Students at Strathclyde University’s Electronic and Electrical Engineering department have been putting their skills to good use, by travelling to Gambia to improve living conditions across villages and towns.

Since 2006, a group of students have travelled over to the African country each year to provide electricity to homes, schools and hospitals. The project originally came about through a partnership formed between Fintry Primary School in Scotland and Sambel Kunda Lower Basic School in Gambia. Fintry was keen to help the village of Sambel Kunda by providing them with electricity, so they approached the University to help them in bringing this idea to life.

Using the engineering skills they’d already gained, plus learning some more during the journey, students have installed solar power systems in communities throughout rural Gambia.  We spoke to a few of the well-travelled team members about their experiences…

“Africa’s harsh, unforgiving environment demanded that we utilise all the skills we collectively had at our disposal, and encouraged us to develop new skills as we went,” says Strathclyde student Callum Morris.

“An enormous level of preparation was required before we departed; designing the solar systems, ordering the required components and tools, transport and training had to be organised during term times when everyone was working with full schedules.

“Teamwork was crucial to ensure everything ran as smoothly as possible; everyone played their part in keeping each other motivated to push through the relentless midday heat, any problems that arose were swiftly dealt with encouraging input from each individual to produce a solution. When we discovered that the battery terminals had been left behind, team leaders Scott Strachan and Bob Currie improvised a solution using the materials on site – using the initiative inherent to a good engineer,” he proudly says.

“One of the best experience of my life”

The students have all found the experience eye opening and rewarding, in many different ways.

“The project as a whole was very enjoyable and I got to meet a great group of people who I now think of as friends,” says Ryan Sims, a fellow student. “I also learned a lot about solar technology during the course of the project. However, the actual trip to Gambia was an obvious highlight and I think of the 10 day trip as not just a highlight of my engineering career, but also one of the best experiences of my life,” he says.

“This was my first charitable venture and I’m pleased to say I found the whole experience tremendously rewarding and educational,” continues Morris.

“The changes we’ve made in Africa will affect a whole community, improving the quality of education for hundreds of children. Reflecting on this reassures me that this was time well spent, although I now know that there is an immeasurable amount of work still needing to be undertaken, encouraging me to want to do more. I’ve gained invaluable work experience with qualified engineers and the chance to travel a seldom-explored part of Africa putting my theoretical knowledge into practice.”

Princess Royal Scholarship

Finding out about this work, not only did the IET award the University the 2008 Princess Royal Scholarship, the organisation has also awarded the team the previous year’s scholarship which had formerly gone unspent.

“For the project to be selected for an IET award gave our cause some of the recognition I feel it deserves. Also, the financial benefit of the award helped fund our travel and cost of materials for the project and was one of the financial sources that made the project possible,” says Sims.

“The fact that the IET rightfully recognised the importance of the project and gave it their full support motivated us even further, giving us another reason to make the trip as valuable as possible,” adds Morris.  “Personally I was amazed that an organisation as large as the IET could recognise and aid the efforts of a small group of students trying to make a difference in Africa, for that I am extremely thankful. The total contribution was invaluable to the project and I have no doubt that it couldn’t have gone forward without it,” he concludes.

 

*Strathclyde University students are now looking for funding for the next expedition. Any companies or individuals interested in being sponsors should get in touch with Callum Morris at callum.morris@strath.ac.uk.