Spring

Edition 2014

www.ewb.org.au

It is important for Timorese people to learn practical skills so that they can

rebuild the roads, schools and infrastructure that were destroyed during
the post-Referendum violence in 1999. For some of our graduates, the training
they receive is a pathway to pursue engineering and further education.
Simao Bareto, Director of CNEFP, EWB Partner Organisation

The landscape of international development

is rapidly changing and we are constantly
adapting our work to ensure it is relevant to
community and global needs. Going forward,
our international program will pay specific
attention to creating sector-wide change
within the corporate, government, education
and community sectors in the regions where
we work.
Internationally, the development sector is
about to see a revised approach and direction
with the Millennium Development Goals
due to expire in 2015. The United Nations
is currently engaging stakeholders from
across the globe to develop the post-2015
Sustainable Development Agenda, which is
expected to result in new development goals
next year. Whether explicitly included in these
goals or not, technology and engineering
will play a massive role in facilitating and
enabling poverty reduction post-2015.

Humanitarian
Engineering
Beyond the
Millennium
Development
Goals
__
This year marks 10 years since EWBs first
international placement in Nepal. In this
time, weve placed over 120 volunteers in
the field, who have had significant impact
across eight countries and 38 partner
organisations. Weve seen results spanning
from remote communities connected up
to water sources to locally trained solar
engineers graduating and providing energy
for their communities.

Cover photos
Left: Schoolgirl participating in an EWB-run workshop
about medicinal herbs and technology, India. Photo:
Bianca Anderson 2014.
Top right: Student Lazio carrying out a compression test
on clay bricks, Community Housing Timor Leste. Photo:
Hamish Banks, 2014.
Bottom right: Rob Leeson, EWB Field Volunteer, with
Julio Amaral Freitas, Community Development Officer,
Timor Leste. Photo: Lucas do Nascimento.
Photo on this page
Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia. Photo: Elspeth Moroni, 2014.

In June 2014, we saw a shift in Australias

overseas aid program with the release
of the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trades (DFAT) new international policy
and performance framework. In its new
approach DFAT invests in private sector and
human development. To achieve this DFAT
will work with organisations that have long
term partnerships with communities in the
Indo-Pacific region, such as EWB.

EWBs Approach
To increase the depth of our impact, EWB
will expand its focus in Cambodia, Vietnam
and Timor Leste strategically working with
exceptional community partners in places
where we can make the biggest difference.
EWB is leveraging our experience to create
change in four key thematic areas WASH
(water, sanitation and hygiene), shelter,
energy and education with an emphasis
on impact and innovation.
EWBs work focuses on addressing niche
gaps in access to technologies by using
specialised engineering to assist communities
in difficult circumstances to access basic needs.
Sanitation in Challenging Environments
An example of this approach is our new
Sanitation in Challenging Environments
Initiative. A challenging environment is
considered to be a place where conventional
sanitation designs have proven unsuccessful,
due to difficult geographical and/or geological
conditions. In Cambodia, this mostly relates
to communities that are flood-prone, floating
or have high ground water, affecting between
43-49% of the population (WSP analysis,
2011).
According to Katrina Bukauskas, an
EWB Field Volunteer working on this
project, addressing these conditions
requires multi-dimensional interventions
combining technical solutions, community
behaviour change, government support and
collaborative efforts from non-government

organisations and entrepreneurs to deliver

appropriate solutions. Plus a lot of patience.
This complexity is why EWB is taking
a sector-based approach to the issue,
leveraging our technical knowledge, WASH
field experience and networks of community,
industry and education partners to find
solutions.
Marc Purcell, the Executive Director of
the Australian Council for International
Development (ACFID), the peak body for
Australian aid and development NGOs, said,

EWBs approach is important because

it recognises that developing country
Governments and local NGOs are
increasingly looking to share knowledge
and work in partnership, rather than an
old fashioned charity model of transfer of
resources. Increasingly Governments have
funding, but lack the trained and skilled staff
to implement public works. EWB volunteers
knowhow, and preparedness to work at a
pace sensitive to local capabilities, can make
all the difference to the successful take up
of new programs and implementation.
Professional Skills and Career
Pathways Program

