Samoa '07
Samoa micro-finance and village water projects
In June 2007 9 engineering students and one professional engineer travelled to Samoa to undertake water-related projects and a micro-finance project.
Stepping out of our aircraft into 30 degree, humid conditions was a very warm welcome to the island of Upolu, Samoa - and the warm welcomes didn't end there. Everywhere we travelled on the islands we were greeted with smiles and a strong Samoan wave.
Micro-Finance Project
Our first project consisted of spending 7 days working alongside the South Pacific Business Development Foundation. This is a micro-finance organisation set up to provide access to capital for micro-eterprises.
Examples of the various businesses we worked with were:
In order to receive funding for their business the various owners must fill out an application form and business plan. With low literacy and little access to word processors, digital cameras and other luxuries we often take for granted, business owners found it very difficult to adequately document their enterprise, and hence were often unable to aquire funding.
This is where EWB came in. We went out into the community with each of the loan centre managers. At each of the loan centres we interviewed the business owners and took photos of them and their enterprise. In some cases we worked through the financials of their business and helped them to determine the level of borrowing they would require to get the business off the ground. EWB volunteers then used the data gathered to compile reports and funding applications for approximately 100 micro-businesses.
One of our founding principles is that of teaching, not just doing. The teaching aspect in this case was working with the business owners to help them determine the level of borrowing necessary. In many cases the entrepreneurs had borrowed more than they needed and were finding interest payments a burden. The coaching provided by EWB to these many businesses will hopefully be passed on by those entrepreneurs to others who seek micro-finance in the future thus leaving a legacy of carefully calculated leverage requirements for small business around Upolu island.
EWB was also able to undertake a mini-audit of the South Pacific Business Development Foundation based on our experiences in the field working with individual businesses. We compiled a report of our findings and made recommendations to SPBDF management based on the issues we had seen arising. Our hope is that our feedback allowed SPBDF to improve what is already a fantastic service and make even better use of the seed capital they have available.
Village Managed Water Schemes
The islands of Samoa are serviced by a "town-supply" water scheme which reaches into most communities providing a relatively secure, potable water source to residents. There are however approximately 30 villages spread across the two main islands (Upolu and Savaii) who operate their own indepent water schemes known as Villaged Managed Schemes. These 30 or so schemes are a result of poor town-supply services or an unwillingness of villagers to pay for the town-supply water. Water quality issues in the VMS's are a big concern given that typhoid and giardia are prevalent in the islands resulting in a high incidence of hospitalisation through contraction of very preventable water-borne disease.
The Samoan Water Authority are undertaking a complete review of the VMS's in order to determine exactly how many people they are supplying, the flow and pressure provided, the quality of the water, and the physical state of the scheme.
In order to make this possible EWB was engaged to undertake full technical assessments of the first two water schemes - Sili scheme on Savaii, and Falelatai scheme on Upolu. These assessments were carried out over the remaing 10 days that EWB were in Samoa and consisted of the following:
Upon gathering of this information EWB produced one report on each of the schemes. The reports, each more than 60 pages in length, were presented at a parliamentry meeting of the Samoan Water Authority, the Water Sector Support Programme, and the Minister for Economic Development. An audio-visual presentation was also made and questions were taken on from staff on the outcome of our assessments and our recommendations.
EWB report documents were adapted by the Samoan Water Authority and used as the basis for undertaking assessments of the remaining Village Managed Schemes - EWB's enduring legacy to the development of safe drinking water in Samoa.
EWB's work with SPBDF and the Village Managed Water Schemes made a significant and lasting impact on the lives of everyday Samoans.
The young engineers involved in this trip made some great friendships with eachother and with the locals, developed leadership and technical skills and above all, had a fantastic time.
Professional water resources engineer Craig Omundsen was a hugely important influence on the work of EWB in Samoa during 2007. It is very important to EWB to have a professional engineer present during our international aid trips both as a mentor to the students and younger engineers, and to sign off any technical or design content as compliant with industry best practise.
To learn more about the work of Engineers Without Borders New Zealand and our other projects in New Zealand and in the Pacific, browse the other pages of this site or fill in our Contact Us form and an EWB representative will be in touch with you.