Engineers Without Borders Project Planned for Port Antonio, Jamaica
by Derrick R. Wright
Derrick R. Wright
Introduction:The KCOBA Online Newsletter has been featuring a Caribbean philanthropic organization just about every month for the past year. This we have done as a community service in recognition of the meritorious services being offered by various organizations both here in Atlanta and in the Caribbean. In this our first related item for 2007, we have added a slightly new twist: we are featuring the Engineers Without Borders organization_a non-Caribbean organization_but one that plans a major engineering benevolent project in Jamaica. The organization hopes to work in partnership with members of our local communities to embark on this most challenging project in Port Antonio, Jamaica.
About Engineers Without Borders: I must admit that prior to receiving an e-mail from the local Engineers Without Borders organization, I had neither heard about them nor about the work they do all over the world improving living conditions for the underserved. Further, a quick non-scientific survey showed that certain friends who were polled, even a few engineers, were pretty much in the dark about the organization as much as I was. However, an Internet search on Google quickly and convincingly showed that Engineers Without Borders – USA (EWB-USA) is a well organized and highly accomplished humanitarian organization doing good all over the world.
According to their Web site (http://www.ewb-usa.org/) EWB-USA is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve quality of life in the related communities. This partnership “involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students,” the site explained. EWB-USA, a chapter-based organization, is a member of the Engineers Without Borders International network. Essentially, students and professional engineers form separate local chapters which take on projects, do fund raising, and provide other engineering consultation and services.
Source: www.eba-usa.org
The Local Chapter:
Engineers Without Borders USA Atlanta Professional Chapter (EWB-USA_APC) was formed in December 2005. As is the case with its Longmont, Colorado-based EWB-USA parent organization, the Atlanta chapter enjoys 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. Its mission: “A non-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to partnering with developing communities to build sustainable infrastructure.” Further, in response to a questionnaire, the organization listed the following as its goals and objectives:
Mentoring local students
Building international projects
Building local projects, and
Collecting, sharing, and implementing new technologies for sustainable project development.
Chapter members meet every first Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Meeting Venue: Room 122, Sustainable Education Building, Georgia Institute of Technology. Membership dues, payable to EWB-USA in Longmont, are $100 per year, or $1,000 for a lifetime membership. Officers for the Atlanta chapter are:
William Britt, president,
Eric Chang, vice president,
Eddie McCallum, secretary,
Krishna Maddi, treasurer, and
Andrew Tsivoglou, fund raising chair.
The Atlanta organization’s most recent accomplishment: An October 21, 2006 Habitat for Humanity building project. Essentially, approximately 10 members from the Atlanta Professional Chapter assisted another dozen volunteers in building the floor joists, floor panels, exterior wall sections, and the porch for a house in East Point, GA.
EWB-USA_APC Adopts a Project.
According to EWB-USA_APC founding member Andrew Tsivoglou, PE, “The growth of the Atlanta Professional chapter has reached the point where we have been approved by the national office in Longmont to take on our first international project.” Mr. Tsivoglou further reports that last summer one of the local chapter’s members had been contacted by a former Peace Corps volunteer to Jamaica. “The volunteer requested that we consider adopting a small road project near Port Antonio,” Mr. Tsivoglou explained. He further elaborated that, in November 2006, the chapter was approved to take on the project, and that they had begun planning the next steps for the work.
EWB-USA_APC has adopted a road improvement project in Port Antonio as its first international venture. To appreciate the magnitude and importance of the organization’s project, one merely needs to assess the prevailing conditions of certain secondary roads in rural Jamaica. It should be easy to understand that the planned undertaking is an ambitious project, to say the very least.
The Port Antonio Road Project: The project is located in the Naylor's Hill community near Port Antonio. It will involve the development of a plan to grade, drain, and very probably, pave what is now a rocky, grassed path. “Once designed, we anticipate that we will also work on developing construction funding, and then we expect to be challenged to provide the necessary level of construction oversight and guidance,” Mr. Tsivoglou outlined. “It is our understanding that improvement of this path will also increase access for the residents in the immediate community, and for those in the surrounding areas near a regional hospital.”
Road Project – Port Antonio. Picture by EWB-USA_APC
Proposed Project Schedule: The following is the proposed project schedule. As one may readily understand, it is entirely subject to change.
March 2007: Conduct Site Assessment April 2007: Formalize project team April 2007: Review fund raising options and develop preliminary plans May 2007: Develop a conceptual project design June 2007: Develop preliminary construction cost estimate June 2007: Submit preliminary design and cost estimate to EWB-USA technical review committee for review and approval June 2007: Formalize fund raising initiatives July 2007: Disseminate related information/findings to members of the Atlanta and Naylor’s Hill communities August 2007: Develop final project design September 2007: Develop final project budget September 2007: Work with the local communities, authorities and all other interested parties to establish a construction implementation plan October 2007. Initiate or oversee construction in Jamaica, or pursue alternative implementation strategies
Your Help Is Solicited: The EWB-USA_APC members are very early in the project planning phase. At this point they welcome suggestions and guidance on how to proceed. “We are very hopeful that the Jamaican community here in Atlanta might be willing to provide that guidance,” Mr. Tsivoglou theorized. “It would be even more ideal if someone in the Jamaican community here is an experienced engineering professional and is interested in mentoring and guiding the project team.”
Of course, the EWB-USA_APC project manager Marc Simmons and his team are available to meet with interested parties and with officials from Jamaican organizations in Atlanta. “The team could possibly provide a briefing or presentation on the chapter and how we plan to approach the project,” Mr. Tsivoglou volunteered.
Seriously interested engineering professionals and fund raising organizers/specialists from the Jamaican community in Atlanta, as well as other prospective benefactors and supporters, are invited to indicate their willingness to help. To do so, simply submit your name and contact information via e-mail to derrwright@Yahoo.com. Be sure to include a brief note stating the capacity in which you would prefer to serve.
Contact Info for the Project Manager: For additional information about this worthwhile project, contact Marc Simmons, 5665 New Northside Drive, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30328. E-Mail: mtsimmons@pbsj.com, and phone, 404-273-4398.
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Submitted by Derrick R. Wright using items from the following sources:
An EWB-USA_APC introductory e-mail from Andrew Tsivoglou
EWB-USA_APC’s written responses to a questionnaire
According to their Web site (
The Port Antonio Road Project: The project is located in the Naylor's Hill community near Port Antonio. It will involve the development of a plan to grade, drain, and very probably, pave what is now a rocky, grassed path. “Once designed, we anticipate that we will also work on developing construction funding, and then we expect to be challenged to provide the necessary level of construction oversight and guidance,” Mr. Tsivoglou outlined. “It is our understanding that improvement of this path will also increase access for the residents in the immediate community, and for those in the surrounding areas near a regional hospital.”