The 2008-2009 school year was a busy year for EWB-UCLA, with the implementation of one international project and the starting of a new international project.

General: In late September of 2008, members attended a mixer at USC with both the USC student chapter and the Los Angeles professional chapter.  Bart Forman was a guest speaker on the topic of his project, the Guatemala water project. 
In October 2008, four members attended the EWB West Coast Conference which was hosted by the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student chapter.  Members attended a job fair, networked with other chapters, and learned about various topics of current concern at workshops.
In February 2009, we hosted the mixer on campus, with USC, LAPP, and Loyola Marymount chapters in attendance.  A panel was held about funding, and David Jacobson gave an overview of the process in obtaining Rotary funding.

Thailand: During late December and January, members of the team traveled on-site to construct a schoolhouse in No Lae, near the Cambodian border.  The team had the support of the Thailand government as well as individuals who were interested in giving a helping hand in the construction.  The implementation was a success, and there are possibilities for continuation with the project in related areas of need or extending the schoolhouse.

Guatemala: In late June and early July of 2008, three members of the Guatemala team made a trip to Chocantariy implement the pilot project phase.  Two water tanks of different designs were built, one in-ground and the other above-ground, with the help of the local NGO partner CasaSito, community members of the Potable Water Committee, and Peace Corps volunteers.  During the rainy season, local partners returned and found the rainwater harvesting systems to be working well.  In mid-June of 2009, another trip is planned to implement more water tanks.

Nicaragua: After learning about the global sanitation crisis at the EWB West Coast Conference at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, members decided that the scope would make a sanitation and latrine related project a good fit.  The team partnered with a local NGO in Bluefields with the goal of building composting and solar latrines in Kukra River, a cluster of small communities on the east of Nicaragua.  In March, a site assessment trip was conducted, with the verdict that the communities of Las Brenas and San Sebastian were in need of both composting latrines and clean water.  Interviews conducted with families seem to indicate that families have had health problems that were directly or indirectly caused by lack of sanitation or a clean water source.  Currently, this team is in the design phase.