This year, the UNH chapter of Students Without Borders is planning to continue work on a water pump and storage tank for a sustainable irrigation system in the Nigerian town of Gougaram.

“(Students Without Borders) strives to use the knowledge and resources available here at the university and in the professional world to go abroad and help develop something that will be sustainable,” said Kim Morris, UNH chapter president.

The group is part of Engineers Without Borders, a non-profit humanitarian organization aimed at improving the quality of life in the developing world through sustainable engineering projects. UNH students will also be working with another non-profit humanitarian organization, RAIN for the Sahel and Sahara, which is based out of Portsmouth.

RAIN’s initiatives in Niger include education, AIDS prevention, promotion of financial independence for Nigerian women, and school-to-market gardens. Students Without Borders has been collaborating with RAIN on the school-to-market gardens program since 2005.

In this program, RAIN works with Nigerian villages to create community gardens at boarding schools for the children of the semi-nomadic Taureg people. One-third of Nigerian children suffer from malnutrition; these gardens not only serve as a model for sustainable agriculture, but also as a food source. The task of the UNH students is to design and install a water storage and drip irrigation system that will work well in the arid environment.

The pump being designed is a rope and washer pump run by animal power. The next step in the project is to submit their pump design to Engineers Without Borders. The group plans to send five students to Niger in January to begin construction. The organization’s projects are completely student funded.