Students from SU Chapter of Engineers Without Borders to discuss Kenya orphanage project Sunday at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Cazenovia

Students from SU Chapter of Engineers Without Borders to discuss Kenya orphanage project Sunday at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in CazenoviaFebruary 27, 2009Kevin Morrowkdmorrow@syr.edu

Students from the Syracuse University Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) will visit St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 12 Mill St., Cazenovia on Sunday, March 1, to share their experiences from a recent trip to an orphanage in Kenya and describe the chapter’s ongoing efforts to help the orphanage expand its facilities. The students’ presentation will be from 4-5 p.m. in the Parish Hall.

Engineers Without Borders is a nonprofit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life; this partnership combines the implementation of sustainable engineering projects with involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students.

The SU EWB chapter was recently awarded a project to assist the Into Abbas Arms (IAA) orphanage in South Kinangop, Kenya, which provides a home for 20 children. The SU EWB team is working with IAA staff to enlarge the kitchen, pantry and dining area to sustain the orphanage’s current operational needs and allow for anticipated growth. The orphanage has asked the students to incorporate their knowledge of indoor air quality into the plans for the new kitchen and examine energy saving alternatives for the redesign.

During the first week in January, four student members and an advisor from the SU EWB chapter traveled to IAA to collect indoor air quality measurements, survey the proposed location for the new building, meet the children, and establish a relationship with community members to better understand their needs.

Chapter members plan to return to the orphanage in June to complete the project’s first phase, the kitchen construction.

For more information on the SU EWB Kenya initiative and the chapter’s other community service projects, visit http://www.ecs.syr.edu/organizations/ewb or contact Kyle Kwiatkowski, chapter secretary, at kpkwiatk@syr.edu, or Jillian Cole, chapter president, at jlcole02@syr.edu.