Volunteer Engineering Team Travels to India

An India Partners volunteer team recently left for India, including volunteers from Engineering Ministries International (EMI). The group of engineers will visit a river island in Andhra Pradesh where India Partners has been serving for the last 12 years. The engineers’ goal is to develop a flood prevention system for the island to protect against reoccurring floods and land erosion that threaten the community’s livelihood.

For over a decade India Partners has been developing self-sufficient programs for the island’s 1,200 residents by providing livestock for food and income generation, a community center complete with a primary school and job training facility, as well as microloans for soil restoration, fishing boats and nets. However, cyclones, monsoons and massive floods are destroying the island’s livestock, homes, fishing boats and crops. In addition, lives have been lost and the island is eroding away.

Through its partnership with EMI, India Partners intends to provide future solutions for flooding and erosion that plague the island. The strategy is to use local, readily available materials to design a system that can be easily replicated by villagers on neighboring islands.

“The islanders are cut-off from others, the poorest of the poor, and have no other place to go,” says Brent Hample, President of India Partners. “This flood prevention system is not only crucial to sustain their community’s existence, but also to prevent deaths and raise their quality of life.”

If you would like to donate to help complete the island’s flood prevention system, click "Donate Now" and select “Island Erosion Project” from the program area drop-down menu. Thank you.