Day: July 3, 2017

Projects, Contacts, and a Goat!

We arrived in Sunyani on June 27th where we will be living for the next five weeks to work on a variety of projects that include women’s health education, medical technological servicing, engineering classes/activities, computer literacy, and an IGS Ventilator. 

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Here the girls are standing in Cote d’Ivoire and the boys are standing in Ghana. The picture was taken in a village which is on the border of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. The rock structure represents the two countries coming together.

Women’s Health Education: 

Team Lead: Amanda Moya

As in previous years, a project involving proper feminine hygiene education as a means of eliminating one obstacle every woman faces will be implemented in a variety of locations . Research shows that 60% of women in Africa have missed some amount of education because of their lack of methods to deal with their monthly cycle. We plan to offer workshops to educate the girls in the schools on creating their own sustainable, reusable products and educating them on the benefits, risks, and proper use of said products. We hope be able to host 5 workshops in a variety of villages to reach over 200 girls. 

Medical Technological Servicing:

Team Lead: Joshua Geschke

Medical device graveyards have been increasing in prevalence all over Africa being that medical devices get donated and there is not an effective means to service them. By identifying and taking an inventory of these devices, we hope to locate parts and give service manuals to the technicians that try to fix these devices so that they may be used once again. 

Engineering Education:

Team Lead: Summer Oley

As has been done in the past, we will be going to local schools with the intention to provide basic and interesting engineering lessons, hands-on activities, and discussions to spark an interest in the engineering fields. The activities will require the students to be creative and to work on a team as they build rollercoasters and catapults with straws, tape, rubber bands, and ping-pong balls.

Computer Literacy:

Team Lead: Daniel Knenlein

The main focus for the time in country will be spent implementing a Rachel Pi and two Raspberry Pi’s, as well as assessing the computer needs of schools in the area for future teams.  It is known that more efficient and well equipped computer labs are desired, so we will be looking at how future teams can provide this to the schools.  In addition to that, computer lessons will be given to teachers and students to provide them with basic computer skills so that they know how to better use their technology. Through the continuation of this project, it is hoped that the addition of computer technology and greater knowledge will provide a better education to the students in these schools to increase their likelihood to attend higher education.

 IGS Ventilator:

Team Lead: Joshua Geschke

The Innovative Global Solutions (IGS) Enterprise has been in partnership with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi with their Ventilator Project. We are going to meet the current team that is working with the IGS Ventilator as well as do an environmental analysis. We hope to continue this ongoing partnership between Michigan Tech and KNUST which allows for engineering students at both universities to globally collaborate.

We are very excited to actively begin our projects on Tuesday, July 4th. The first week spent in Sunyani was dedicated to meeting the necessary contacts for our projects, learning how to get around Ghana either by walking or taking a taxi or tro tro (think passenger van that seats 18, WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE), and researching/planning for our projects. Our country advisor, Andrew Storer, was present for the first few days to help us with the above, but we’ve officially been on our own for a couple days now! The team had originally planned to start implementing projects today on July 3rd, but were informed of a national holiday we were unaware of which has caused a day delay. 

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Summer, Amanda, Dan and Andrew in our first tro-tro ride of the trip!

A Goat and an Obruni: 

We would like to share a moment that we will never forget with you. On Thursday, June 29th, we took a 2 hour tro tro ride to Babienha, a village on the boarder of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. As we were climbing into the tro tro, Amanda realized there was some kind of head underneath her seat. Once she got in, she noticed that it was a goat! Whenever we would rapidly slow down, the goat would slam into her legs and if the goat was feeling curious he’d pop his head up and scratch her inner thighs. At one point, the goat actually fell out the back (the back was only partially secured with rope tied to the side windows and the rear wipers) and was running along screaming behind us until the tro tro driver stopped to retrieve him! He was then hog tied and brought up to the front of the tro tro to be sure of his safety. This experience showed us just how unpredictable and full of surprises public transportation can be here! 

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The goat under Amanda.

Until next time the team will keep being amazed by everything around us!

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The Journey Begins

Pavlis Global Leadership Team Tanzania has made it to Chicago and is excited to share its adventures with all of you. To start our journey we would like to share a little bit about each of us with you.

Peter Beach
PBBeach@mtu.edu

Peter
Peter is entering his fourth year of studying biomedical engineering at Michigan Technological University. He grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, near the Mayo Clinic. He has an older brother, two older sisters, a younger brother, and is an uncle to ten nieces and nephews. He is involved with the Chemistry Learning Center, Student Entertainment Board and the Huskies Pep Band on campus, as well as the Pavlis Institute. He loves being outdoors, especially in the winter and enjoys skiing, sledding, cycling, hiking, and camping. After graduation, he hopes to work in the medical device industry, possibly in research and development.

Alex Davis
apdavis@mtu.edu

alex
Alex is a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student at Michigan Technological University. He is from Wheaton, IL. He is the oldest of four children: one younger sister and two younger brothers. He has always had a love for anything outdoors including snowmobiling, dirt biking, snowboarding, hockey, water skiing, fishing, hunting, and hiking. Besides being involved with the Pavlis Institute at Michigan Tech, he is involved with the Clean Snowmobile Enterprise and the Roller Hockey team. He is looking forward to all of the experiences that these programs and Michigan Tech will bring him and he is very excited for a summer in Tanzania.

Sterling Korstad
sgkorsta@mtu.edu

Sterling
Sterling Korstad is a fourth-year Biomedical Engineering major at Michigan Tech. He is from West St. Paul, MN. At Tech, Sterling is a part of the Huskies Pep Band, where he is the Vice President, and he is also a part of the Student Entertainment Board where he serves as the President. Some of his hobbies include playing the saxophone, hockey, and video games, along with watching Netflix when he is not writing a lab report for his Bioinstrumentation class.

Phillip Wyman
pjwyman@mtu.edu

Phillip
Phillip is a Mechanical Engineering Technology student currently in his fourth year at Michigan Tech. He is originally from Hortonville Wisconsin, where he first developed a love for technical thinking, creativity, and a love of nature, all of which made Michigan Tech a perfect fit. On campus, Phillip is involved in concert choir, the tech theatre company (both as a performer and as a technician for the Rozsa Center), and is a member of Michigan Tech Sound & Lighting Services. Off campus Phillip is an active member at St. Albert the great Catholic University Parish where he serves as the music minister, as well as a Chapel Rat (a student living and working at the parish). He is also a member of the technical professional’s honor society Epsilon Pi Tau. Phillip can’t wait for the adventures that will happen this summer!