The Engineers without Borders (EWB) is a conglomeration of international nongovernmental organizations that purpose to offer engineering solutions to problems that the people in developing countries experience. Most of the national organizations are academic related and student led as well. The Engineers without Borders movement started in France. Canada has the largest organization in the world. EWB Canada facilitated the formation of a similar organization in the United Kingdom. Professor Armadei from the University of Colorado formed the Engineers Without borders International.
EWB’s intended audience
EWB seeks to combat with the problems of water shortages, inadequate sanitation and illiteracy in the developing world. Unlike the majority of the engineering organizations that deal with the one billion rich people, the EWB organizations seek to provide engineering solutions to problems that affect the other five billion people. David Damberger brought to attention the water shortage challenges communities in Malawi and Zambia faced. Inadequate sanitation tops in the list of problems plaguing the majority of African countries. Engineers without Borders organizations have evolved from providing direct aid to the poor to wealth creation. EWB utilizes the local resources to come up with projects that can be understood and managed by the people. Most of the donor funded projects are beyond the scope of the local people. As Damberger claimed, the majority of the US government water projects in Malawi had failed. Although the projects were built ten years before, the Canadian water projects had filed in a similar manner (TEDx Talks). As Professor Bernard Armadei argued donor funded programs should aim at wealth creation since poverty reduction is a controversial topic and its interpretation is relative.
Aims of EWB organizations
Chronic underinvestment and liberalization of the market has plunged most developing countries into a food crisis. Local farming is declining as a result of rural urban migration. Donors have been alarmed by the looming food crisis, especially in Africa and directed their investment in agriculture (Vidal). Engineers without Borders points out that the investment in the field of agriculture has failed to benefit the local people. The funds are directed in cash crops that are exported to the developed world.
Engineers without Borders have worked hand in glove with the local communities from disadvantaged areas to providing access to clean water. Engineers without Borders organizations identify problems in the developing world and fix them. The EWB-Canada fixed the broken water taps in Malawi. African communities are resourceful enough to handle their problems. They lack the technical expertise required to maintain them. That was the case in Malawi and Zambia as the majority of the water pipes had not been serviced for over a decade. The water project funded by the American government was also not working (TEDx Talks). The Engineers Without borders Canada fixed both the systems that were supported both by the United States of America government and the Canadian government.
Strategies
It is becoming normal for African countries give and receive aid. A country such as South Africa, which is seeking for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, has announced its own donor agency recently. It joins the community of donors that fund Engineers without Borders organizations. Engineers without Borders used to focus on providing equitable engineering solutions facing developing countries. As David Damberger stated in his TED talk, the NGOs had failed both the donor and the communities whom the donors contributed money to benefit. The money from donors was channeled into projects that stalled after a short period of operation. This is because the developing countries suffer from a shortage of technological experts. They are now focusing on wealth creation instead of developing measures to counter poverty. The local materials those are available to the being utilized in the new approach.
David Damberger outlined a program through which donors will allow donors to communicate to the beneficiaries of their money. The donors will be communicating to the community members through mobile phones and access the progress of the projects (TEDx Talks). Damberger observed that corruption and the governments plagued most governments in developing countries were also unwilling to fix the projects.
How effective are these strategies
The strategies applied by most by the majority of the majority of nongovernmental organizations have led to the failure of AID (Vidal). International nongovernmental organizations make the same mistakes and fail to learn from failure. The programs have been successful in many parts nut have ended up failing terribly in majority of the places in Africa. David Damberger argued that the projects focused on the issues that did not benefit developing countries especially in Africa. David Damberger started an online company that deals in retail goods across the world. He learned from his failures in India and chose to inform the world. According to Damberger, the current development plan focused on pleasing the donors, as opposed to understanding the needs of the beneficiaries of the projects.
How to improve the effectiveness of the EWB
Most of the people spend less than one dollar a day in the developing countries. Davis urged the nongovernment organizations to shift from pleasing the donors and focus on understanding the needs of the people (Vidal). Well co-ordinated humanitarian aid should be directed to developing countries. When NGOs fail they should admit their failures and initiate undertaking that will avoid a recurrence of a similar failure.
Works Cited
TEDx Talks. David Damberger: What Happens When an NGO Admits Failure. 27 April 2011. 2 March 2014 <http://www.ted.com/talks/david_damberger_what_happens_when_an_ngo_admits_failure.html>.
Vidal, John. Food speculation: 'People die from hunger while banks make a killing on food'. 23 January 2011. 2 March 2014 <http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/week>.
