Thank you to every one who stopped by and signed up at the NSO Fair - it was great to meet all of you and we hope to see you next week at the General Body Meeting (GBM)!
In the meantime, feel free to browse our website - see what we have done, what we are planning to do, and what events are coming up!
Hey all,
PennEWB was invited to speak at the opening night for a new documentary on water (!!) and I’d like all of you to come check it out. We’re going to be talking about our experiences with the difficulty that rural residents have in accessing water in developing countries. The documentary, called For Love of Water (FLOW) is about how a few companies are privatizing the worlds (diminishing) supply of fresh water. The trailer can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?
The event will take place on September 26th at the Ritz hotel. I will be sending out more info on tickets and stuff as the date gets closer, so save the date. Below is a more detailed description.
Irena Salinaʼs award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the worldʼs dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question ʻCAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?ʼ Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.
I hope to see you all there! Please reply to this if you are interested in coming so I can negotiate group tickets. Thanks!
Jay
PennEWB:
Hey, hope everyone is having a great summer. For those of you still in Philly see below for two chances to hang out with EWB and in one case do some good for the city.
Even if you are not in Philly, we are now in the process of planning for next year so if you have some time and want to help with the early planning of projects or you even have your own idea for a project email us back stating interest.
Regards,
Matt
Hello everyone,
Hope life is treating you well. As you may know, we have been looking at a number of different ‘Open Projects’ as listed on the EWB-USA website over the past few weeks. As of now, I think the following Bridge project in Honduras seems the most feasible. Many of you have already expressed an interest in a bridge project but while the previous bridge project in Mali was unrealistic, this seems much more feasible.
Location: Community of San Ramon, Honduras.
Details:
The goal is to build two bridges, spanning about 10m and 20m respectively, that will be accessible during the floods and that will be suitable for vehicle and pedestrian passage. During the rainy season the river can be dangerous and the current road into El 31 de Agosto is impassable. The majority of the roads are not paved. The new bridges will facilitate the acquisition of goods for those that live in the community. Currently the children also have to walk across the bridge and to the neighboring community, El 31 de Agosto, in order to attend school. During the rainy season they are cut off from El 31 de Agosto and the main road and can be trapped for several days at a time.
I know everyone is busy this week with midterms, etc., but it would be GREAT if you could join us for a short time tomorrow to try and get some stuff moving.
I have also attached the formal application submitted by the NGO, and the review by EWB-USA, so take a look if you would like to know more.
See ya tomorrow.
Regards,
Haresh
Hi EWBers,
This FRIDAY, 4/18 at 11 am - 4 pm is GREENFEST, sponsored by Penn Environmental Group. Take a break between classes, or after class to hang out on College Green! There will be lots of cool stuff and FREE FOOD! Also, we will debut our new poster — come check it out!
Penn EWB is in charge of the grill (hot dogs and burgers): your choice of solar-cooker grilled or flame-grilled!
Stop by to get lunch and chat with fellow EWB members!
Speak about your experience and support EWB Presenters!
This is great opportunity for those of you interested in Water/Sanitation projects or those of you who have been on one of the EWB projects (Honduras, Cameroon) and would like to speak about your experience!
Lessons Learned: Experiences in Water Supply & Sanitation in Developing Countries - A free conference/workshop held ON-CAMPUS (Logan Hall) sponsored by PGWI.
Come for a few hours or the whole day! A few highlights:
11:15-12:15 Break-out sessions for Latin America, Africa, Asia - learn about past projects and discuss your experiences
Several students will be in attendance, from all levels and schools of the university as well as high school students. Comments from students are especially valued, so don’t by shy about coming and speaking out!
Do you control your education or does it control you? SCUE Presents: Education Week 2008. We challenge you to take ownership of your education. Let’s push all stakeholders to make Penn the most innovative learning environment that it can be.
As the academic policy branch of student government, SCUE seeks engaged undergraduates like you to help direct our agenda. What gets you most fired up? Come share your best ideas at our IdeaSLAM, and discuss your concerns with others through the Web of Conversations.
Come to the Research Symposium to learn about the ways you can create knowledge and deepen your Penn experience through research. Learn how Penn fits into the bigger picture with Prof. John DiIulio. Hear how faculty and students are working together to solve the world’s problems at the Teach-In for Problem Solving Learning.
FRIDAY, APRIL 4
Teach-In for Problem-Solving Learning
Penn students and faculty are partnering to solve the most pressing problems in the community and in the world: sustainable energy, nutrition, social entrepreneurship, sustainable development. The ideal: Problem-Solving Learning (PSL), a classroom methodology that attacks real-world problems without textbook solutions. On one day in one room, students and faculty from each PSL hub will meet and give a presentation on their work focused on that problem.
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Class of ‘47 Room (Houston Hall, 3rd floor)
Hello EWBers!
I just wanted to update you on some of the things that we’ve been working on for this semester. First of all, I’d like to introduce the new board:
President: Jay Parekh
VP International: Haresh Tilani
VP Local: Matt Nakatsuka
VP Public Relations: Giselle Dutcher
Treasurer: Thomas Macrina
External Affairs Officer: Matt Owens
Operations Officer (AKA HUB): Alex Yen
We’re working on a lot of great projects this semester:
Ghana: several projects ranging from water distribution to regional infrastructure development. We’re looking for project leaders here so contact Haresh if you’re interested.
Mali: water distribution from a well using a solar power pump. This is a new type of project, so getting involved early will be really interesting, contact Haresh.
Biodiesel: the local committee is working on batch processing waste vegetable oil from restaurants on campus into diesel oil. Contact Matt N if you think it’s cool.
We’re also looking for people to help the HUB (Alex) manage all of our operations here… if you’ve got programming background or design experience, contact Alex.
One last thing: we’re having a BBQ on college green on April 2nd with solar cookers (keepin’ it sustainable, natch) and the “carbon neutral party” on April 5th. Look for more info in your inboxes and all over campus. Thanks!
Jay
Come to the Penn in the Gulf Panel tomorrow at 7PM in the Hall of Flags at Houston Hall! One of our PennEWB members, Alex Yen, represented PennEWB and the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) in the Penn and the Gulf project that took place over winter break. The initiative was a school-wide collaborative effort also involving the School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2), the Nursing School, and the Dental School.
As part of a three-man engineering team that included faculty advisor Dr. Ken Foster, Alex tested private water wells in Pearlington, Mississippi for E. Coli and total coliform. The panel will discuss its findings and experiences as well as Penn’s effort to help the Gulf Coast. Be sure to stop by - a future Engineers Without Borders project might grow from this experience!
As you all may know, this week is National Engineer’s Week, known to Penn as E-Week!
PennEWB will be hosting the “Beijing Brunch” on Wednesday from 11-12 in Levine and you know what that means……………… fortune cookies!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of other stuff too :). I need about 5 volunteers to represent PennEWB and watch out for moochers/hoarders for that hour.
Email me at almeidadutcher@gmail.com if you can help out either for set up 10:30-11 or the actual brunch event 11-12.
Even if you can’t help out, stop by on your way to class and be sure to show off your SD is sexy shirt!