NZ Engineering Students Helping Out In Samoa

Written by Astrid Sesega
Saturday, 01 December 2007
CREW - The CREW, Ian Scott-Woods, Alan Russell, Paige Herring, Haydn Luckman, Michael Hill and Charlotte Knox A group of six Auckland University Engineering students graduating next month are in Samoa for three weeks lending a hand to the village of Leauva’a and the island of Manono. ‘The CREW’ as they call themselves have been working at Saint Josephs Leauva’a over the past week replacing water tanks which have rusted and are no longer safe to drink from. They will also be installing twenty five computers into the classrooms at the school before heading off to the Manono Island to design and build a new docking wharf for the island. ‘The CREW’, which stands for Community Relief through Engineering Work, formed in March of this year in order to lend a hand to Pacific Island communities with basic needs in infrastructure, healthcare and educational products. “We formed to help our Pacific Island neighbours,” says Leader, Haydn Luckman, “We are a group of 25 members and are all very keen to help.” All the materials needed for these projects have been donated by various businesses and organisations in New Zealand. The first project set to be finished by the end of this week is the water tanks; these were in desperate need of replacing explained ‘The CREW’. “It was so rusty that you could pull the iron apart with your hands,” said Luckman. Because the tanks are located in the shade they stay wet for the majority of the year which has caused the rust, two of them have now been replaced with plastic water tanks which have a twenty year warrantee even when used in Samoa. These were donated by the Rotary Clubs of Ellerslie Sunrise and Auckland East, the Howard Thomas Rotary Trust and Rotary International. Shipping for the tanks was gifted by Jenners in New Zealand. The tanks will be used for two different purposes, the first tank will provide drinking water for the school children and staff, they decided to replace this one because “the current tank was rusted and could not longer hold any water.” Metal tanks are not a very good idea for water tanks especially when it is so close to the ocean and it always getting wet, explained Luckman, as it does not take long to deteriorate. The second tank will be used for a new toilet and shower block to be built by the end of the year. CREW member Charlotte Knox says, this will help the school to “host more visitors and guests.” Currently only one shower can run at a time because the water pressure is so low. Not having enough running water for the toilets can also be a problem because students must be sent home from school if there is no water. This will mean the school will have better pressure and will be able to host more guests and visitors. The second of their projects were installed yesterday; this was 25 computers for the school. Each classroom will have one computer in it with the remainder being used for a computer lab. The computers have all been donated by various companies in New Zealand, such as BECA Consultants, Babbage Consultants, Glengarry Wines and RCN. The CREW assure that the computers are of very good quality and they have installed all the necessary software needed for classroom learning. Physical labour under the sun has been the toughest part of the trip; however, the team is lucky enough to have had help for many locals in the villages. They also mentioned the villagers of Laeuva’a have been extremely welcoming to them, each family has taken turns in providing them with a meal, which they say there is always plenty of leftovers to feed others. They were even invited to the Arch Bishops house on Sunday for a Christmas dinner where they were entertained by the Youth for Christ brass band playing Christmas carols. Being in Samoa has been a very amazing experience for each member of the CREW. The CREW have been staying at St Joseph’s Leauva’a since they arrived and give full credit to the sisters and community for their generosity while they have been in Samoa. Later on this week the CREW will be travelling to Manono Island in order to design and start building a new boat ramp for the island. Currently there is only one on the island and this one will be located on the other side to help transport those people, especially school children, to the main island of Upolu. They began designing the platform in New Zealand however they say they need to have a look at the sea floor before they determine which plan they will use. The building materials for this project have been donated by Fletcher Construction in New Zealand. They will stay in Manono for around a week until it is time to return back to New Zealand. The CREW is made up of leader, Haydn Luckman, a 5th year mechanical engineering student, Ian Scott-Woods, a mechanical engineer, Charlotte Knox, Paige Herring, Mike Hill, all civil/structural engineering students and Alan Russell, a biomedical engineer and scientist. Each member is a student or former student of Auckland University. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Saturday, 01 December 2007 )

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