[Music]
it's always been a dream of mine to give
a TED talk it's kind of crazy that I'm
actually up here right now doing that I
feel like there's so much energy in this
room and I'm surrounded by people who
deeply care about the world and want to
make a positive impact I'm kind of
curious how many of you here today want
to do good in the world don't be shy
if you've ever asked yourself how can I
do good I want you to raise your hand
that's a lot of you this is a question
that I ask myself a lot - how can I do
good in the past two years or so I've
began to ask myself a different question
how can I do good better I want to know
how my actions and contributions impact
others and I want to know the best ways
to help I want to be good at doing good
my goal today is to get as many of you
as I can to start thinking about that
question - how can I do good better and
I want to show you that the key to doing
this is doing research and learning as
much as you can about the problem that
you're trying to solve
my name is vibha and I'm the former
president of the MIT engineers Without
Borders chapter I want to share with you
today three ways of researching that
I've learned through volunteering with
AWB about how to be more effective at
helping others the community that we've
been working with for the past
two-and-a-half years is a village called
mu Kotani of about 3,000 residents the
project cycle for ours Club consists of
three stages assessment implementation
and monitoring our project last year was
designing and installing a solar-powered
water pump it was through this project
that I learned that the
more thoroughly you do the assessment
phase the more likely it is that your
project will succeed we researched mu
kotani's climate and culture different
types of water pumps various
manufacturers and contractors local
government policies it wasn't until I
started this project that I learned that
Tanzania has been taking strides to use
more solar energy and this was a large
basis for choosing a pump that's powered
by the Sun in order to effectively solve
a problem you have to fully understand
it and what's been done before research
the facts the data the trends research
important stakeholders and their roles
in the problem and solution research
possible technical approaches and you
can evaluate the pros and cons the
second thing I learned about researching
to do good better is that sometimes you
have to do research yourself for us that
meant going to the community and talking
to people our original project wasn't
actually a solar pump it was an
irrigation system to help the crops in
MOOC Otani grow during the dry season it
wasn't until two of our members traveled
to Tanzania and talks to the Mucca tiny
village leaders that we learned that the
villagers didn't want this irrigation
system at all in fact it could have
actually caused conflict between
families due to unequal shares of water
from the irrigation system we had no
idea that this could have been a problem
and if we had gone through with this
project without extensively talking to
the community we would have not only
spent thousands of dollars on an
unnecessary system but we would have
upset the community's social balance
there are so many aspects that you can
never find with all the information on
the internet you have to be curious and
willing to listen to find those out
research by asking questions connect
in surveys or experiments and talking to
the people that you're trying to help
include others every single step of
their way now I want to talk about what
I have found to be most essential when
trying to do good some call it soul
searching I call it soul researching I
believe that self-awareness is the key
when you're trying to do a project for
the good of others to overcoming
roadblocks and staying motivated when
things aren't going as planned
remember the development cycle I showed
well it's actually a little more like
this and this and this and this there
have been times when I'm bogged down
with schoolwork or other
responsibilities and it's really hard to
make time for engineers Without Borders
especially when it feels like progress
is slow it's during these moments that I
have to remind myself why I joined AWB
in the first place it isn't because I
want to engineer something no my classes
satisfy my technical cravings but I
joined each of you B because I believe
that everyone has the right to basic
needs to me basic needs being fulfilled
is the first step in making sure people
have the energy to go to school and that
education is what empowers people to
pursue their own goals this core value
is what has motivated me to pursue
leadership opportunities and to complete
technical plans and travel to Tanzania
to install a water pump whatever problem
it is that you're trying to solve you
have to understand why it's important to
you research your motives your personal
goals evaluate your skills and what you
can do specifically to contribute be
aware of your role in the larger picture
do some soul researching
to find the significance of the problem
in your life and hold on to that when
things aren't going as planned in the
end our implementation trip was
successful and we were able to increase
access to clean drinking water for the
residents of muga Thani now we're in the
monitoring phase to make sure that the
pump continues to meet the needs of the
residents and have developed a manual
that will help
Mooka Thani technicians to operate and
repair the pump themselves throughout my
experiences with engineers Without
Borders and this project I've learned
that these three ways of researching
understanding the problem by finding the
facts going deeper by learning to listen
and using Sol researching to overcome
obstacles these three ways have helped
me answer the question how can I do good
better
so as you all go home tonight with all
these amazing ideas from the TED Talks
and as you start to think about whatever
problem it is that you're trying to
tackle no matter how big or small I want
you to get started I want you to do your
research thank you
[Applause]