Eze River Bridge Project, West Africa

About 30 years ago, the village of Enugwu in Nigeria became cut off from the rest of the world when the bridge over the Eze River connecting them to the larger city of Ozubulu was destroyed. The only way to get across has been to walk or swim; bringing with it the dangers of crocodiles and drowning. "School children must cross the river to attend school. They wear their older clothing while crossing the river, carry their lunch and school clothes on their heads and change on the other side before proceeding onto school" (www.wowinfo.org). In the rainy season, however, the river becomes so large it makes it impossible to cross.

Nu Skin's Force for Good Foundation provided funds to the World Organization for Women (WOW) to construct a 264-foot bridge without machinery. The bridge was recently completed and took about three months to build. The project agreement was based on the villages providing the labor (up to 30 men per day), and funding from WOW for the materials: 40 tons of timber and 60 tons of concrete. WOW also provided the engineer (Dr. Todd Strong) to design the bridge and direct its construction.

Dr. Strong kept a journal of the events as he and a group of men from West Africa built the bridge. One journal entry read, "Those that have come to visit the bridge site have been amazed at the progress. It has mattered not if they came on day five, day 10 or even day 15 as it is today in writing. In each case they find it hard to believe that a group of men, not trained and not previously knowing each other, have done so much in such a short amount of time and done it so well. The comments from such visitors of course have added to the pride of our men and help to make them a stronger team each day."

WOW is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and is committed to "bringing all women to the understanding of their divine worth and influence upon society." They work on projects to foster women's abilities in the following areas: education, health, skill development, micro business and influencing policy statements created in international documents that have an influence on women's roles in the world