From leaky roofs to lasting change, K-State’s Engineers Without Borders chapter helps the people of Ifumbo reinvent their schoolhouses.
In Ifumbo, Malawi, the town’s three small school buildings had leaky roofs, holes in the floor, no windows or doors and hardly any structural integrity. Students often had to take shifts throughout the week because the inadequate buildings couldn’t house all 700 children.
K-State’s Engineers Without Borders chapter saw the need and partnered with the Village Development Committee at Ifumbo and Make A Difference Africa to raise funds and design new schoolhouses — and even add electricity for the first time.
In-person influence
K-State students took a two-week trip to Ifumbo to contribute to the project. They talked to the school’s headmaster and the construction contractor and, despite the language barrier, created a design for rebuilding.
Dalton Rizzo, a K-State electrical engineering major who used this opportunity to apply his skills to the real world, headed the electrical design aspect of the construction. He worked with the team to ensure everything was up to code.
“The headmaster of Ifumbo’s primary school told us he plans on having computers in the schoolhouses one day,” said Rizzo. “That was a surprise for me, since they hadn’t had electricity until the new construction.”
Creative construction
Ifumbo is located in a remote area far from modern civilization. The village lacks running water and any type of machinery, so people make do with excessive amounts of manual labor. From mixing concrete to roofing, everything is done by hand or with simple tools.
“They are very resilient people,” said Rizzo. “To lift the mortar to the higher parts of the building, workers would toss shovels full of mortar from the ground and another worker would catch it from up above.”
The work is tough, but they are very good at it. The people of Ifumbo live a very different life than Americans do, and Rizzo says he was humbled by the stark contrast.
“The opportunity for a real-world experience is great,” said Rizzo. “Once you’re there, you realize it’s real brick and mortar going up because of your contributions. We were transforming lives for the better.”
By Kate Ellwood