We are a student led project team that designs and builds safe and innovative footbridges and WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) Systems for the betterment of isolated and rural communities in the Kingdom of Eswatini through our partnership with the global NGO Engineers in Action.
Since 2016, our team has built footbridges to connect rurally isolated communities to resources such as schools, markets, and healthcare. These bridges are built at sites where flooded rivers have led to injuries and deaths in crossing, and enable safe passage. Our most recent bridge, Hlanganani (2025), serves a population of around 3,000 people who rely on river access for education, income, trade, and agriculture. [Photo essay available for Jolitane (2024)]
In 2024, our team expanded to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) projects to provide clean drinking water to schools. Projects consist of solar groundwater pumping, disinfection, storage, and distribution. Our most recent project served around 300 students, faculty, and staff at Herefords Primary School (2025), where frequent stomach bugs were suspected to be linked to contaminated and unreliable stream water. [Photo essay available for Matfuntini Primary School (2024)]
EIA partners with the Microprojects Programme in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Each year, we send a team of students to construct our projects hand in hand with the local community. In this life changing experience, students gain hands-on engineering experience and learn about the local language and culture through living with a host family. Students make intergenerational and intercultural bonds that last a lifetime.
