Summer 2011

THE NEED

Engineers Without Borders - University of Colorado is committed to improving life at the L’Esperance Children’s Aid Orphanage in Mugonero, Rwanda.  Despite an impossibly small budget, L’Esperance manages to provide food, shelter, and a family environment for 129 Rwandan orphans.

L’Esperance has embarked on an ambitious fruit orchard project in collaboration with Engineers Without Borders CU and the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture.  The mission is to generate a sustainable source of income for the orphanage.  L’Esperance will be profitable by growing fruit tree seedlings and selling these young trees to the local community.  L’Esperance will then purchase ripe fruit from community members in order to dry, package, and ship organic mangos and pineapples to large European markets.

Unfortunately, the annual summer dry season threatens the fruit tree seedlings.  The seedlings cannot survive the dry season without a reliable supply of water.  L’Esperance and the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture have identified the need for an irrigation system. 

STUDENT ENGINEERS RESPOND

L’Esperance has turned to Engineers Without Borders (EWB) – CU to design and build an irrigation system for their fruit tree nursery.  Existing pumps feed an unused 26,000-liter tank located on a hill above the nursery.  The system was installed over five years ago to meet the potable water needs of the orphans, but the water quality has since degraded, making it unfit for drinking. The EWB-CU team has addressed the potable water issue at the orphanage by installing separate rainwater catchment systems, which now provide clean drinking water to the orphans and staff. The pumps and tank remain unused and provide a potential water supply for the fruit tree nursery.

Hard-working students at the University of Colorado have designed an irrigation system that uses gravity to channel the water from the tank to the fruit tree nursery below.  Once installed, fruit tree seedlings will be grown and sold year-round, generating regional economic growth and sustainable income for L’Esperance. The steady income will ensure food, clothing, and much improved living conditions for the orphans and the staff.

PROJECT FUNDING REQUIRED

In June of 2011, EWB-CU will install the irrigation system at L’Esperance Children’s Aid Orphanage.  Additional funding is still required to ensure the project’s success.  To further spur the regional economy, EWB-CU will partner with local workers and purchase nearly all materials in Rwanda.  In addition, EWB-CU will assess the possibility of expanding the irrigation system to other fields where fruits, vegetables, and grains are grown.  These sustainable, long-term solutions provided by EWB-CU will improve the quality of life for hundreds of Rwandan orphans for years to come.

Past Projects

In July of 2010, the team traveled to Mugonero, Rwanda to conduct an assessment at the Orphanage. Information was gathered on the water needs, materials cost, and land survey measurements. This information will be used to successfully design and implement the system. The assessment also revealed that a pump is already in place, bringing water from a nearby stream to a central tank. EWB CU-Rwanda is looking to distribute the water from this central tank to the vegetable fields below with a gravity fed system. Smaller distribution tanks or taps will be utilized to access the water from the fields.

The EWB CU-Rwanda Team has done several projects at the Orphanage in the past, including the implementation of 18 high-efficiency cooking stoves and several rainwater catchment systems. See the below video for more info.