1. Belize Open Source - Sustainable Development and
Engineers Without Borders-USA
(EWB-USA) in northern Belize
Patrick Coyle, EWB-SFP; Belize Open Source - Sustainable Development
for LLNL- November 28 – December 3, 2012

2. Agenda
• Overview: Belize Open Source -
Sustainable Development
• Overview:
• Engineers Without Borders-
USA (EWB-USA)
• Engineers Without Borders —
San Francisco Professional
Chapter (EWB-SFP)
• Status update: Four EWB chapter
projects in northern Belize
• Belize Open Source 40-acre site • Belize photos
looking toward August Pine
Ridge village

3. What is Belize Open Source -
Sustainable Development?
• Belize Open Source - Sustainable Development, as a
501(c)(3) non-profit,
• promotes environmentally and socially sustainable
development
• invites collaboration on an open source approach to
develop and participate in a land-based learning and
community outreach center on a working farm on 40
acres in northwestern Belize
• partners with EWB-USA to collaborate with EWB
chapters on projects

4. Summary: HOME donations
leveraged with matching
Year HOME Donations Total
Pledges EWB Matched August Pine Muffles Donated
Ridge school College
2012 $2060 $1500 $1500 $500 -
2011 $2800 $1500 $1500 $500 $500
2010 $500 $500 $500 $500
Total $5,360 $3500 $3500 $1500 $500 $9,000

5. Activities: Belize Open Source -
Sustainable Development
• Donated 2010 HOME donations of $500 to the three EWB
chapters – Google matched donations with $500 to EWB-
USA
• From 2011 HOME pledges donated
• $500 to emergency construction of a new septic tank
for Muffles College in Orange Walk, Belize
• $500 to the three chapters – Google, other EWB-USA
partners matched the donations
• $500 to August Pine Ridge school for a public address
system

6. Activities: Belize Open Source -
Sustainable Development (cont.)
• November 2010, updated at LLNL about BOSSD and three
EWB chapters working in northern Belize and received
pledges of nearly $2.8k - allocated in 2010 and 2011
• Donated $500 to August Pine Ridge school for
teacher's texts and filing cabinet for new classrooms
• Donated $1500 to the EWB chapters, got matching $
• Raised ~$2.8k for the first visitors’ accommodations at
our 40-acre place to house the CSU EWB teams during
their visits to construct new classroom building in August
Pine Ridge

7. Activities: Belize Open Source -
Sustainable Development (cont.)
• November 2011, updated at LLNL about BOSSD and four
EWB chapters working in northern Belize and received
pledges of $2060 – will allocate in 2012 and 2013
• Will donate $500 to August Pine Ridge school to
replace termite damaged wooden classroom
windows with metal hurricane shutters
• Donated $1500 to the EWB chapters, got matching $
• Continuing to seek US Rotary club to partner with Belize
Orange Walk Rotary and the CSU EWB August Pine Ridge
project
• Exploring conducting LLNL wind energy program curricula
with students in August Pine Ridge
• Developing programs to use the Belize property

8. EWB-USA vision and mission
Agenda
• Updates and status: Belize Open
Our Vision is a
Source - Sustainable Development
world in which
• Engineers Without Borders-USA
all communities
(EWB-USA)
have the
• Engineers Without Bordersto meet
capacity — San
Francisco Professional Chapter
(EWB-SFP)
their basic
human needs
• Updates and status: Three EWB
chapter projects in northern Belize
• development
Supports community-drivenBelize photos programs
• Road past Belize Open Source
worldwide through the design and implementation
40-acre site toward August Pine of
sustainable engineering projects, while fostering
Ridge village
responsible leadership

9. EWB-USA Growth
2000
8 Members
1 Chapter
1 Project
2011
12,000 Members
250+ Chapters
350+ Projects

10. EWB-SFP Nation’s 1st Professional Chapter
• Established in 2004
• 150+ active volunteers
• 6 infrastructure projects
• 5 Appropriate Technology
Design Team (A.T.D.T)
projects
• Executive Committee and
support committees
provide chapter
management, fundraising,
and publicity

11. EWB-SFP Projects and Locations
Kenya Water Supply
El Salvador Water & Sanitation,
plastic recycling
Fiji Water System
Ghana & West Cashew Waste Utilization
Africa
Guatemala Wind Turbine
Haiti Community Health Clinic
and Solar Power
Honduras Bridge Construction &
Water Distribution
Nicaragua Composting Toilet
Philippines Rock Crusher
Tanzania Water Distribution &
Health Clinic

12. EWB-SFP Project Process and
Commitment
• All projects have a non-governmental organization (NGO)
partner acting as a liaison to the community
• Three project phases:
1. Assessment
2. Design and Implementation
3. Monitoring and Evaluation
• Long-term infrastructure projects have a minimum 5-year
commitment to the community
• Appropriate technology projects vary in length depending
on the requirements of the NGO and community

