Slum Survivor- Tomorrow

Where & When? 7:30pm Appleton Tower, LT3 The inter-branch event, showcasing international development workshops and discussions on engineering, education, Community participation and intermediate technologies is kick starting tomorrow! The first day is Free! We have a Guest Speaker -Bob Reed- who will be talking about water sanitation and international development. Currently he leads WEDC's (Water, Engineering & Development Centre) learning and teaching programmes and specialises in public health engineering with a particular interest in humanitarian situations. got to **** http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/about/about_details.html?id=26 **** to read more about him. After the talk we will be heading over to the Loft Bar in Teviot.

**Four International Projects Announced**

Every year, EWB Edinburgh sends out several teams from Edinburgh to do real hands-on work in the developing world. The projects usually involve working with local NGOs and assisting them with water treatment, sanitation, renewables or education projects. The placements obviously benefit the local people who are on the receiving end of the work, but also give the students that go a lot of technical experience that is very hard to come by elsewhere. In the past, engineering firms have reacted very positively to a CV that includes experience of this kind. This year we are running: Project Cambodia

Project Romania

Project DIEM Ghana

Project DIEM Malawi

**Applying For Project Cambodia**

Problem Statement: The rural population of Cambodia suffers from a disproportionate amount of water-borne diseases as compared to countries of a similar level on the Development Index: levels of Cholera, Typhoid and Diarrhoea are far higher than those of equivalent countries, and the infant mortality rate is far higher than countries of equivalent wealth and culture. For every thousand children born, 87.5 will die before their fifth birthday, compared with 23.6 in Vietnam, 19.1 in China and 13.5 in Thailand.

Data from The World Bank demonstrates the scale of the problem - in 2008 just 56% of the rural population had access to an improved water source. This is very low in comparison to countries such as India (84%), China (82%) and Vietnam (92%). The result is that around half if the 11.5 million residents of rural Cambodia are vulnerable to poor health due to contaminated water.

During the dry season, there is a large demand for the provision of safe water. However, during the rainy season, where water is naturally abundant, this demand drops significantly as families collect their own rainwater. It is here that the problem occurs, as the water is collected from unprotected sources and is often contaminated with chemicals, household waste and sewage. Even if the water appears to be clear, it can be contaminated with bacteria. One of the goals of the project is to increase awareness of this despite a lack of education regarding bacteria and microscopic pathogens in the rural communities. 1001 Fontaines are keen to increase awareness of the problems caused by poor water collection and storage, and they have requested that this year's team works towards developing an efficient and effective strategy to promote this.

To Apply: Open the application attached to this email and complete the questions.

Cambodia Water Project 2012 Application Form.docx

http://files.groupspaces.com/e-ewb/files/210732/h1UjK74enfGtVugwHbyM/Cambodia+Water+Project+2012+Application+Form.docx

Fill in the application form and send it to douglas.white@ewb-uk.org by Monday 14th November. Interviews for all applicants will take place the following week.

Best of luck!

The Cambodia Team 2011

**Applying For Project Romania**

This year 4 enthusiastic EWB volunteers shall go over to Romania and work closely with FAST Charity (http://www.fastcharity.ro ) to contribute to the Better Homes Project. ( Placement duration : 2-3weeks, starting end of May/beginning of June 2012). Project Context: Many Rroma in Romania live in functionally segregated settlements, on the outskirts of ethnically Romanian areas, in rundown or ramshackle homes that lack basic amenities such as plumbing or electricity, as well as insulation to keep them warm in the winter.

The Better Homes Project addresses the need for safe housing in local communities, while employing members of the local Rroma community to build this housing. Current and Further Project Goals : The Better Homes team is currently at work finishing houses and additions that were begun earlier this year, and on construction of another workshop, located in the yard of a local school, which will allow the school to teach valuable construction skills to its students and put those skills to use making elements for homes in the community. Furthermore, the EWB team shall also be involved in designing and delivering several science experiments for primary school children.

To apply: Please get in touch with the Project Coordinator,Theodor at cojotheo@yahoo.com

<https://www.sms.ed.ac.uk/imp/compose.php?to=cojotheo%40yahoo.com&thismailbox=INBOX>

For more details about the work you could be involved in, you can also visit:http://www.fastcharity.ro

**Applying for Project Ghana and Project Malawi**

Applicants must attend the DIEM meeting this Wednesday for details on how to apply. Date: Wednesday 26th October Time: 2.00pm Venue: Mechanical Engineering Best of luck with all the placements you choose to apply for! EWB Edinburgh Branch Committee