Engineers Without Borders Gahama Crowdfunding

EWB Purdue is partnered with Gahama, Rwanda to build sustainable infrastructure and increase access to clean water.

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Purdue has been a part of Purdue’s engineering community for many years, using engineering to serve low-resource communities and address critical infrastructure needs. In 2014, Purdue's EWB chapter became part of Purdue's Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program, allowing students to earn academic credit while working on long-term, community-driven engineering projects.

Since then, EWB Purdue has rapidly expanded its work with communities both domestically and internationally. In Rwanda, our chapter has successfully completed two gravity-fed water distribution systems. The first project began in 2023 in the community of Rubona, and the system now provides clean water to over 2,500 people. In May 2026, our student travel team closed out the Rubona project, formally handing ownership of the sustainable system over to the community. The second water distribution system in the neighboring community of Nyakibizi finished its construction in September 2026, serving over 3,000 community members. Building on these projects, our chapter recently began a new partnership with the Gahama community in Rwanda's Southern Province to bring its 2,000 residents and local school of over 600 students reliable access to safe drinking water.

Today, EWB Purdue continues to bring together students from many engineering and non-engineering disciplines to develop sustainable solutions alongside our community partners.

Funding will carry the design into construction and give the community of Gahama a reliable source of safe water.

Donations received will directly fund the Gahama Water Distribution Project. This includes materials and equipment for the construction of reservoir tanks, air release and washout chambers, community tap-stands and other critical system infrastructure needed to deliver clean water throughout the community.

Beyond Gahama, funding allows our students to keep working directly with community partners, collecting information in the field, and putting our engineering plans into practice. Financial support accelerates our Rwanda projects, helping us implement sustainable designs that have a lasting impact on combating water insecurity

Without donations, the residents of Gahama, Rwanda will continue to rely on distant, contaminated springs. Families, primarily women and children, typically walk 45 minutes to a water source and may wait up to an hour per trip to secure contaminated water. This responsibility disproportionately impacts the education of students, especially girls, who spend mornings and evenings collecting water, arriving to the local (EP) Kirambi Protestant School late, exhausted, and losing valuable time for learning. Limited access to water also constrains livestock and agricultural practices, putting the community's food security at risk. Until Gahama has a reliable water system, these problems will continue to affect nearly every part of daily life.

The consequences extend far beyond inconvenience. During EWB Purdue's May 2026 Assessment Trip, testing confirmed the abundant presence of microbial bacteria in the primary spring source. It is commonplace for dependency on this contaminated water to cause persistent intestinal worms and diarrhea. While government deworming treatments are provided every six months, health problems remain, and waterborne illnesses continue to contribute significantly to local mortality rates. EWB Purdue’s solution will protect and capture the spring source, disinfect the water through chlorination, and distribute it throughout the community, improving local health and hygiene while allowing community members to dedicate more time to education and other productive activities.