Cedarville Magazine, Summer 2018

Vacas, Bolivia, has seen its share of water-borne disease. This agricultural village in South America has been the focus of Cedarville engineering-driven missions trips since 2014. But Vacas, and places like it, has also inspired and motivated a brand-new major at Cedarville — civil engineering. A CIVIL SOLUTION When it comes to troubling concerns regarding water, Vacas is not alone. According to DoSomething.org, more than 884 million people in the world lack access to safe water supplies. More than 840,000 people die each year from water-related disease. Almost two in three people who need safe drinking water survive on less than $2 a day. In many developing countries, millions of women spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often-polluted sources. Every minute, a child dies of a water-related disease. Thousands of mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters are dying from the deadly water they drink every day. The need for clean water is obvious. And providing for the least of these is a biblical mandate. But to treat a systemic problem, you need more than “give-a-man-a- fish” solutions. It requires long-term strategies. It takes civil engineering. It is this mission that served as the catalyst for Cedarville University to offer a civil engineering major, beginning fall 2018. “We’ve been discussing this dream for 12 to 15 years because we knew that once we started to do missions work out of this country, in Africa and now in South America, that a lot of the work students were doing was really civil engineering work,” explained Robert Chasnov, Dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science. “We saw the need for the developing countries we were working with to have clean water systems, correct disposal of waste water systems, energy systems that are mainly generator-based electricity onsite, roadway construction, and bridges.” MISSION DRIVEN But civil engineering is more than just clean water — it’s about infrastructure. It’s about fundamental facilities and systems that serve a country or city, including the services and facilities necessary for its economy to function. It involves technical structures such driven BY SANDRA (WELCH) HARNER ’64 “I’ve seen when you work toward the tangible means of helping people in their life, it opens doors to other conversations and gives you the opportunity to share the Gospel.” – Stephen Ayers Pictured on previous page on a 2017 engineering missions trip to Vacas, Bolivia (from left to right) are Silas Welsh ’18; Austin Ballentine ’19; Ellen Thompson; Tom Thompson, Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Valerie Martin ’18; and Nate Wiggins ’17. Cedarville Magazine | 7