13. What’s the connection?
• Coyle is founder and a Director of Belize Open Source -
Sustainable Development, a 501(c)(3) non-profit
• Member of the San Francisco Professional Chapter
(EWB-SFP)
• Serves on EWB-USA West Coast Technical Advisory Team
and leads monthly team review of project applications
• Authored EWB application for August Pine Ridge
Community Improvement Program – the new classroom
building now completed by EWB-Cleveland State
• Presented at EWB Regional Workshops and EWB
International on “Simple, Inexpensive Aerial Photography
Mapping with Balloons or Kites” and planning workshops
with students in Belize on next visit

14. Belize Open Source - Sustainable
Development and EWB chapters
• We support four EWB chapters working in northern
Belize
• Cleveland State University, August Pine Ridge
• Iowa State University, Trinidad
• Lamar University, Chunox in the Corozol District
• Texas A&M, San Mateo on Ambergris Caye
• Coyle reviewed their application and is in touch
with them to collaborate and support them
The focus of this talk is the EWB Cleveland State University
August Pine Ridge classroom building project which is now
complete. The team is looking at the next needs to address

15. Where is Belize?

16. Belize up close
• Belize is small: About 175 miles,
north-south, by 80 miles wide
• It has diverse land regions: cayes,
barrier reef, beaches, tropical rain
forests, caves with rivers running
into them, mountain pine ridge, and
savannahs (where we are)
• Belize is small enough and
transportation is good enough that a
stop at Belize Open Source can be
included as part of your itinerary,
along with whatever else you choose
to do in Belize
• If you visit Belize and volunteer with
BOSSD, a reasonable portion of your
trip expenses can be tax deductible

17. How to get involved
• Contact me:
• pat@coyles.com
• Belize Open Source: http://belizeopensource.org
• SFP-EWB: http://ewb-sfp.org/
• EWB-USA: http://www.ewb-usa.org/
• Individual chapters and projects are accessible through the
EWB-USA website

18. How to donate for matching
I’ve donated to the 4 chapters - websites are ready to take
donations
• https://ssl.charityweb.net/ewbusa/pfp/ewbisustudentchapter
.htm
• https://ssl.charityweb.net/ewbusa/pfp/ewbtamu.htm
• https://ssl.charityweb.net/ewbusa/pfp/fundraisingforbelize.h
tm
• https://ssl.charityweb.net/ewbusa/pfp/lamaruniversityinbeliz
e.htm

19. Iowa State University

20. Engineering Without Borders
Iowa State University Chapter
Solar Fruit Dehydrator Project
Trinidad and Kings College, Orange
Walk, Belize

21. Building Stage
• In March of 2010 our program built three solar fruit
dehydrators and left them each in a different location.
– One was left with Trinidad government school, our primary
partner institution.
– Another was left at Kings College high school.
– The third constructed dryer, along with raw material for
constructing a 4th dryer, was demonstrated for and given
to representatives from the Orange Walk Rotary
International organization.
• Each dryer recipient was provided with a manual for
the construction and the use of the dehydrator.

22. Back in the States
• Earlier this semester our group built another
fruit dryer at our college so we could practice
and get an idea of maintenance issues we
might face.
• We plan to rewrite the directions to improve
user friendliness.
• On the next slide is some pictures of the
construction of our dryer.

24. Future Plans
• Monitoring trip over Thanksgiving
• Observe dryer use and collect data on drying times and
system metrics such as air flow and internal temperature
• Equipment will be left in-community to allow a user to
continue testing and observe variations with weather
patterns
• Inspect community computer lab in nearby community
(Coyle note: this is in the new classroom building in August
Pine Ridge, next village down the road) for potential
implementation in Trinidad
• Our year-end goal is $5000—will allow freedom of future
travel to expand or wind down program based on needs

25. Thank you for your support for our
project.
Dan Voss
Samantha Sauerbrei
Kelsey Regan
Mark Sanocki
Laura Jarboe
EWB-ISU Trinidad
Travel Team

26. …building
partnerships…
26

27. …making friends…
27

28. 28

29. Our partner community and institution
Trinidad
Kings College

30. Activities
Projects:
• Build and test three solar driers for three primary
schools
• Create construction, operation, and maintenance
plans for drier
• Construct town sign and school sign in Trinidad
• Assess feeding program and school garden for
Kings College
• Initiate contact and assess needs at Kings College
• Assess two stove designs, determine cooking
needs
• Hygiene education – clean hands
Cultural Experience

31. School Garden and Nutrition

32. Future Direction: Chemistry Program
Needs:
- Experiments that don’t require special chemicals
- More space
- Better equipment

