In most communities, water systems that EWB-USA chapters helped build are still flowing strong, now managed by organized local committees who collect funds proactively, respond to repairs in days, and have even expanded access beyond what was originally designed. In Homabay County, the team found that county officials were so impressed by EWB's community-centered approach that they were actively benchmarking it for their own government projects.

One of the trip's most striking moments: visiting a market project in Kisumu, where women vendors lit up and reached out to shake hands, an unusual and meaningful gesture, when they saw the team walking with their partner organization, Golden Girls. The EWB-supported water access there has not only reduced waterborne illness, but helped women vendors wash and sell produce with confidence.

So What's Next?

More stories and a full trip report are coming later this summer. Stay tuned.

Coast to Coast and on the Hill: Our US Work in Full Swing

This spring, the EWB-USA domestic team has been busy from Colorado to Maryland, and all the way to Congress.

In Colorado's San Luis Valley, less than four hours from our Denver HQ, our team worked alongside more than a half-dozen small rural communities to assess aging water and wastewater systems. Many of these systems are over 50 years old, and our engineers are helping communities understand what they need to unlock critical state and federal funding for improvements and capacity growth.

In Eagle Harbor, Maryland, a historically Black waterfront community less than an hour from the nation's capital, we continued a long-standing partnership helping the community assess its water and wastewater infrastructure. Limited infrastructure has constrained Eagle Harbor's ability to grow and support full-time residents. Our work is helping change that.

And in Washington, D.C., EWB-USA's Natalie Celmo showed up at the ASCE Fly-In alongside 265 engineers from 48 states to advocate for continued federal infrastructure investment, including the State Revolving Funds that many of the communities we serve depend on to improve their water systems. She came armed with stories from our communities and a clear message:

"If we want uninterrupted service, we need uninterrupted funding."

EWB-USA also joined 130+ organizations in D.C. in May at the Vessel Collective's U.S. WASH Convening, standing behind the new National Roadmap to Close the U.S. Water Gap, a sector-wide strategy to bring safe water and sanitation to every American home by 2040.

Coming soon: Two Guatemala institutes are about to kick off

This month and next, EWB-USA is launching two first-of-their-kind field programs in Guatemala, and we couldn't be more excited!

Starting May 31, nine young professional engineers, including two Guatemalans, will fan out across nine EWB project sites near Lake Atitlán, the Ixil mountains, and Alta Verapaz in our first-ever GIS & Drone Mapping Institute, in partnership with Trimble. They'll use precision aerial and GNSS technology to generate the mapping data needed to design clean water systems for hundreds of families in some of the country's most remote terrain.

Then, starting June 7, participants in the inaugural Community Health Institute will begin two months of hands-on work repairing critical medical equipment alongside hospital partners in Guatemala. Their work will ensure that incubators, X-ray machines, and other lifesaving tools are back in the hands of clinicians who need them.

Both programs are first-of-their-kind for EWB-USA, and we'll be sharing updates from the field as they unfold.

Follow Along All Summer