In January, nine Civil and Environmental Engineering seniors visited the village of Bupaluka in Uganda to work on their senior capstone projects.
They worked with the community to address sanitation problems in the village and make clean water accessible. One group focused on developing a solar-powered pump to replace the hand pump for the well, which guarantees even distribution of water to the town. The other group worked with a local primary school to design cleaner bathrooms and create a rainwater hand washing system, making a safer sanitary environment for students.
This seven-day trip was led by assistant professor Kelly Good, associate professor Virginia Smith and professor Rob Traver. They partnered with the Kibo Group, a non-profit based in Uganda, and Divine Water, an organization founded by 1980 Villanova alumnus and chemical engineer Jim Mynaugh.
Traver had lunch with Mynaugh and instantly knew that his organization would be a perfect fit for Villanova.
“It is not easy to find good service projects,” Traver said. “Of course, we want to make a difference, Inspire Change, but it also has to meet the course educational needs and be inspiring to our students. It has to have an engineering challenge, and a community we can engage with for the design.”
Twenty-Twenty-Four is the third year of the Divine Water capstone course, but this is the first year that students could travel to the site of their projects. In the past, students relied on Google Maps and videoconferencing community members. This year, seniors had the benefit of connecting in person with concerned residents.
Senior Andrew Kline appreciated the advantage of these interactions.
“Traveling to Uganda was an amazing, life-changing and eye-opening experience,” Kline said. “We had the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the individuals who have been supporting us virtually from Uganda and got to develop a better understanding of what our project site looked like. Since our trip concluded, we have noticed a variety of efficiencies in our work both in terms of just knowing more and being able to benefit from our strengthened relationships.”
Traver was impressed by how eager the students were to help in Bupaluka.
“There was no hesitation, they joined in the celebrations, no worry about the 27 hours to get there, grabbing shovels for the tree planting and the work needed to design this year’s project,” Traver said.
He explained how moving it was to see the community take in Villanova students for the week.
“I was overwhelmed at how grateful, smiling and gracious this community was,” Traver said. “It really affected me when I saw all these people lining up for food. While there was plenty of rice and bananas, there was only a small square of goat and chicken, they shared what they could. I didn’t think much of the soccer balls I brought over to donate until I saw kids playing with balls made from rags.”
Senior Emma Robert loved the learning experience.
“Going to the village that the water system will be serving was very rewarding to see who will be benefiting from it,” Robert said. “It was helpful to see the land and any obstacles, and it helped us visualize the community. My group and I are motivated to finish the project in the best way possible.”
At the end of the semester, the class will give completed designs to the Kibo Group, which will build the project with the community.
“I think we all felt the impact of the moment, the ability to make a change in the world and at least for me, I suspect I got as much out of this as the villagers,” Traver said. “Ignite change… I think it means the next village.”
