Student work: Engineers Without Borders in La Pitajaya

By David Nie, Class of 2019 on June 14, 2016, 9 a.m.
Play video:

In summer 2015, six students from the Princeton chapter of Engineers Without Borders traveled to northern Peru to close out what has been a five-year partnership with the community of La Pitajaya. The students have constructed two water distribution systems for the upper and lower parts of the village, bringing a constant source of clean drinking water to every family. Working with the community members in every step of the process, training them on proper usage and maintenance, and developing a strong network of local support over the years, the team is confident that the residents of La Pitajaya have the technical background and community organization to continue to have water flowing for generations to come. The EWB team will return to Peru in August 2016 to begin their largest project yet in the community of Pusunchás. 

Related Stories

Partnerships yield global impact for Engineers Without Borders .

When Josh Umansky-Castro joined Engineers Without Borders as a freshman, he traveled to the remote mountain town of La Pitajaya, Peru, to help build and maintain two water distribution systems serving 21 families.

Video feature: Potable Water for La Pitajaya .

Students in the Princeton chapter of Engineers Without Borders have scouted their newest project: building a pipeline to bring drinking water to 150 residents in the village of La Pitajaya, Peru. According to the students, the residents have no source of clean water and resultant sickness is common in the isolated community.

Video feature: Engineers Without Borders, Sierra Leone .

A group of four students working with the Princeton chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-Princeton) were in Sierra Leone last summer to talk with local citizens and leaders about opening a new program. EWB-Princeton will be partnering with the village of Dorma to address a few of the basic needs of the community. The students noted that the village has seen little continual effort for a redevelopment of infrastructure in the postwar decade.

Student engineers' project expands access to clean water in Kenyan village .

In 2012, Swahili lecturer Mahiri Mwita approached Princeton University's chapter of Engineers Without Borders with the idea of starting a project in the Kuria District of Kenya where he grew up. Three years later, a team of Princeton engineering students has helped design and build an award-winning rainwater catchment system there to provide clean, reliable water, and the group plans to build another system this summer.

Student work: Engineers Without Borders, Peru .

In the summer of 2014, six students from the Princeton Engineers Without Borders chapter traveled to Peru to complete the second phase of a water system in La Pitajaya Baja, a small mountainous community in the La Libertad region. After six weeks of working with the community members, clean potable water was brought to every family in the community. Improvements were also made to the water system in La Pitajaya Alta that they had completed in 2013.

Student work: Engineers Without Borders, Peru .

Seven Princeton students in the Princeton chapter of Engineers Without Borders traveled to Peru in summer 2013 to complete the first phase of a water system in the small mountainous community of La Pitajaya Alta. After six weeks of working with the community members, clean potable water was brought to every family in the community. In summer 2014, the Engineers Without Borders team completed the second part of the water system in La Pitajaya Baja, the lower part of the community.

Keller Center: A decade of 'broadening pathways' to positive impact in society .

Started in 2005 as the Center for Innovation in Engineering Education, the Keller Center was renamed in 2008 in honor of educational innovator Dennis Keller, Class of 1963, and his wife, Constance Keller, when the couple gave $20 million to endow the center.