lines are already in place for deliverance of electricity, it was apparent that there may be a more worthwhile first project for EWB-BU to pursue. Through observations made as well as interviews with several members of the community, water quality was identified as a major concern. Our group has decided to design and construct a slow sand filter for the community's water use. In addition, we have identified other problem areas to address in the future as well as community education initiatives as outlined in the project section.

During our first implementation trip (scheduled for summer 2008) our group plans to collect materials and begin construction of the filtration system. Our hope is that this project will greatly reduce the level of parasitic infections as well as increase the general health status of the community. More details about this project will be made available as EWB-BU progresses in its research and finalizes its plans.