'Tis the season to be jolly!
It is nearing the end of the year and our committee and volunteers are looking forward to wind down. We thought that it'd be a good time now to give our lovely volunteers, partners and other prying eyes an update on what has been going on this year!
1) TAPUL, PHILIPPINES - Bridge Project
Project page: Tapul Bridge (ewb.sg)
In 2019, EWB USA (Houston Central chapter), together with EWB Philippines and EWB Singapore first conceptualised the construction of the bridge in Tapul, Philippines. 3 years on, with COVID, the UK electing their first Asian prime minister, and many other events in between, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Fundraising update: In July 2022, EWB (Singapore) held our "Walk in the Park", our 2nd fundraising event for this project, where we had a stunning show up of approximately 57 human beings and 2 dogs. We managed to raise a total of SGD 13,315 from this 2nd round, bringing our total project funding obtained to USD 75,870. We also managed to collect 20 books (as registration fee for the walk), which was donated to Books Beyond Borders (BBB). Thank you to Adrian and Joseph from Joseph and Ang Engineers who helped to organise the walk, everyone who showed up/donated to support us, as well as to BBB for sponsoring the appreciation tokens for the walk.
Special mention to the below donors:
Littlewoods Design Pte Ltd
Poh Sia Construction
Millenium Formwork and Scaffolding
Lee Foundation
Some humans and the 2 dogs, Nike and Beau (left to right) along Marina Bay boulevard in Singapore
Project team Update: Those who have been following the project would know that our initial project cost was USD 145k (SGD 201k). However, after some difficulty raising the required funding amount, the project team discussed the possibility of constructing a suspension bridge instead of the initial steel girder bridge for a more affordable solution.
As of October 2022, EWB Singapore's volunteer, Joseph Ang from Joseph & Ang Engineers, prepared a conceptual design for the suspension bridge that was estimated to cost USD 78k instead.
This cost estimate is based on 50% of labour being volunteers from the local community and utilising previously used primary cables. Mayor Eunice Babalcon from Tapul will be funding PPeso 2 million (USD 34.4k, SGD 48.3k) for the project. Including the funds raised by the Houston chapter as well, a total funding of USD 75,800 has been reached, just slightly shy of the USD 78k required.
The final design with calculations is in the process of being submitted to the EWB USA office in Denver for approval before the funds raised will be released for project use. The construction is estimated to begin in early 2023. Engineer Eddie Fuentes from EWB Philippines has agreed to supervise construction.
2) KATHMANDU, NEPAL - Water Project
Project Page: Nepal Water Project (ewb.sg)
Back in March 2022, Angeline and Vin from EWB (Singapore) embarked on a recce trip to Nepal to visit the Bungamati region, where Peace Child Ministry resides. They carried out a needs assessment to determine the preliminary objectives for potential collaboration. Read more about the trip and about Nepal in Angeline's trip reflections here: Post | Ewbsg
Project team Update: The team has set preliminary objectives for a trip to the community in March 2023 and have developed a preliminary budget of SGD 10k around those objectives.
The team has recruited a team of volunteers who are slated to visit Nepal to carry out the project in March 2023. The main objective of the trip will be to (i) install a water filtration and sanitation system and (ii) to construct a groundwater well, in order to ensure reliable water sources for the Peace Child Ministry.
The project team have started to research on methods for lining a well as well digging equipments.
The team has remained in contact with Dr Michael Ong, our contact with Peace Child Ministry.
Fundraising Update: EWB Singapore's corporate team continue to reach out to foundations for grants.
3) SINGAPORE - Design thinking workshops
Project page: Nee Soon Design Thinking Workshops (ewb.sg)
As of 9 April 2022 and 26 June 2022, EWB Singapore successfully held 2 design thinking workshops for Nee Soon East CC with a total of about 50 children. The objective of these design thinking workshops was for children to devise solutions for their preferred playground equipment, and the second was to inculcate elementary design thinking skills.
First design thinking workshop run
Participants sharing prototypes of their ideal playground
Huge thank you to our volunteer and facilitators - Vin, Anu, Zhiren, Lavanya, Nitya, Sharni, Wan Chia, Jason and Angeline! As well as to Nee Soon East CC for being great partners to work with.
Feedback from Nee Soon East CC: Nee Soon East CC notified us that the children and parents were very happy and enjoyed the workshop.
As of November 2022, Nee Soon East CC have identified key features from the designs and would have started implementing them in the ongoing Nee Soon Playground Project.
4) SINGAPORE - Nee Soon East Playground
Project page: Nee Soon Playground (ewb.sg)
Nee Soon East CC utilised the proposals the children ideated from the Design Thinking workshop to begin construction of their new playground. Nee Soon East conducts the playground building the 4th Saturday of every month and opens it to all residents as community building.
Tiny helping hands
Larger helping hands
As of November 2022, 4 playground building sessions have been completed with the playground a quarter of the way there!
Project Director: Shao Yang
5) SINGAPORE - ACRES
Project page: ACRES (ewb.sg)
EWB (Singapore) has been working with ACRES since December 2019. EWB Singapore has designed a communication vessel filtration system that prevented direct exposure of insulated electrical wiring to the turtles by compartmentalizing the pump system design. The new system isolates the pump and wires, preventing the turtles from accessing them during the filtration and cleaning process. The new system was also designed to be modular, allowing for easier assembly and disassembly for ease of cleaning the filters.
The filtration system is fabricated in-house using parts from local suppliers through hard work from various EWB (SG) members and volunteers. The system has received positive feedback from ACRES, stating that it has helped to reduce time taken and manpower for cleaning.
As of November 2022, EWB Singapore has successfully attended to 36 now happy turtles and delivered 9 tanks. We continue to remain in contact with ACRES and deliver the tanks whenever necessary.
6) EWB ASIA NETWORK
Facebook page: EWB-Asia Network | Facebook
2022 was also the very first year where the EWB-Asia network was formed. Together with EWB Malaysia, EWB Hong Kong, EWB Philippines and most recently EWB Nepal as well.
The objective of the EWB Asia Network was for knowledge sharing and collaboration across the region. Such a network would widen each chapter's network to connect with like-minded professionals.
For the inaugural year of inception, EWB Hong Kong was the first host of the EWB Asia Network and selected the theme of TOWARDS OUR FUTURE CITIES, to address UNSDG aspect 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities & aspect 13 on Climate Action.
1st EWB Asia Forum 2022
On 6 Feb 2022, the network held its first forum, with 5 speakers from 4 countries and a show up of 67 participants. We'd like to thank Katie Cresswell-Maynard from Engineers Without Borders International for kicking off the Forum, our speakers Ir Samantha Wing Man Kong 江穎敏 , Hugh Lim , Gina Gatarin , Sanjiv Indran and Callum for sharing on the climate challenges each nation is facing and what can be done collectively. You may access the recording of the forum here:
https://xperto-ph.zoom.us/.../4DTDbXt7zqArwcgCUSWd7pIHPLf... (Passcode: z41+$.T5)
1st EWB Asia forum on 6 Feb 2022
Upcoming Programmes:
7 Jan 2023 - Climate Change and Action Seminar (Check the following space out for updates: EWB-Asia Network | Facebook, or our instagram @ewb.sg)
This is the last event for 2023, before we look forward to EWB Malaysia being the next host for the network.
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