Aggies CARE: Water Missions International

1. Aggies CARE: Water Missions International A One Night Event Educating Aggies on Ways to Alleviate the World Water Crisis AFIL Project By: Eva Coulson & Mario Garza

2. The Plan (s) • Raise enough money to build two latrines in Guatemala • Educate and hold a Public Sanitation Awareness Day for Texas A&M students

3. The Problems • Organizations not responding • Not as immediately attractive to most people • In retrospect we believe it had less probability of success

4. Reformation • The Aggies CARE program • This time the project is not about AIDS but about another global crisis altogether • We continued this name because it is catchy and expresses our sentiment • Aggies DO care and offer themselves to selfless service and helping others

5. Aggies CARE: Water Missions International Started in Honduras in 1998 by Environmental Engineers Located in Belize, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, and Uganda They build water treatment and sanitation systems

6. Our Partnerships • We teamed up with MSC Freshman Leadership International • Mutual interest in water projects and both parties worked together to initiate an international collaboration with MSC FLI, AFIL, and WMI

7. April 25, 2012 (Earth Day) • 5pm Audience Arrives at Rudder 301 • 5:10pm Keynote Speaker Begins • 5:45pm Questions Begin • 5:55pm MSC Freshman Leadership International • 6:05pm The Thirst Project

8. Dr. Bryan Boulanger • Associate Professor for Environmental Engineering • Associated with the School of Rural Public Health • Liaison between medical and engineering personnel- using cross vocabularies • Began with the “F” Chart and his motivations • Showcased water filtering technologies • Global crisis and local poverty

9. MSC FLI • Traveled to Punta Gorda, Belize • 13 Aggies, 7 Days • Taught leadership workshops and educated children on sanitation • Refurbished the local well

10. The Thirst Project • Elaine came and recruited for the Thirst Project • A networking opportunity to connect like-minded people interested in being involved in water projects

11. Content Purpose • Dr. Boulanger’s on-the-ground experience and practical know-how gave the audience a practical perspective on water projects • MSC FLI, freshmen students highlighted on-campus student organization projects being done internationally • Thirst Project, giving students the opportunity to get involved and forge new connections on-campus

12. Challenges and Successes • MSC room booking became too pricy • Last minute technology errors (fortunately corrected by our brilliant professor) • General communication challenges regarding attendance • Generous pizza donation • Incredible speaker availability and flexibility • Positive survey response feedback

13. Survey and Statistics • 17 people in attendance • Of those that took the survey: • 100% felt they learned something new • 100% said they would come to a program like this next year • 5 Freshmen • 2 Sophomores • 3 Juniors • 2 Seniors

14. Who We Would Like to Thank: • Domino’s Pizza • All of our attendees • Elaine for coming and sharing her vision • Department Heads who spread our message • Our Mentors, Mr. Rey Spinelliand Dr. Bill Mobley • The Academy of Future International Leaders • Mr. Ben Petty