We caught up with India Eiloart to find out more about what drives her to help others!

Engineers Without Borders is an organization made up of people passionate about humanitarian engineering. As part of National Volunteer Week, we caught up with India Eiloart to find out more about what drives her to help others.

India has been a part of EWB since her days at the University of Canterbury as a Natural Resources Engineering student, back in 2014. She is now a Water Resources Engineer in Wellington and manages EWB’s technical placement project in Kiribati.

“I always wanted to work with the environment in some way, but I also wanted to know how things worked around me. Not just the theory of it, but also the practical mechanics behind it all. This is what led me to engineering, and specifically Natural Resources Engineering, as this was the discipline that focused on our effects on the environment and how the environment affects us in turn.

I was first introduced to EWB the way a lot of us are—a banner at club’s day as a fresher at university, which looked superbly more interesting than the usual student groups. I now know that’s because it’s a lot more than just a student club.

The core of EWB is ‘humanitarian engineering’, which involves applying appropriate engineering practices to sustainable community development. These communities are frequently located in the same regions that are suffering from increasingly unstable environments, which make day-to-day life more difficult, from accessing clean water to having stable housing. Engineering is progressing in all aspects of life, but I believe that these communities that are the focus of humanitarian engineering are the ones that are of the most immediate need. Therefore, I have become more and more involved long after I graduated.

EWB has also kickstarted my leadership and management training, which is already paying dividends in other aspects of my career. EWB is also helping me find areas that I can continue to progress my technical skills in a more meaningful way, specifically in global water security.

Lastly, I would like to say that if you’re feeling like the grind of work isn’t drawing out your true passions, I highly recommend finding a cause or movement that you truly connect with and volunteer with them! There’s nothing better than working with a group of people that are all wanting to achieve the same vision as you, and it is amazing what you can achieve when you are truly passionate about it. EWB was the organisation for me, and maybe it can be yours too!”

Hear more about India's work at the 2019 Humanitarian Engineering Conference. Get your tickets here.