December 04, 2004 edition of Weyburn This Week

HELP International representative Kabuya Muepu and S.E. Regional College representative Trent Jordens and the college’s welding class accept the challenge of inventing a new hydraulic press system for fibre board manufacturing.

— Photo by Bob Heath

 

 

South East Regional College’s Trent Jordens, along with HELP International’s
Kabuya Muepu, have started a partnership that will be felt around the world.
S.E. College welding students have been challenged to come up with a better hydraulic press system to assist with filter board presses. The current presses are the weight of the operator pressing down on a slurry of recycled newspaper, water and cloth strips. The size of boards are limited due to the human factor but with a hydraulic press system the dimensions can be increased dramatically. Kabuya told the gathering that the fibre board has just won an award for innovation in recycling in Nairobi, Kenya. HELP International would like to see the fibre boards increased to four by eight foot sheets. This would give a better application in the construction industry. Mr. Jordens of the S.E. College said, “This is why we’re taking on this project.” Jordens went on to say that this partnership with HELP is a great model of how local training and education not only impacts our local area but globally as well. This will be a great experience for our students which allows freedom of creativity, ingenuity and internal motivation. HELP International currently is making two inch square fibre boards which take up to five days to finish but they are counting on the local college students to reduce the curing time and increase the dimensions at the same time.The students will also be creating
a new motor driven papermill which will create a paper/pulp slurry for the recycled
pulp/fibre board process. The emphasis is on low cost and low technology which will
be used by 10 women led home associations in Kenya whose individual household
incomes range from $30 to $100 per month. The Zero Waste Project is
beginning in the slums of Kenya’s largest cities due to the large amounts of sewer
wastes and household garbage entering their rivers. Waste management is becoming
a top priority in Kenya and with Weyburn’s assistance this project will
help reduce pollution around the world. The projects will be unveiled in
January 2005 at the SouthEast Community College.S.E. College assists HELP International