Everyone deserves access to basic human needs.
We’re the Washington, DC volunteer chapter of Engineers Without Borders USA. We partner with communities to design and build the water systems, crossings, and other infrastructure they’ve asked for.
Give to a project
Help us reach our $30K year-end goal for projects in Sierra Leone, Peru, and Nepal. We’re all volunteers, so your gift goes to the work.
DonateJoin a project team
Engineers, students, and people with no engineering background at all are welcome. Our teams meet on weeknights, so it fits around a day job.
Volunteer with usWho we are
Community-led and volunteer-powered for more than 20 years.
EWB-DC brings together engineers, project managers, students, creatives, and community members who want to put their skills toward something lasting.
Every project starts with a community that asked for help. We work alongside local partners on water, sanitation, and transportation, from the first assessment trip through construction and years of monitoring after.
Learn more about usof partnering with communities, all run by volunteers.
El Salvador, Cameroon, Panama, Sierra Leone, Peru, Nepal, and here in DC.
with safer water, crossings, and community spaces they helped build.
What we’re working on
See all projectsSafe passage to school, markets, and care
About 800 people in Dumangbe crossed the Korgorgi stream on a stick bridge that washed out every rainy season, and people have drowned trying to cross. A permanent crossing means kids get to school, families get to market, and patients reach the clinic all year.
Learn moreClean water close to home
Every water source the 1,100 people of Shiringamazú relied on tested positive for E. coli, and getting water meant long walks. Spring water piped to tapstands across the community will change that, and the community is building it with us.
Learn moreSafe water within reach
Families in Taruliya Koltara collect water from streams and ponds today. A deep tube well and piped system can bring safe water close to home, and our team heads there in spring 2027 to start.
Learn moreBefore these, we built drinking water systems in Santa Clara, El Salvador and Mbokop, Cameroon, a community center and library in Hato Rincón, Panama, and an accessible community garden for seniors here in DC.
Thank you to our sponsors
These firms help make our projects possible.
Interested in sponsoring a project? Get in touch.
Follow along with our projects.
We share photos from the field, construction updates, and ways to get involved as each project moves forward.