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July 5, 2009

Local student helps with African water project

Transcript Staff

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Elizabeth Thompson, daughter of Paul Thompson and Susan M. Thompson of Norman, was among Valparaiso University students who recently returned from a 10-day trip to Tanzania, where they launched what will be at least a five-year relationship with a village facing health and land degradation due to problems with its water canal system.

Thompson, a senior meteorology major and member of Valpo's chapter of Engineers Without Borders, traveled with seven other students and an engineering professor to the village of Masaera, where they assessed the scope of the project and sought to gain the support of its people.

During their assessment trip to Masaera (located in northern Tanzania near Mount Kilimanjaro), Valpo's team mapped the canal area and conducted surveys to collect information on water quality, flow rate, canal breaches and other information necessary to develop sustainable solutions for the village's water problems. Students also worked with translators to ask villagers about their water supply, health, sanitation and culture to gain better overall understanding of the community's needs.

Over the next year, Valpo's Engineers Without Borders chapter will research the best designs for improving the canal and create an educational program so the community is prepared to maintain the canal network themselves.

Valpo's chapter will return to Masaera next May to begin implementing its canal improvement plan and education program, but Staub noted that the chapter already showed villagers some problems that they can begin fixing themselves over the coming year.

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