800 EWBers tell us why they care

14 November, 2009 @ 13:31

Last week we surveyed EWB members to hear what areas of EWB’s work they most connect to and what they want to hear more about in the future. (fill out the survey: http://opportunity.ewb.ca/page/s/prioritiessurvey)

Nearly 800 EWBers told us why they are passionate about our work, many of whom are most passionate about our projects in Africa, while many others are motivated by our work to connect Canadians, our government and the engineering profession here at home to Africa’s development. Here’s what some of them had to say:

Connecting Canadians to Africa: “Connecting Africans to Canadians will help drive innovation in both places, spur thought and conversation around development and help build a truly global society. We will soon see that working together, we are far stronger than the sum of our parts."

Global Engineers: “I believe in the role Engineers can play in creating a prosperous future for people, societies and indeed the world.”

Farming as a Business: “EWB is about opportunity. To me, the ability to work and generate an income from farming will put people on the right path to realize their potential and support their family…that is what opportunity is about."

Access to Infrastructure: “If Ghanaians have access to the basic infrastructure that we take for granted, they will be better equipped to tackle many other major problems which they currently face. They will be connected to the services they need and have opportunities to build businesses, earn an income, and move out of poverty."

Access to Water: “Everything starts with clean, safe water - improved health, longer life, productive farms. Imagine this was the only priority and all engineers focused on solving this. We should be cross training engineers from other disciplines to be a part of the team that solves this."

Action and Advocacy: "I think EWB expanding its role towards informing Canadian foreign policy regarding development aid is extremely important because Canada should not just provide aid, but do it strategically, so that aid is effective and actually trickles down to the mass population where the impacts are tangible."

Thank you for everyone who participated! If you want to share your ideas, please visit the survey: http://opportunity.ewb.ca/page/s/prioritiessurvey