33. Solar Fruit Dryer

34. Trinidad: Town Sign

35. Meeting Rotary in Orange Walk Belize

36. Next Steps
Continued and proposed projects:
• Coordinate with Humana-Belize (NGO) for seeds and local resources for
tools to equip Kings College for school garden
• Create a textbook drive for Kings College
• Assess and initiate stove program business (30-50 stoves / week)
• Design and construct bus stop for Trinidad Village
• Coordinate with Rotary in Orange Walk to expand Solar Dryer project
• TBD – depending on assessment coming up

37. Lamar University, village of Chunox
in the Corozol District update
• Implement a restroom facility for the St. Viatore vocational
high school
• Performed test to determine water quality, soil type, soil
percolation, water table, land survey (for a percolation
field), located a site for the bathrooms
• Formed Memorandum of Understanding with the school –
• we will provide materials and design
• the school will provide labor, some lodging and meals
• Currently working on alternatives Analysis: our preferred
alternative is a standard flush toilet. The effluent waste will
be treated by a percolation field

38. About Lamar
University Chapter
• Established in 2008
• Consists of over 20 current members
• Started our first project in 2009
• Traveled to Belize for the first time in 2010
• Will be traveling to Belize this summer for
implementation.
• Our plan is to have our total project ready
for submission January 2012 and travel in
May 2012.

39.  We have raised about $20,000 so far
for our trip (However, there are issues
with schedule and the grant from
Boeing).
 We are trying at raising another
$6,000 to help pay for members to
travel to informational workshops to
gain the training they need.
 The project we have is almost
completed, we just need to finish the
final design stages in order to submit
it for approval.

40. Location
Official Address:
St. Viator High School
1.5 mi. beyond Chunox Village
Chunox – Sarteneja Road
P.O. Box 330
Corozal Town

41. Ferry

42. St. Viator Vocational High School

45. Cafeteria

46. Water Supply
• Water line from Chunox
• Chunox uses reverse osmosis on
community water
• There is no water filtration on site
• Supplies Cafeteria
• School Well, pond
• Supplies shower, animals, and crops

48. Pit Latrine Bathrooms

50. Texas A&M University; San Mateo
• San Mateo is an impoverished community, listed by the Belize
Red Cross as the most impoverished/at risk community in the
country
• The land in actuality is a tidal estuary densely populated with
mangroves, which is more often than not under several feet of
water
• Approximately 150-180 “homes” exist in San Mateo on stilts
with no running water, electricity or sanitation. Each “home” is
reached by walking a series of elevated “London bridges,” a
precarious system of scrap lumber walkways generally no
wider than 22” with no handrails
• The community is in desperate need of affordable, potable
running water, development of a sanitation system, pathway
improvement, roadways, and a land fill, among other needs.
EWB-USA, TAMU intends to undertake some of these projects

51. Randy Nelson, project lead, wrote,
We'd be happy to work with you and share information and experiences in
Belize as our project develops.
To give you an update on our project, we are currently preparing for an
assessment trip to San Mateo in January.
We expect that we will be working with the community to develop a source of
fresh water, but we're keeping a somewhat open mind since this will be our
first trip.
Our tentative schedule is to try to complete our first project by next Christmas,
but that is very much dependent on this first assessment trip. We'll be better
able to give you a timeline once we get back.
As for fundraising, we are trying to raise $20,000 for the implementation next
year. I'm attaching a few photos of the community, and I can send more if
you'd like.

52. Belize Water Sanitation Project
San Mateo, Belize
Christopher Kirkland and Briana Herrmann

53. The Team!

54. The Community

55. Water Update
• Many changes to the community
have been made over the summer
leaving a need for a water
filtration system no longer
necessary
• The local Rotary Club of Belize has
provided the community with 200
Sawyer water filters, which is
sufficient enough to provide each
home with clean drinking water
• Training for these filters is
currently in progress. During our
assessment trip this January 2013
we hope to be able to participate
in helping distribute the filters to
members of the community

56. A New Need
• Contamination of the community's
water lines through leaked sewage has
caused unsanitary living conditions.
Additionally, waste from vault toilets
has run out into the stagnant water
surrounding the community (see
photo). The previous assessment trip
confirmed coliform contamination in
the water lines as a result of this
practice.
• A septic tank for the community of San
Mateo will provide the residents with
an improved means to dispose of their
waste which will overall provide clean
water to their homes and standing
water throughout the community. This
will reduce the amounts of fatalities
and diseases that are currently found
within the community.

