Volunteering
Outside of working on engineering projects, I’ve volunteered to try and make my community and the world a better place. In high school, I volunteered my engineering experience to design a tactile map and to help facilitate the manufacturing of eNable 3D printable prosthetics hands. Most recently, I’ve fundraised $6,000 for Engineers in Action and traveled for two weeks in Eswatini to help build a suspension footbridge in the Luyengo community. I personally enjoy volunteerism, because it is the best way to improve people’s day-to-day lives while using the knowledge and skills you have today.
Engineers in Action Izola Suspension Bridge
In the Fall of 2024, I decided to volunteer for Engineers in Action, a non-profit organization that builds bridges in developing countries. I traveled to Eswatini and lived in a homestead in Luyengo, helping construct a 52-meter-long suspension footbridge that now serves 700+ community members. It was a journey of a lifetime, and it was great to help a developing community while traveling and learning about a non-western culture.
I did the volunteership because I had never traveled to Africa before, and I wanted to learn firsthand what life is like there and what problems people in the country truly face. In Western media, typical coverage of Africa centers around political conflicts, poverty, and diamond mining, which paints an unfortunately skewed perspective of their daily lives. Additionally, the U.S. has a history of trying to force solutions to problems that may not actually be what Africans need (one infamous example is the PlayPump). However, Engineers in Action emphasizes that their approach to helping is to work with, not for, the people. Alongside their years of work building bridges and a well-organized Free Agent program designed to seamlessly integrate independent volunteers into a project, I knew I had to join.
By the way, this is Eswatini
As a Free Agent, Engineers in Action would provide me with food, water, and shelter so long as I could raise $6,000 to subsidize costs and cover my travel. So, I posted videos online asking people on my social media network to donate, and I sold some of my and my family’s unused items on the Facebook Marketplace. People within my network were tremendously generous. While working there, I told the village priest about the donations. He was surprised and beyond grateful that people who were complete strangers to him were willing to pitch in for his community’s bridge. As gratitude for their contributions, I signed everyone’s name on the helmet I brought to Luyengo, and people around the community got to read their names. The people who generously donated include (in chronological order from first to latest):
The Jurczyk & Peraca Family, The Pianka Family, Paul Zhang, Mona Scrofano, Julie L Coughlan, Shira Landskroner-Eiger, Jess Baylan, Darren Eskow, Allen & Debbie Fineberg, Doug Simpson, Max Isaacson, James He, Kalley Hou, Carrie, The Khotimsky Family, Hamza, Matt Simpson, The Witwicki Family, Jacqueline Demby, Elisabetta, Lina Gouda, Tom Khuu, Babi I Dziadzi (my grandparents), Lidia AK, Katie & Noah, Josh G., Tony Vuolo, Ryan R, Michelle Whang, Pedro, and of course Anonymous.
Before the bridge was built, the Luyengo community had two options for crossing a river: a rickety old bridge or a large steel pipe. If people chose the bridge, they had to walk into the river valley, where they were at risk of getting mugged or raped. If it was the rainy season, this old bridge would get flooded over, and people would have to walk across the pipe. However, this pipe is slippery when wet and high above the valley, which resulted in many injuries and deaths. There was a clear need to have a safe passage across the river.
Engineers in Action provides the design and bridge-building knowledge, while MicroProjects, the country’s urban development organization, provides resources and people. So, I came in as an extra pair of hands, listening to what the local experts needed for the bridge and doing my best to follow their instructions.
During work days, I helped wherever I could and learned key parts of the bridge-build process. For the first few days, I bent suspenders. These were pieces of rebar that would suspend from the main bridge cable and hook onto the walking platform. They needed to be sized to spec, so I checked measurements and corrected errors between bends. By the end of the first week, I was helping build scaffolding that would brace the towers and give added working space. By the end, I was drilling in floorboards and touching up the painted fences.
Outside of work hours, I stayed with the rest of the engineering team at a homestead provided by the local priest. There was no running water except for a couple of days, so we would fill buckets of water from a nearby tank to shower, wash our clothes, and cook with. I had a bed in a room with six other engineers, and there was a grocery store a 20-minute walk away, which we frequented for cooking dinners. I personally stocked up on their peanut butter, which was better than most I’ve tried here in the United States.
Two weeks after I joined, which was six weeks after the construction started, the bridge was completed, and we all celebrated its inauguration day. The Deputy Prime Minister, the fourth highest-ranking officer of Eswatini, was there to cut the ribbon and announce the bridge’s opening. Throughout the celebration, local children recited poems, people performed traditional Swazi tribal dances, and people exchanged gifts. Then, everyone in the community crossed the bridge for the first time to get their lunch (the food there usually consisted of pap, chicken, and some fresh leafy vegetables).
In the end, the Luyengo community got a bridge set to last for 50 years that allows people to safely cross the river without risk of injury during all seasons of the year. Today, Engineers in Action continues to work on bridges and water pumps, and they have an amazing Free Agent experience. If anyone is looking to volunteer abroad, whether you are in school, working, or have free time, please do not hesitate to reach out to them. I’d also be more than happy to talk about my experience over LinkedIn or e-mail.
Mass Academy Assistive Technology
During the second half of our junior year, Mass Academy students were required to create a device that would assist those with disabilities in the local Worcester community. Our team created Bluetooth-enabled buttons to streamline music therapy for motor-impaired people. I was responsible for the electronics design, the case, and the Arduino code.
Just before the pandemic, I worked with my high school to develop some assistive technology products. One of the challenges I took on was designing a map for the EasternSeals office in Worcester, MA. EasternSeals is a non-profit focused on assisting the disabled. They needed a map of their facilities that could help the visually impaired. I worked with one of the teachers who runs my high school’s printers and printed nine puzzle pieces that could fit together to form one large map. The map had raised walls and titles for people to feel. I used super glue to fit the nine pieces together and a brushed bit on a Dremel to melt the plastic around the edges of each piece. It was functional and I was told benefitted the EasterSeals office.
During my senior year of high school, I worked with other students to lead the Assistive Technology Club to construct eNable prosthetic hands for the local community.
We 3D printed these hands using the Prusa printers our high school provided and met weekly printing, and constructing the hands. Later high school faculty distributed the hands to those in need.
Image Credit: https://enablingthefuture.org/build-a-hand-2/
