David Luke's EWB Fundraising Page

Learning at Queen's

This Christmas, I am supporting Engineers Without Borders’ World of Opportunity campaign. As I am sure you are well aware, a huge number of people living in the world today are made vulnerable by forces outside of their control causing them to live in a condition known as poverty. EWB believes that poverty is, at its root, attributable to a lack of opportunity. The organization works in partnership with organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Canada in an effort to provide more opportunities to the rural poor.

I have been highly impressed, in my work so far with Engineers Without Borders, with the intelligence, humbleness and dedication of the people involved in this organization. My mother (an educator) describes with reverence EWB’s “knowledge-building community”, through which the organization shares knowledge and learns from it. I am constantly taken aback by the ability, of even the most senior members of this organization, to admit mistakes, learn from them and without losing enthusiasm, to develop a new action plan and pursue it.

Allow me to make clear what you are supporting. You are not supporting a single-bullet “end to poverty”. You are also not supporting an organization that has or will grow complacent, simply taking donations and using them on ineffective projects. You are supporting long-term volunteers who live in EWB’s four host countries, working on projects to address Agriculture, Water and Sanitation, Rural Infrastructure, and Good Governance. You are supporting all of the huge amounts of planning, studying and messing up that makes these projects successful. You are also supporting the Queen’s chapter, which has grown, in its first full term in existence, to include 19 hired members and many more general members working to promote the idea that Engineers can and should serve society.

If you have any thoughts, ideas, or questions, please contact me (dloates@gmail.com) and I would be happy to discuss them with you. Thank you for your support.

David Luke Oates