The University of Minnesota Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) held a silent auction event at Hoops Brewery in Duluth on Thursday to raise funds and share an update on a years-long project that will bring clean water to villages in Kenya.

“Our club began in 2018 at UMD and we’ve been working on the Nyan Sakea project for about five years,” explained UMD EWB Treasurer and Outreach Coordinator Hailey Coda. “Last January, we traveled to implement the water distribution system and we are currently working on remotely installing a solar-powered pump that will begin running water through the system. And then in August, we’ll travel over to close out the project and make sure that everything is functioning as it should.”

There will be eight students and ten professional engineers making the trip this summer to implement this water system that they designed. This is an exciting way for the students to make a real difference in the world.

“A lot of us that work in the club are engineering majors at UMD and especially as a Civil Engineering major, as myself, my goal in my career is to help people have access to sustainable infrastructure and clean water,” explained Coda. “It gives us a lot of motivation for the rest of our career to begin working on projects like this so early in our undergraduate career, and when we travel over there and get to see the impacts that we make on these people’s lives and how they look up to us and different ways that we can help them, it’s truly special. “

Items at the silent auction were donated by local artists and businesses. This is one of many events the group has held for their crowd-funding campaign.

“It’s amazing to see the students go above and beyond to take what they’re learning here at UMD and apply it in a real-world setting where they can make a difference in people’s lives,” said UMD faculty member and EWB advisor Victor Lai.

More information about the project can be found on this website.