EWB will also be establishing initiatives that

support the development of career pathways
and professional development support for
community organisations with the overall
objective being to build local sectorial capacity
and expertise.
EWB has facilitated the development of an
internship program for students completing
the renewable energy course at the Royal
University of Phnom Penh. As part of this
program students complete two weeks
of work experience with a local energy
enterprise.
EWB is also piloting a professional skills
development program in Cambodia and
Timor Leste to address technical skills gaps
identified by our community partners. This
involves bringing regional partners together
for training workshops.
Across the globe, humanitarian engineering
is growing and there are an increasing
number of EWB affiliates launching around
the world. EWB Australia has been working
to build the capacity of EWB Sri Lanka and
EWB India. We are doing this by helping
to strengthen organisational structures,
training member engineers in community
development and project management,
sharing knowledge, systems and networks,
and supporting advocacy activities.
Our objective is to ensure that local people
and organisations have the tools they
need to respond to challenges they face.
Strong, skilled, local sectors lead to resilient
communities where people can live a life of
opportunity free from poverty.

Fast
__ Facts
Global Development
-- 2.5 billion people dont have access
to basic sanitation. Thats 1 in 3 people.
-- 748 million people dont have access
to safe water. Thats roughly 1 in 10 people.
-- 18% of people lack access to electricity.
Thats almost 1 in 5 people.
-

The Millennium Development Goals

are eight international goals established
by the United Nations in 2000, with the
aim of achieving them by 2015. Next
year there is expected to be a new set
of sustainable development goals released.

Timor Leste
-- 50% of the
population live
below the poverty line
-- Population 1.15 million
-

Timor Leste spends a higher percent

of GDP (16.8%) than any other country
in the world. Education infrastructure
was largely destroyed during the
struggle for independence but the
country is making large improvements.

-- Timor Leste gained independence

from Indonesia in 2002

EWBs International Program

-- First international volunteer placement
2004 Kathmandu, Nepal Wind
Turbine Project.
-- Countries we have worked in
Cambodia, Vietnam, Timor Leste,
India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Laos
-- Number of international partner
organisations since 2004 38
-- Total number of international field
volunteers over 120
-- New initiatives in 2014 Sanitation
in Challenging Environments and
Professional Skills and Career Pathways
-- Current thematic areas WASH
(water, sanitation & hygiene),
shelter, energy and education.

EWB connects, educates and

empowers people through
humanitarian engineering.
We do this by:
-- Building the capacity of emerging
engineering sectors around the world
-- Embedding a focus on humanitarian
engineering into the Australian
engineering sector

Working Together:
WorleyParsons Supports
EWBs Timor Leste Program
__
Over the last year, WorleyParsons in Dili has
provided office space, a training area and
computer, internet and printing facilities for
our In-Country Coordinator and other field
volunteers in Timor Leste.
The tropical island of Timor Leste is just a 45
minute flight from Darwin, yet it is one of the
poorest countries in the world. 39% of people
still lack access to an improved water source
and 50% live below the poverty line.
EWB has worked in Timor Leste since 2005,
assisting local organisations to improve access
to education, clean water, shelter and job
opportunities.
These focus areas are vital for reducing
poverty, improving livelihoods and increasing
economic growth in Timor Leste. Yet in
tackling these significant issues, EWBs staff,
volunteers and local partners themselves face
challenges in accessing basic infrastructure
and equipment, such as transportation,
telecommunications and electricity.

WorleyParsons generousity in

providing an office space has raised
our profile in Timor, created a stable
and reliable working environment and
strengthened the relationship between
EWB and WorleyParsons. Having the
office space makes structuring my time
and meetings much more productive
and professional.

- EWB In Country Coordinator, Mel Bencik.

The office space has helped to increase the

presence, professionalism and awareness of
EWB in Timor Leste, as well as assist greater
productivity and team collaboration for EWB
representatives in Timor Leste.

