Engineers Without Borders
Florin Gheorghe
EWB student Florin Gheorghe in Zambia.
Harrison Sikala tends his bumper crop of tomatoes.
Engineering student works to end global poverty
Reprinted from Ingenuity | Fall/Winter 2008
Equipped with three years of mechanical-engineering study, and after extensive preparation by UBC’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Florin Gheorghe flew to Zambia in May expecting to work in the fields alongside local farmers.
Before he arrived in Zambia, his overseas EWB position had been described to him as work in collaboration with the Denver-based International Development Enterprise (IDE) in Livingstone, helping local villagers with farming supply-chain logistics—acquiring seeds and technology for crop production and bringing crops to market.
“Before going,” Florin explains a few weeks after returning from his four-month placement, “I thought I’d be most helpful directly on the ground; but shortly after arriving, I found my greatest opportunity for impact was in trying to build capacity in the locally staffed IDE office through coaching.”
When Florin arrived in Livingstone, he met with interesting challenges in the office of three—one staff member had been sent to hospital the day before with tuberculosis, and another’s funeral was to be held the following day.
“It was a shock when the Country Director pulled me into his office and said, ‘Florin, here’s what happened: I need you to go pull this team back together,’” says Florin.
Relying on a paper flip-chart, markers and his keen and sensitive mind, Florin helped the local IDE office plan, set goals, communicate and ultimately support local farmers in achieving success through a more efficient organizational structure.
Take, for example, how Florin’s work to streamline the organizational structure helped 27-year-old Harrison Sikala. The year before he first met Florin, Harrison had a crop of roughly 1,000 tomato plants. However, working with a more efficient IDE, Harrison was able to obtain a loan and purchase a diesel pump, which enabled him to plant up to 11,000 tomato plants, valued at roughly $15,000.
The dollar value may seem fairly inconsequential to Canadians, but considering most in Zambia live on less than $1 per day, Harrison’s tomato crop was worth more than 41 times the average annual income. The Bill Gates of his community, Harrison has since convinced others to become farmers; according to Florin, Harrison has taken his whole village forward.
One might think commerce or agriculture students would be better equipped to face such organizational challenges, but according to Florin, engineering students develop a systematic thought process—an adeptness for problem-solving on the basis of hypothesis testing—that transcends a specific industry.
Applying his scientific hypothesis to improve the economic well-being of local villagers, Florin created an organizational structure to enable individuals to do their best.
“I realized I could have a much greater impact on the well-being of the entire community this way than by delivering specific agricultural items,” says Florin. “When provided with an opportunity to transcend poverty, each individual can make a difference in his own economic well-being and share his success within his community. I believe this is a scalable model for alleviating global poverty.”
Unlike relief programs that provide immediate aid in the forms of food or money, EWB focuses on long-term human development, creating opportunities for people to improve their economic status and enabling independence so that they can make sustainable progress.
“Engineers Without Borders has by far been my greatest experience at UBC—even before my overseas placement,” says Florin. “Aligning with impassioned, motivated people has inspired me to be the same. It has broadened my perspective of how I can use my education to help make the world a better place.
“I believe it is our role, and privilege, as Canadian engineers to effect human development by promoting social responsibility not only in our workplaces but also in our households, with regard to the decisions we make and awareness of ourselves in a global context. I hope others will join me in driving this positive change.”
To learn more about Florin’s experience in Zambia, visit his blog at www.mudhutmadness.com.
To learn more about Engineers Without Borders, visit www.ewb.ca.
