Las Vegas NowLas Vegas Student to Document African Aid Work
A UNLV student is on the assignment of a lifetime. Jessica Walters left on June 25, 2009 to kick off her journalism career in Africa. She is documenting the work of fellow students who are helping orphans in Ghana.
Building a clean bathroom for about 100 orphans in Ghana will be the first project for the newly formed Las Vegas chapter of Engineers Without Borders. "As you can see, it's basically a dirt pit with logs over it and that's where the children and the workers go to the restroom. It's a couple feet away, not very sanitary," said Walters.
The college senior stumbled upon David Levine's group when she was assigned to write a story about UNLV's engineering department. "At the very end of the hallway in the dark, and it said ‘Engineers Without Borders.'" she said.
The article appeared in the school paper. The group was so touched by it, they invited her to take the trip to Ghana. "There's no running water, there's no place to use the restroom," she said.
For Walters, it's like nothing she's ever seen before and it's a view of the world she hopes to share with others through her daily blogs and Twitter feed. "I hope it sends a message to the community that we're so much more than, you know, they say Sin City. But the people inside the community are amazing people and giving and thoughtful, and that maybe all of us can do something to reach out to other communities that are less fortunate than us," she said.
