Tulane University’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders is back in full force.
Originally founded in the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, complications and restrictions to travel nearly caused the club to fizzle out, but a recent trip to Ghana has revived the energy and mission of the club.
Engineers Without Borders is an international nonprofit with student and professional chapters across the United States that take on engineering-based projects for improving infrastructure. Local chapters apply to the national organization for particular projects that are within their skillset and fundraising range.
At the end of 2023, the Tulane chapter was chosen to take on a project in Ghana. There, in a rural community of roughly 3,000, the club hopes to build sustainable sanitation facilities.
Originally, the club had set out purely with the intention of building latrines, but after traveling to Ghana during the summer of 2024 and meeting with members of the community, the issue of access to drinking water emerged as a priority.
“Whenever we met the community, they kept asking us about access to water as well. So then we expanded our scope to include providing access to clean water as well as building the latrine facilities,” Lily Baughman, president of the club, said.“So now in April, during the dry season, we’re hoping to begin the drilling process to try to build the borehole [for water access].”
During the April trip, members of the club met with local community members, nongovernmental organizations and engineers to collect information relevant to the project and scope out its feasibility.
After arriving, Baughman was touched by the community’s reception.
“They received us with a band, like a second-line band type of parade through the town,” she said.
Engineers Without Borders focuses on community participation and works extensively with local institutions, as well as professional engineers, to develop the best designs for the community.
The club recently finalized their design for the project: compost toilets.
They chose this model because, according to EWB, Ghanans prefer the compost design as opposed to the existing flush system in the area.
The compost design is unique because it manages to be odorless. It masks the scent of the waste by dumping sawdust into the bowl after each use. The sawdust also helps break down the waste, which can then be transferred to a local compost facility. The waste is composted into fertilizer, which can then be used by the community, of which 80% are farmers.
EWB anticipates that the process will likely take four to five years of actual construction and travel in Ghana, followed by a couple of years of long-term monitoring by the chapter.
“The goal is for them to be entirely self-sufficient,” Baughman said. “They’re going to be the ones that are there every day, transporting the compost, processing it in the facility.”
Baughman, a master’s student who got her undergraduate degree from Tulane in 2024, expressed high hopes for the future of the club. She hopes to recruit more young members and get more resources and fundraising for the subsequent board and president.
“We’ve got a really fun culture in the club of collaboration and making the meetings fun for people and making the whole project exciting,” she said.
Despite its name, the club welcomes people of all different academic backgrounds, not just those studying engineering.
“[Students studying] public health, business, architecture, education, are all important because providing education materials to the community about hygiene and the importance of it is also something that’s going to be important for our next trip,” she said.
Engineers Without Borders Tulane will return to Ghana this summer to continue their in-person work as remote efforts continue presently.
