Portland - Indigenous Education Foundation of Tanzania (IEFT), a non-profit grassroots organization that provides quality, affordable secondary education to underserved indigenous children in rural Tanzania, is partnering with the Portland Chapter of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) to ensure the staff and students of Orkeeswa Secondary School in Lashaine Village, Tanzania have a water supply system that is safe and dependable.

Until recently, due to the absence of groundwater or surface water sources in and around Lashaine Village, rainwater was collected from the classroom roofs, stored in small prefabricated plastic tanks and boiled prior to use. The storage volume in the plastic tanks was insufficient to last through the dry season and for several months each year, water had to be trucked in from neighboring areas, diverting significant funds from the school budget. By September 2009, construction of the first 60,000-liter rainwater harvesting storage tank was complete. Biamp Systems and Tetra Tech donated funds to the project, and EWB-USA covered half of the total cost.

The EWB-USA Tanzania Team plans to return in 2010 to construct a second tank in order to provide sufficient volume for the anticipated 2011 enrollment.