Dayton Engineer

This story was written and originally posted by the Tandana Foundation.

“Welcome, do you want to go to Ecuador with us?”

That was the question posed to Molly Savage on her first day as a graduate student instructor at the University of Dayton’s ETHOS Center. Savage, who is pursuing her master’s degree in renewable and clean energy engineering at the university, said “yes” to joining the center’s 10-day volunteer trip to Ecuador organized by The Tandana Foundation. 

After previously taking a trip to India where she researched solar ovens, Savage learned the value of working closely with community members for the success and durability of an engineering project. 

“Oftentimes, engineering students are given projects we implement in the country, but they don’t go well because we don’t have relationships with the community,” she explained. “For example, when I went to India, I was supposed to research a solar refrigerator but that project did not involve the local community and was disabled before I got there.”

The Ethos Center’s trip with Tandana would allow Savage to work closely with community members in San Juan de Inguincho, Ecuador on a water project. To further the connection, the student group would be immersed in the local Kichwa Otavalo culture and stay with host families. 

Helping ensure the success of the project, the ETHOS students started working with the water project’s technical advisers – Ricardo Saransig and Rockey Anderson – before the trip as part of a required semester-long course. The students learned the details of the project and were able to create a design plan they could propose.

“This communication was crucial because it allowed us to begin developing relationships with them through the course,” said Savage. “It also meant we could hit the ground running because we already had the design plan finished when we got there.” 

After some back-and-forth over specifics like the size of pipes, the community agreed to go with the ETHOS students’ plan for the water distribution system. Then, they were able to immediately kick off the implementation phase of the project.

“The relationship building in country was woven into the implementation of the project because the whole community came out to work with us every day,” said Savage. “This was eye-opening to the students who have the perception of how we call outside contractors to complete projects like building fences in the U.S.” 

“It was obvious the community took pride in doing the work themselves because of the importance of having access to clean water in their homes, which really drove home the connection of the project with the community to the students," Savage said.

Each day, the students worked a half day on the water project and participated in a cultural activity with the community in the afternoon. The activities included learning how to make humitas (similar to a tamale), cheese, and bracelets as well as how to tie the knots of traditional belts and dresses. “It was funny because the engineering students struggled to tie the knots,” commented Savage.

They also visited the meteorology center where they met Galo Perugachi, the community’s meteorologist.

“Since I’m studying renewable energy, it was really interesting because he told us about all the equipment he uses to track the weather,” said Savage. “He also explained how over time young people have become less interested in weather patterns so he has to do a lot of work on his own, despite their community actually being very impacted by climate change. They now have to grow different crops, but he said many people do not understand that climate change is the cause of it. ” 

Throughout their time engaging with community members, Savage said she was able to see the growth of the students’ relationships – turning from strangers to a sort of family with mutual trust. 

“In the university classroom, we played icebreaker games that were kind of awkward and didn’t really break ice,” she said.  “At the end of the trip, we didn’t want to leave because we made such valuable connections that everyone was crying. It was really hard to come back to the U.S. I think it was a life-changing experience for the students.”

Savage pointed to the host family experience as another source of important relationship building. Despite her host family being worried about their “sad” bathroom, she said they provided everything she needed and she felt comfortable the entire time staying with them. 

“They really opened their space and their families to us and wanted to provide us with the best food and accommodations possible,” she said. “Seeing their generosity was really wonderful; they treated me like their own daughter the whole time. It makes me want to treat others like that, and support each other with our own gifts.” 

Savage said her favorite part was English lessons with the younger kids after dinner. 

“Since the boy really liked math, we would start by asking easy math questions in English. Then he’d give us hard problems like 100 times 1,000 in Spanish,” she explained. “It was so fun to have those conversations and see his joy in wanting to ask us questions even if we couldn’t answer them because the numbers were so high we didn’t know them in Spanish.” 

Along with building those strong intercultural relationships, the ETHOS group was able to help make significant progress on the San Juan de Inguincho water project. “We accomplished a lot more than I expected,” Savage said. “Initially, I thought we were only going to be digging, but we laid pipes for the school in the steepest part of the hill.”

After her ETHOS trip with Tandana, Savage wants to return to Ecuador one day and hopes to stay in touch with her host family. 

“I am so grateful for my ETHOS immersion with Tandana, as it offered me a life changing opportunity to expand my engineering studies in a new environment, while developing meaningful relationships and experiencing a new culture," Savage said.

By Bridget Vis, the Tandana Foundation