Cultural Context of Engineering

Some people reading this blog might be asking themselves, "where is all the engineering in this Engineers Without Borders volunteer placement?". I've found what EWB focuses on is not the technical engineering skills, but thinking critically about the cultural context in which designs are implemented. What becomes very clear from living here is that things do not work the same as in Canada and the assumptions we can make in the west do not always apply.

Some Challenges to doing Engineering work here include:
Everything takes longer than you think it will
Communication issues are huge
Difficult to get spare parts
Lack of infrastructure
Lack of reliable energy supply
Lack of materials
Lack of resources for research
Heavy rains prevent building at certain times and wash out structures
Inadequate waste disposal facilities and practices
Low literacy rates
Lack of computers and people with computer training
Some things are more expensive

Some good questions to ask when designing a technology or system include:
How do I know this design will improve people’s quality of life?
Who has identified the needs of the design?
How will the design be used?
Who will use it (women, children, elderly, men, farmers, individuals, communities)?
Who will have ownership over it?
What resources are required to run it or maintain it?
Are those resources locally available?
Can the people afford to run and maintain it?
Does it cause environmental degradation (soil erosion, deforestation, air pollution, habitat destruction, water pollution, etc.)
How will byproducts be disposed of?
How will equipment be transported?
Has the whole cycle of the process being modified been examined?
What is the root cause(s) of the problem?
How do I get information?
What do the words being used mean to me? What do they mean for the other people involved?
What skills and knowledge are widely known?

Designs that tend to be most successful:

• Rely only on local resources (both material and human)
• Are as simple as possible
• Appropriate to the culture and livelihoods of users
• Are based on fulfilling a basic need
• Cost effective
• Produce little or no waste
• Do not require electricity or fossil fuels
• Extremely durable
• Can be transported by bike
• Require little training for use and maintenance

The projects EWB volunteers work on often involve little technical engineering skills, however, the analytical thinking and problem solving skills that are learned through engineering are often helpful in providing feedback for local organisations.