Photos
Left: WorleyParsons office in Timor, 2014.
Right: Simao Bareto, CNEFP Founder, and Mel Bencik,
EWB In Country Coordinator. Photo: Kate Walsh, 2014.
References for Fast Facts are available at www.ewb.org.
au/beyond-mdgs

Meet a Timorese
Changemaker
Simao Bareto, Director,
National Centre for
Employment and
Professional Training (CNEFP)
__
Simao was one of the first three Timorese
employed to build CNEFP, a training centre
established in 2001. 13 years later, the
Centre employs 70 staff and has had 2,665
students graduate with skills in areas such
as plumbing, masonry, electricity, carpentry,
agriculture, maritime, alternative energy
(solar panel) and hospitality.
CNEFP has had a friendly relationship with
EWB volunteers since 2007 and has recently
become EWBs newest international partner.
Luke Phillips, the first EWB Field Volunteer
to work with CNEFP, will arrive in Timor this
month to work as a Vocational Curriculum
and Teaching Development Mentor.

EWB and CNEFP make a good match.

We like to incorporate engineering
principles into our training and having
a volunteer here will help to improve the
standard of our curriculum and training.
We really appreciate volunteers who leave
their country and dedicate their time here.
It is important for Timorese people to learn
practical skills so that they can rebuild the
roads, schools and infrastructure that were
destroyed during the post-Referendum
violence in 1999. For some of our graduates,
the training they receive is a pathway to
pursue engineering and further education.
Our motto is do it once and do it properly.
We train students with this philosophy in
mind, which has led to CNEFPs reputation
for quality training and graduates.
Im a very practical person. I like meeting
people and I always make the most of
these opportunities I can get back to the
paperwork in the evenings!
I have had chances to visit other countries
(Australia, Portugal and South-east Asia)
and I studied in Indonesia, but now is the
time to be in Timor-Leste, to be involved
in the development of a new nation. I dont
want to miss this moment in history,
so Im still here!
- Simao Bareto

Pro Bono Engineering

and Design Giving Time,
Not Just Money
__
Engineers and designers in Australia are
responsible for an incredible array of
innovation that underlies our everyday
existence, such as the treatment of clean
water, designing a roof over our heads and
electricity to light the dark.
Unfortunately, many of Australias
communities and 600,0001 non-profits are
unable to access design or engineering skills.
Pro bono engineering and design activities (no
fee or reduced fee for service) can enable these
communities and organisations to access the
assistance they need, and yet these activities
have traditionally been conducted on an
unstructured, ad-hoc and small scale basis
in Australia.
In the 2011 Year of Humanitarian Engineering,
EWB and Engineers Australia conducted
research into pro bono activities and released
the Snapshot of Pro Bono Engineering
Report. This report was EWBs first step
in creating awareness about pro bono and
generating interest within the sector.
Growing collaboration
In response to growing interest in pro bono
engineering and design, 35 representatives
from the engineering sector came together
in April 2014 to discuss how to foster an
embedded culture of pro bono activities
within the engineering and design sectors.
Subsequently, an industry working group

has met throughout 2014 to collaborate,

share knowledge on pro bono systems,
collate pro bono case studies and coordinate
celebratory activities.

Find out more

With approximately 330,0002 engineers in
Australia, the collective impact of widespread
pro bono engineering and design activities can
create enormous social legacy.

Pro bono engineering and design

activities can be absolutely crucial
for communities and organisations
who cant otherwise access technical
services.

Find out more about pro bono engineering

and design at a session on 27th November
at the upcoming Engineers Australia
Convention in Melbourne. You can also drop
in to our exhibition booth at the Convention
anytime from 25-28 November.

It lets our staff get really actively

involved in the community in
which they operate and make a real
contribution.
Snapshot of Pro Bono Engineering
Report, 2011

For more information visit www.ewb.org.

au/probono or contact Sarah Matthee on
s.matthee@ewb.org.au
1. Productivity Commission, 2010
2. The Engineering Profession: A Statistical Overview, 2013
Photo: Keith Bolton, Ecoteam

EWB respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Country on which we work.
Printed on 100% recycled paper. There was a mistake in the last edition of Impact. Download the revised version at www.ewb.org.au/subscribe.

I am an engineer.
I am EWBs CEO.
I am a monthly donor.

I share with many others, a positive vision for the future a safe, peaceful, healthy and fulfilling life for all people.
I am passionate about engineering, technology and innovation because
I see how they can enable a better world for all people.
I believe everyone is responsible for creating the future we want to see.
This is why I make a conscious decision to contribute every day.
I believe this is our choice and our responsibility.

If you too believe in the power of engineering,

become a monthly donor today:
Donate online
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info@ewb.org.au

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Lizzie Brown, EWB CEO