57. Household Septic System
• We are currently arranging plans for our assessment trip this January
2013 to scope the site for a potential household septic system
• A local sanitation engineer has provided us with a septic tank design
that was intended for mainland conditions. However, due to San
Mateo's environmental challenges, this design will not suffice under
the areas mangrove swamp. Therefore, we anticipate a mound septic
system

60. San Mateo

61. August Pine Ridge, Belize
School Building Update

62. Cleveland State EWB project
• The new school building provides additional space for the
current overcrowded school that serves approximately 450
students and serves as a hurricane shelter for the general
community
• A project-specific assessment trip was completed in
May 2010 and the floor plan for the school was
finalized and approved by the community
• Data on building material quality and availability was
gathered along with material prices
• Detailed site soil samples were collected and shipped
to CSU’s campus for laboratory tests. Soil
characteristics were incorporated into the school
building’s foundation design
• Soil characteristics for a leach field for the school
building’s septic system were evaluated

63. Cleveland State EWB (cont.)
• The skill level of local labor for construction was assessed
• A Belizean Civil Engineering firm agreed to help the
chapter with construction in Belize, paperwork required
by the Central Building Authority (CBA) to secure
construction approval and building codes used in-country
A Preliminary Design Report (PDR) with all necessary design
calculations and construction documents was submitted to EWB-
USA for review and implementation was approved

64. PDR submitted for approval

65. Floor plan – classroom building

66. Cleveland State EWB funding
• The preliminary estimate for construction, furnishing and
outfitting the school was ~$150k USD
• The community agreed to raise $100k in cash and/or
in-kind contributions (including labor)
• The CSU Chapter agreed to raise up to $50k
(Coyle/BOSSD helped in modest amounts)
• The community applied for funds to the Belize
Natural Energy Trust (a fund organized by an oil
company) for $50k and to the Social Improvement
Fund (an international development fund in the
Caribbean)
• (as of early August, the cost to date was ~$134k, with
$61k from Belize and $73k from CSU EWB)
• Construction began in April, 2011 and is now
complete

67. CSU Project Manager/ Site Engineer and APR School Project Committee
Chairman Julio Magaña at the completion of the project.

68. Classroom tiled and ready for use. The door is only open when the
building is utilized as a hurricane shelter by the community. Similar
doors allow passage throughout the building in safety.

69. Not everybody could be listed. We wish to also thank BASF, Parker Hannifin
Company, and Belize Open Source, to name a few more.

70. While in Belize the leaking roof on the existing school was repaired.
No more leaks. The black of the roof is the build up of ash from the
burning of sugar cane. Because of the slope on the new school, each
passing rain helps to keep the roof clean.

71. Anemometer installed on the
roof of the other school
building. Data collected by
the students of APR is
emailed to CSU engineering
students working closely
with Dr. Majid Rashidi and
his wind amplification turbine
system to properly size the
wind turbines.

72. CSU Students Amy Kalabon (left) and Alice Summerville (Right) level stone for the
leach field on the school property.

73. Completion of pipe runs to septic
tanks behind the school. At this
time the tanks are sealed and the
pipes all covered.

74. Distribution box walls poured, top was added the next day and everything is now
covered with fill material.

75. The leach field with all the pipes set awaiting the final cover of 18 inches of
soil.

76. More CSU photos

126. CSU next steps
Rich Obratil wrote, so on to our latest project.
A team of students is working on designs for the water treatment. The goal is to get 1/2
dozen options together and take them to Belize in January. Working with the water
board and the community project committee a final decision can be made and the final
design work will begin. When the design is completed we will then have a better idea
how much the project will cost. I'm working with the Cleveland Water Department to
acquire water meters for August Pine Ridge as part of our first phase.
Students are working with Dr. Majid Rashidi and his wind amplification turbine system to
examine the feasibility of wind energy.
We are working to raise money for a trip to Belize in January (2-9). We are examining
your aerial mapping presentation and may utilize some of the ideas to help with the
refurbishing of the distribution system.

127. CSU prior photos

153. Blanca Torres wrote, “The aerial photo mapping seems very interesting. I shared
with my children and sisters the images of our village I found in the link and they
just loved them. As I mentioned, I welcome these opportunities where I can
involve my students in new learning experiences. I am very interested in
exposing them through your mapping project. We feel pride in having our
community appear in internet pages and more if we are involved in getting those
images.

163. Cleveland State EWB update
• Rich Obratil wrote, one of the classrooms in use at the
moment, it's nice to hear some of the students referring
to the building as "beautiful”
• The Social Investment Fund (SIF) has donated everything
but labor for the computer lab so we have started to
paint the computer room today
• The estimate to completely finish the school, is about
BZ$65k (US$32.5k) - BNE Charitable Trust is looking over
the estimate and will let us know how much they will
provide, right now they have committed to BZ$15k and
the Ministry of Education BZ$5k
• An inauguration for the building might be in mid-March
• The chapter is beginning to gather resources to begin
designing for the water project

182. Belize photos
• Emphasis is on a February ’10 circuit from:
• Belize City to the Mountain Pine Ridge, San Ignatio and
Spanish Lookout
• North to Orange Walk Town to August Pine Ridge
• Back to Belize City with stop to look at fish farming at Sand
Hill