About EWB…

Engineers Without Borders Australia works with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life through the education and implementation of sustainable engineering projects.

Through the process of helping people in need we become more socially aware and responsible, improve ourselves and inspire others to action.

Our organisation aims to link engineering and engineering related students
with project opportunities, primarily in the development world. The
objective of all these activities is not only to contribute to new and
ongoing development projects in an effective way, but also to expand
the dimensions of experience for emerging and practicing engineers.

Read more about  EWB here…

Connectivity For Refugees (CFR)

Connectivity For Refugees, CFR, began as a collaborative community development effort between the University of Melbourne Chapter of Engineers Without Borders Australia, and the Adult Multicultural Educational Services (AMES)in the early part of 2005.

Melbourne’s refugee community come from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures and typically feel a sense of isolation in alien surroundings and difficult circumstances. Employment is hard to come by and educational backgrounds are non-uniform, both of which only increases their sense of alienation.

CFR is aimed primarily at enhancing their integration within Australian society. We aim to do this by teaming refugee students with a CFR trainer who, through a needs assessment process, helps the student in achieving their employment and education goals; and by guiding them to an understanding that the computer is a powerful communication and documentation tool and that the Internet is a vast resource of useful information.

You can view the CFR website here.

On Decision Making

It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.
- Jim Rohn

When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take – choose the bolder.
- William Joseph Slim

Indecision is debilitating; it feeds upon itself; it is, one might almost say, habit-forming. Not only that, but it is contagious; it transmits itself to others.
- H. A. Hopf

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
- Kahlil Gibran

The search for the perfect venture can turn into procrastination. Your idea may or may not have merit. The key is to get started.
- Unknown Author

When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it  advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, such as the choice of a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves. In the important decisions of personal life, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature.
- Sigmund Freud

We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.
- Aneurin Bevan

Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.
- Peter Drucker

Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.
- Napoleon Bonaparte

When you have to make a choice and you don’t make it, that itself is a choice.
- William James

Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne.

Vic Market is a bustling, thriving food and accessories market in the heart of Melbourne whose trader denizens provide literally everything including juggling which I am keenly interested in. A recommended destination for first timers to Melbourne. Go to the Vic Market Photo Album to see some more pictures of the insides of the market…

Telecentre TW…

A fine example of travel writing on the Telecentre movement by Ian Pringle. Read his article on the Tansen CMC (Nepal)  here…

EWB’s page goes live at ADG

View the page here…

E-LITERACY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GOES NATIONAL AT EWB…

If you are looking for news on EWB’s ICT-based projects or ideas for beginning a Local Initiative Project (LIP) of your own, you’ve come to the right virtual space.

Accurately described as an Information and Communication for Development project, Engineers Without Borders ‘Computer in Homes’, ‘PC’s for Refugees’ or ‘Connectivity For Refugees’ projects as it is variously termed has well and truly launched. With Perth WA and University of Melbourne chapters taking the lead, enthusiasm for the project is spreading, as I write this there are chapters in QLD, SA and NSW planning how to get involved.

The fundamental theme that underpins all these projects is that enhancing the e-literacy of selected individuals from within the refugee community improves their transition to further education, sourcing employment opportunities, or simply just getting in touch with their community networks. The e-literacy skills that the projects focus on are the skills and knowledge relating to the computer and its software as a communication tool and the Internet as an information resource.

While there are some variations in all of these programs, the program is built around a partnership of concerned entities. Your standard program would involve firstly an EWB chapter, which conceives of the project, initiates partner organizations, recruits volunteer trainers and tech support personnel, sources and installs computer systems and sets up Internet access. With regards to partners, important players are the organizations that work with the refugee community such as AMES, ASRC and ARA with these groups acting as liaison to interested students. Finally another essential partner is the computer system refurbisher such as GreenPC or Computerbank Victoria who provide the necessary hardware and software for training at discounted rates.

It is noteworthy that this program’s introduction to EWB Australia has international roots – the CLT (Computer Literacy Training) program that runs out the Calgary chapter of EWB Canada has been running since 2003 and has been an important source of inspiration for our own efforts. By their own reckoning, they have they have provided computer training to over 200 students from over 30 different countries.

While this partnership-based model remains a constant in all of these programs, there are variations in training method, choice of computer software, pricing of computer systems, and sources of EWB trainers. Training models vary from a 1 on 1 model (where a student and trainer pair selectively for the entirety of the 6 month course and generally train at the student’s home) to a group-based model where multiple trainers and students train together in a classroom environment. Computer systems come populated either with the Linux or Windows operating system and are provided to students either free of charges or at a small nominal rate. From the human resources perspective, trainers and support staff can be drawn from either student and professional networks or both. 

While it is still too early in these existing programs to have measured their impact, students will surely have an enhanced understanding of the computer and the Internet as the immeasurably useful tools that they are. Equally importantly, EWB members have worked together towards effective community development.  As all these examples prove, this article is a replicable model that only requires a committed group of EWB members to provide that necessary spark.

To send us your ideas, offers of support, or to enquire for further information on any of these programs, please write to us at EWB National at i4d@ewb.org.au. Please also visit the ‘Contact Us’ page which you will find on the homepage of the CFR website, one of the programs referenced in this article, at  www.uluruproject.info/cfr . Proceed to fill in the short form on the page indicating how you will be able to contribute to CFR indicating clearly which activity/s you would like to be part of. You will also find relevant resources and material in the ‘FAQ’, ‘Resources’ and ‘Admin’ section of this website.

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