Missouri University Science and Technology engineering students help clean Haiti's infested water

What did you do during your spring break trip?

A group of college students in the heart of Missouri are back from their adventure to the Caribbean, and it's probably not what you think.

Dan Kientz, Jenny Kelley, and Alexis Campbell are students at Missouri University of Science and Technology. In late march, they took cameras along for their trip to Haiti with the humanitarian group Engineers Without Borders.

The trip wasn't about partying. It was about passing on what they know to help save lives.

"At first they were like why are you here and then we were like we wanna help you," mentioned sophomore and engineering management major Alexis Campbell, "So they were very welcoming."

"When we were talking to them anytime we came up, talked about water they would just say, 'Yes! Yes!', told senior and civil engineering major Dan Kientz, "Because they know it's a big problem and it's why their children get sick."

Water samples they collected showed traces of bacteria, E. coli and coliform in the area.

The students knew they'd need their engineering skills to make a difference, but they also needed to use journalism skills.

"Father Charles, is there sickness because of bad water?" asked a student in one the videos shot,

"Yea, yea sickness because of bad water," Father Charles answered.

"I did a lot of interviews with nurses and figuring out exactly what the problem is as far as health is related," said Campbell, "Their number one issue is malnutrition which can be related to the water. They were so happy to see us."

"As team leader I helped with the community," said sophomore and civil engineering major Jenny Kelley, "We set up a water committee. I made sure they knew what they wanted and were willing to help us because part of engineers without borders does is it partners with the communities."

Talking with the communities the students learned just how poor conditions are in Haiti's Corial Lemouth region.

"We got to interview the people. We got to talk to the people. We were able to see exactly what they're living on," stated Campbell, "There's four different communities using one small source for water, it was about three feet deep and it was about three feet wide."

Once they evaluated conditions, it was time to take action, and they only had five days to do it.

"We're looking into a system right now. Biofilm sand filters," spoke Kientz, "Also we're looking for a way of building in our actual rain water collection system."

How the sand filter works is the top diffuser plate slows down rainwater. Traveling slowly through the sand bed the water then hits the layers of gravel and collects in a pipe at the base of the filter. The water then travels through the pipe for the user to collect.

The engineering students left without a concrete solution but with a desire to return to do more.

"There's a lot we can do to help these really poor communities," said Kientz, "Unfortunately they're very poor. We have the abilities to help them out."

Engineers Without Borders is an organization that sends engineering students to third world countries in hopes that their academic skills can bring help to less fortunate communities.

The students are writing up a proposal to give Engineers Without Borders the chance to go back in December or January.