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The Math Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) program is working on a humanitarian project with the non-profit organization, Trust in Education (TIE).

Trust in Education has adopted the city of Lalander, Afghanistan from their office in Lafayette, California. TIE has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the rural villagers of Lalander.  Lalander now has a new school, several micro-finance loans, and a new multi-passenger vehicle to help the rural villagers.  Like many other villages in Afghanistan and other developing countries, Lalander does not have any access to electricity. One of the biggest challenges for the villagers is transporting water from the nearby streams to their, bathrooms, kitchens, farms and gardens.

The MESA students and staff have volunteered to take on the challenge of providing the villagers of Lalander with a water pumping device that will harness the natural energy flow of the streams to pump water without the use of electricity.

The Project

For hundreds of years water was moved from one location to another without the use of electricity. This system of pumping water was slowly phased out when more powerful electric pumps dominated the market.

The MESA students have been challenged to build a water pump that will use Physics concepts that have been understood for hundreds of years, and combine them with newer technologies readily available today to build a water pump that will give the villagers of Lalander better access to water. The pump will be built and tested in the local area. The students’ assembly designs will be translated in the local Afghan languages by TIE. TIE will work with the villagers to build the pump. If the pump is successfully built and used in Lalander, other cities in Afghanistan, as well as other developing countries, will utilize the new pump.

For information on Trust in Education, please visit www.trustineducation.org.