Luke Brown in Ghana
Born in Edmonton and raised in London, Ontario, Luke's first exposure to international development was through a month-long project in Bangkok, Thailand. There, he worked at a community centre in Bangkok's largest slum, whose goals were poverty alleviation and delivering AIDS treatment to the impoverished residents. Upon returning, Luke became involved in the establishment of the University of Western Ontario's chapter of EWB, an organisation he discovered would allow him to work towards global humanitarian equality while making use of his engineering education.
After graduating in 2005 with a degree in Biochemical Engineering, and having been inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of his EWB chapter, Luke applied to become Western's first long-term overseas volunteer. He is now working in the city of Tamale, in the Northern Region of Ghana. He is partnered with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, a governmental body whose focus is the delivery of clean water throughout the country. Luke is working closely with them to help improve remote villages' access to potable water in northern Ghana. The lack of access to clean water is both a major contributor to ill health, and can be a major drain on time if water sources are far from a community.
When not focusing intensely on impact, Luke enjoys playing guitar, reading and writing fiction, discovering new music, and wandering the streets. He is also responsible for dropping a 750lb pumpkin on the front lawn of his school from 100ft in the air using a boom crane.
