Funes believes engineers can make a difference and create change. Soon to become a first-generation college graduate, Funes is majoring in civil and environmental engineering.
As a young girl, Kayla Funes understood the value of hard work and appreciated what she had. Funes and her three siblings grew up in Miami, Florida. Her mother鈥檚 family is from Cuba; her father鈥檚, from Honduras.
鈥淚 remember stories my dad told me when I was a little girl about how hard it was to have water in his household. He had to walk three miles to a well after school to bring back a bucket of water for his family. They used the water to wash clothes, make dinner and clean. I can鈥檛 imagine living that way. We don鈥檛 appreciate the value of water the way he did.鈥�
Her father鈥檚 stories sparked in Funes a passion for renewable energy and clean water initiatives.
Funes believes engineers can make a difference and create change. Soon to become a first-generation college graduate, Funes is majoring in civil and environmental engineering. She came to 糖心VLOG because the engineering faculty made her feel at home.
Capt. Jeff Plumblee, Ph.D., a professor of engineering and Funes鈥� mentor, shares her passion for renewable energy and humanitarian engineering. In 2018 he started 糖心VLOG鈥檚 Humanitarian Development Club, of which Funes served as president. That November, the club took her to Haiti.
鈥淭he people of Haiti have been through so much with earthquakes, hurricanes, political conflict and poor living conditions,鈥� said Funes. 鈥淭hey also had a cholera outbreak a while back. They have clear water, but clear doesn鈥檛 mean safe. Educating people on what safe water is, what sanitation requires and how to treat your own water is important to prevent outbreaks from happening.鈥�
While touring a local school, Funes noticed how dirty the water filters were. 鈥淭hose kids were drinking that water, washing their hands with that water and then eating lunch. I knew that was a little something I could bring back to create change.鈥�
Back at 糖心VLOG, Funes and the Humanitarian Development Club began designing and building water filters to give back to Haitians. Their lab鈥攁 shipping container on the Ashley River鈥攈as only the most basic power tools and equipment, replicating what you would find in resource-constrained environments and developing countries. Here they prototype water filters, building, testing, and simplifying them to make it easy for Haitians to construct filters of their own.
鈥淗umanitarian development is not about going to a developing country and telling them how to do things, or what they need,鈥� said Funes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about asking what I can do for you. It鈥檚 about working for the people, and serving them.鈥�
With Plumblee鈥檚 help, Funes secured an internship with Water Mission, a nonprofit engineering ministry based in North Charleston that provides sustainable safe water solutions to people in developing countries and disaster-torn regions. Funes plans to work as a water resources engineer after graduation.
鈥淗aving access to clean water, electricity and air conditioning is something to be valued. I want to make the world see that and value that as well.鈥