A volunteer program at Fort Lewis College brings water and power to underserved communities around the world. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steak Burgers and Fast Science Durango. I'm Connor Shrieve, students and professors with the Fort Lewis College Village Aid project. Recently completed a multi-year project in Zambia, providing a community forced off its native land with a clean water system, solar power and multiple bridges.

That was a really rewarding thing just to feel of like we're really going to be able to impact these people's lives and how excited they were. We showed them our bridge plan, our the first day that we were there and just seeing their excitement was so cool and it was just like, I think it was motivating for them as well as for us

Soon to be. Junior. Sydney Flower says her first year working with Village Aid project was inspiring. VAP is celebrating its 20th year providing clean water sanitation and solar power to underdeveloped countries. Co-director Matthew Klima says the projects are all encompassing multi-year missions from identifying needs to research and planning, designing and building the systems.

And then about a month before we send them all the designs for like where the pipe network's going to go and the community digs all that trench line or the majority of it before we even arrive there. So when we arrive there, it's really just laying the pipeline systems, building the cement structures that we need to build, building whatever wood structures we need to do, locating solar panels and putting pumps in and working with the community and training them to do that.

Students get real world experience collaborating with the communities.

If you want a system to be sustainable, you can't just come and give something to a community because then they don't have ownership of it. They don't, weren't involved in the process, so they don't like, they don't tell their children that I helped build this, you know, and so if they work with the whole process, like, oh, I know how to glue the pipe. I know how to fix this. You know, water spigot. So when that breaks a cow backs into it for whatever reason, they know how to fix it.

Flower who worked on the Bridge team says the trip encouraged her to keep studying.

So to be able to kind of see a larger part of the project and to be there for so many steps of the way was really interesting. And it also just helps you decide on, you know, like, okay, what do I want to do when I get out of here? Like, you know, after doing the VHP trip, I'm like, it would be really cool to be able to do more things like this after graduation. You know, like, I don't want this work to stop for me when I graduate.

Dr. Klima says the program's impact is dramatic for both students and recipient communities.

The most gratification I get from doing a project is being able to see the students grow and realize how much impact they can make, how much they have learned can be applied. And just to be able to see them grow and like realize even though they don't speak the same language, how they can work with other people.

Village Aid Project is planning its fall fundraiser with plans to continue to help to provide clean water and energy to communities worldwide through students at Fort Lewis College. Find more information about this and other stories at Durango Local News. Thank you for watching this edition of The Local News Network. I'm Connor Shreve.