August 2023
Solomoni, Malawi
It’s been almost a year since the first trip back to Malawi after COVID. Reflecting back on the year, our club has grown, changed, adapted and improved through our work with Project Greenhouse, a project that applied the learnings we took from our international project to local community building and engineering, as well as through many committee activities of Malawi the Journey, M&E community survey analyzing, language learning, project redesign, and more. One of our goals post-trip was to present our learnings and findings on the Solomoni, Blantyre, Malawi community in a way that was as digestible as possible… and we thought of this blog!
Through this blog, you will learn all about our project and the people + culture involved, as well as play some “which traveler are you” games, learn some “nsima“ and “veggies” recipes, and watch a “walk through” of our project!
Tufts Engineers Without Borders’ mission is to provide engineering solutions to communities in need while giving students hands-on experience on real-life projects, while learning about international cultures and communities. Since 2017, Tufts University chapter of Engineers Without Borders has been working closely with the community of Solomoni, Malawi to expand access to clean water and promote hygiene for the 1,550 Chigumukire Primary and Secondary School students and teachers.
Tufts EWB designed a solar-pumped gravity-fed water distribution network that would have health, educational, and economic benefits. Previously, members of the community relied on the river for drinking water, bathing, washing, and cleaning. However, this practice was unsafe due to sanitation issues related to cholera, and it also resulted in missed school time while collecting water. After identifying this need with the school headmaster, community chiefs, students and teachers, we worked closely with our NGO partners, Joshua Orphan and Community and Freshwater Project International, to ensure the project met the needs of its stakeholders. In 2023, Tufts EWB installed 7 tap stands, 2 sinks, and 3 showers for the Solomoni community.
Throughout the process, we examined long-term risks and sustainability issues for the project and allowed our club members to engage with engineering in a practical way. During Tufts’ travel to Malawi in 2023, the team worked with FPI and contractors to gain hands-on knowledge on the electrical system and piping networks. The team also conducted community interviews to understand the change in water accessibility and community health. They collected and distributed science supplies for the newly built science complex, volunteered at a monthly mobile health clinic, and much more. This year, in weekly meetings, 60+ members learned about Malawian culture while designing and building a sustainable greenhouse on Tufts Campus, with practices that reflected those from construction in Malawi.
Currently, we are in the Monitoring and Evaluation phase of our project, and traveling in August 2024 to assist with repairs to the broken taps and conduct interviews with community members to ensure that the project has resulted in a notable improvement by the community and stakeholders.
To start us off, here’s a quick vlog of our trip:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5