CDM News - August 2007 - (Page 13)

CDM’s role as a ﬁrm charged with meeting the world’s ever-increasing need for safe water.” Even before CDM started its corporate support, nearly 30 CDM employees across nine separate chapters had joined the group on their own initiative. CDM engineers have worked to help villages in places like Agou Avedje, Togo; Cuetzala de la Reforma, Mexico; and La Romana, Dominican Republic. “A lot of companies like the idea of giving back to a community halfway around the world, but have a hard time ﬁguring out how to do that,” commented Meg VanSciver, senior project manager for Engineers Without Borders. “When your employees are actually doing it, you’re sending a strong message that you care about the world.” Azalea A. Mitch, P.E., CDM environmental engineer, saw the difference a simple project can make in the village of El Rosario, Honduras—a community that had been dealing with a severe and ongoing water shortage. The volunteer engineers realized that much of the problem was caused by a leaking cement springbox, which covered the spring that supplied the village’s water. Rather than removing the springbox, which might have disrupted the water supply, volunteers laid perforated pipes in a bed of sand and gravel underneath and beside the springbox. The pipes captured the water leaking from the springbox and diverted it back into the existing water system. Once the 2-week project was complete, the village’s water supply doubled. “They couldn’t believe how well it worked,” Mitch said. The projects are often technically simple—digging ditches, laying pipes, or even suggesting changes in behavior—but can have a huge impact on the lives of residents. Beyond the obvious health beneﬁts, meeting a community’s basic drinking and sanitation needs can help solve other problems, such as breaking the poverty cycle by allowing individuals to focus on education and employment issues. Engineers Without Borders helps communities help themselves by devising sustainable projects that involve residents and provide permanent beneﬁts. As part of a project, each community must form a local water committee to provide the engineers with input and approval. Community members then participate in the project’s construction, so they can share in its success and obtain the skills to perform future repairs. “In a sense, you’re empowering them,” Mitch explained. “They had the responsibility of making this work and they are really proud that they did.” Participating in Engineers Without Borders’ projects has had a profound effect on Christopher J. Fahlin, CDM environmental engineer who is coordinating the ﬁrm’s support. “These experiences are life changing,” Fahlin said. “At CDM, I have the best of both worlds—continued career development at the cutting edge of our industry and the opportunity to help others by providing for some of the most essential, fundamental needs.” | Charles G. Russo Helping Communities Help Themselves A member of Agou Avedje’s water committee shows how water is typically drawn from the village well for household use. 13

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CDM News - August 2007

Contents Envisioning Tomorrow’s Dublin Initiative & Innovation Stabilize Mercury Mines Preserving Old Town Alexandria Taking a Hard Look at Concrete Corrosion Perspective: Harnessing Bioenergy Engineering Better Lives CDM Announces Award-Winning Projects People Highlights

CDM News - August 2007

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