Service Without Borders is a trans-disciplinary, student-led organization whose mission is to share the spirit of Virginia Tech’s motto, Ut Prosim, locally and globally by partnering with communities in need through cross-cultural exchanges.
Service Without Borders is a trans-disciplinary, student-led organization whose mission is to share the spirit of Virginia Tech’s motto, Ut Prosim, locally and globally by partnering with communities in need through cross-cultural exchanges.
Our Story
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Service Without Borders (SWB) is a trans-disciplinary, student-led organization whose mission is to share the spirit of Virginia Tech’s motto, Ut Prosim, locally and globally by partnering with communities in need through cross-cultural exchanges. SWB projects engage students in real-world design, project management, construction, marketing, fundraising, and cultural experiences that focus on sustainable development for community partners. Currently, we have three international projects, Nepal, Tanzania and India.
Nepal
In January 2016, a group of Virginia Tech students and professors traveled to Nepal to assess the earthquake damage in the culturally Tibetan community of Dhumba. In partnership with the Dhumba village leaders, the SWB team decided that rehabilitation of the village irrigation system would have the greatest effect on agricultural productivity and livelihoods in the community. In June of 2016, another group of Virginia Tech students and professors traveled to the community of Dhumba to work alongside the community to implement an agricultural irrigation system. In 2025, the team completed work on an irrigation canal, helping support local access to water for agricultural use. In 2026, SWB sent another group to Nepal to begin work on two new water mills for milling grain.
Tanzania
Our Tanzania project seeks to provide Maasai youth in the Engaruka area of Tanzania with a quality primary school education in English. The Maasai ethnic group is largely illiterate and the poorest in Tanzania in terms of economic and educational attainment. Maasai girls are typically sold by their fathers for cows and are married at puberty. If they are enrolled in school, they are protected from marriage. The Maasai are particularly disadvantaged because they only speak Ma, while the national languages are Swahili and English. The school we are helping build will be taught in English to enable students to pass the national secondary school exams, which are administered in English. Currently, very few Maasai students pass the exam because of their poor English skills. The new school will also have a dormitory for students from villages that are beyond walking distance. In 2017, SWB helped the community and a local contractor build the 1st phase of the school. The school, “The Engaruka English Medium Primary School”, opened in January 2018. Our partners on this project are the Tanzanian Engaruka Community Initiative Organization and the US Maasai Education Foundation. During the 2017-2018 school year, the Tanzania team worked to raise enough money to fund a photovaltaic system to supply electricity for the school's dining hall. Due to heavy rains, we were not able to install the PV system during our summer trip. Instead, SWB was able to assist in the construction of guest housing, an on-site brick kiln, and general maintenance to help sustainably grow the school. In 2019, students traveled to construct a playground, and in 2022 they traveled to implement a computer lab. This past summer of 2023, students raised money for a computer lab expansion, a playground expansion, and to plant native fruit trees on the school grounds.
India
Service Without Borders is currently developing a project in India after members visited KISS and KIIT University over winter break in 2026. Through this trip, SWB connected with the Bakul Foundation, an organization focused on literacy, environmental work, free book access, and community development. While the project is still in the early planning stages, SWB is working toward creating a strong proposal and building a meaningful partnership that supports the foundation’s existing goals.
Local
Service Without Borders is involved with projects in and around the Blacksburg community. Some of our local opportunities include:
Join us as we continue sharing the Hokie spirit!
Engaruka, Tanzania Safari
Bhubaneswar, India KISS/KITT