Panlab

from michelle

“August 8th, 2011

To the University of Victoria Engineering Faculty Members,

My name is Kalyani Menon and I am the Student Chapter President for Engineers without Borders UVic this year. EWB had a fundraising meeting with Dr. Tom Tiedje and Mary-Anne Teo asking for sponsorship; however the cut-backs are limiting the amount that can be used for helping out student groups. They suggested a group of faculty members give us small donations and the Dean’s office will match it up to $500.

At a University Level, Engineers without Borders send student volunteers overseas to 4 African countries (Ghana, Zambia, Burkina Faso, and Malawi) to work on sustainable development projects. This program is completely funded by the University chapter hence the students will not need to pay anything at all. It is considered as a co-op term for engineering students as well. Last year we sent 2 volunteers overseas (one to Ghana, and one to Malawi) and this created some debt for us with the National Office because we sent more people than we could afford. However, we decided not to send any volunteers this year and pay it off. We have some debt left over and we would like to eliminate that before the end of the summer to have a fresh start! This will enable us to send 1-2 volunteers (once we start fundraising next year with events and sponsorship) for the Summer or Fall of 2012.

There are several methods of donations available:

Cheque/Cash: Send an email to uvic@ewb.ca to schedule a meeting for one of our members to pick up the donation. A tax receipt will be provided for donations more than $25.

Credit Card/Debit Credit: To donate by credit card go to www.ewb.ca. Choose the “Donate Now” button (on the top right corner of the page). In the “Please use my gift” section select “To a specific chapter” and then select “University of Victoria”.

These donations will go directly to the National Office UVic account in Toronto. A tax receipt will be mailed within 2 weeks from the National Office.

Before the end of August we are looking for small donations to our chapter and whatever is given to us by the Engineering faculty will be matched by the Dean’s office. We were wondering if anyone would be interested in helping us out by donating a small amount to the chapter in your name. For more information or to schedule a meeting please contact me at mrk533@hotmail.com. All donors will be kept up-to-date on the chapter’s activities, financial state, and the progress of the search for a Junior Fellow Volunteer. All proceeds will ONLY be put towards this program.

Sincerely,
Kalyani Menon
President
EWB UVic Chapter”