Garrett Schmidt

Country: Malawi
Partner: District government
Placement: Developing a management system to map and monitor water sources

“I was instantly attracted to Engineers Without Borders because everyone I met within the organisation possessed an inspiring level of critical thought and ambition to create change.”

Garrett Schmidt was drawn to EWB over five years ago when he was working towards his degree in environmental engineering at the University of Regina. With no EWB presence on campus at the time, yet a recognizable passion for the organisation’s work, Garrett co-founded the University of Regina EWB chapter.

Garrett served as chapter President for 2 years before graduating and going on to gain engineering work experience in Alberta and Saskatchewan. However, with a mounting desire to expand his professional horizons, Garrett came full circle back to EWB.

“I wanted to apply my passion and skills in an effective manner that would improve the lives of people living in extreme poverty,” says Garrett. “I knew I could do this at EWB.”

Now, Garrett is living in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi, working with EWB’s Water Team to improve access to clean and safe water across the country. Because there is limited information to map the location of water points in Malawi, clean water sources are often inequitably distributed and poorly maintained – leaving thousands of vulnerable communities behind.

Garrett is an important part of EWB’s ability to address this challenge. He is partnered with the district government in Lilongwe and is refining a low-cost and user friendly management information system to map the location and monitor the functionality of water points.

This system is the first of its kind, allowing the government to capture the information needed to identify broken water wells and better distribute new ones.

“I’m really excited about the potential of our mapping and monitoring system and its impact on the district and national government institutions,” says Garrett. “It meets the needs of the sector to address the challenges of broken water wells like never before.”

With this innovative tool, Garrett is also working with water sector players in Malawi, such as UNICEF, to integrate the efforts of likeminded mapping and monitoring approaches. In helping to build these relationships he is ensuring that technologies are working together to address Malawi’s water scarcity versus perpetuating fragmented approaches.

“I have been asking critical questions, providing alternative solutions, and building consensus among key organisations by communicating the field realties,” Garrett notes. “Because of our approach, are having a lasting impact in Malawi.”

EWB’s ambition to create change has not been altered since Garrett first joined the organisation five years ago. Our water point mapping and monitoring tool is the most advanced of its kind in the region, and in 2010, we are scaling up its reach across the country like never before. By 2011, we will have mapped one third of all the water points in Malawi.