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From Glassboro to The Gambia– A Collaborative Work with the University of the Gambia and a Winter Trip to the Gambia Villages

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Conference

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Atlanta, Georgia

Publication Date

June 23, 2013

Start Date

June 23, 2013

End Date

June 26, 2013

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Curriculum and Program Developments, Exchanges, Collaborations, and Partnerships

Tagged Division

International

Page Count

8

Page Numbers

23.622.1 - 23.622.8

DOI

10.18260/1-2--19636

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/19636

Download Count

439

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Paper Authors

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Hong Zhang Rowan University

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Jess W. Everett Rowan University

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Jess Everett, Ph.D., P.E. is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has over 26 years experience as an environmental engineer and professor and has published over 63 refereed journal articles, chapters, and books. He has worked on more than 60 funded projects (totaling over $6 million) and has worked with more than 100 Junior and Senior Clinic teams (over 220 different undergraduate students). He has worked with Clinic teams on EWB projects, energy audits, solar assessments and designs, wind assessments, waste assessments, ecological assessments, waste treatment, etc.

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Jennifer Kadlowec Rowan University

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Sean COffey COffey

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Andrea Rose McFarland Rowan University

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Junior Civil and Environmental Engineering Major

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Abstract

From Glassboro to The Gambia– A Collaborative Work with the University of the Gambia and a Winter Trip to the Gambia Villages    The Gambia is a small country located at the tip of West Africa. The EngineeringWithout Boarder (EWB) Rowan University section has been working with the localpeople of the Gambia on various projects. In the fall of 2011, Rowan EWB teamed upwith the professor and students from the University of the Gambia on three projects:1) Promote a more environmental friendly life style by substituting firewood with biomass briquettes. The briquette can be fabricated from peanut shell and corn cob using a simple device and easy process developed by Rowan Engineering;2) Survey local water supplies for a group of 8 villages in a remote area of the Gambia. We helped them to prioritize the need facing limited supply of external donations and develop a mechanism to manage and maintain the wells;3) Inspect an important road connecting the villages to the outer world and provide maintenance tips and improvement recommendations.        Figure  1:  Left:  A  peanut  shell  briquette  burning  together  with  dry  grass.    Middle:  Local  children  surrounding  an  open  well.  Right:  The  dirt  road  connecting  the  villages  to  the  rice  field,  lumo  (market),  river,  and  outside  world.        The  Rowan  team  and  the  University  of  the  Gambia  team  worked  together  to  make  the  project  a  success.  The  teams  had  to  overcome  the  difficulties  in  many  areas  such  as  language  (two  completely  different  languages  are  spoken  in  the  villages),  culture  (two  ethnic  tribes  and  two  religions),  economic  (almost  no  cash  income  except  selling  of  rice,  corn  and  pumpkins  plus  external  donations),  and  tradition  (many  local  villagers  have  been  relying  on  firewood  for  everyday  cooking  and  switch  to  loose  corn  cobs  when  the  supply  of  firewood  dwindles).          

Zhang, H., & Everett, J. W., & Kadlowec, J., & COffey, S., & McFarland, A. R. (2013, June), From Glassboro to The Gambia– A Collaborative Work with the University of the Gambia and a Winter Trip to the Gambia Villages Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--19636

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