Ghana, Africa

Dylan was given the opportunity at UT this last year to take a class called Projects for Underserved Communities.  He and group of eight other engineering students worked for an entire year to help design, facilitate, and implement a water distribution system for a school of approximately 500 students in the small village of Patriensa, Ghana.

Dylan had the great opportunity to serve as the co-project leader and took on a huge amount of responsibility to make this trip happen.  However, soon after we found out I was pregnant, we decided that it would be best for Dylan to not travel to Africa with the team because it was so close to my due date (and because there were risks for diseases, sickness, etc that he could bring back to our family).  Undoubtedly, I am really thankful Dylan was here with me these last two weeks, but it also saddens me that he did not get the tangible experience of implementing the project and actually meeting so many of the people in Patriensa that he had worked with over the last year.   

I'm so proud of the work Dylan put in to this project and it's exciting to think about how this is possibly just the beginning of many more water-centered, community development opportunities for Dylan and our family.  I have a feeling that maybe someday, just maybe, we might actually get to Ghana to witness the Patriensa community benefiting from the clean water.  I sure hope so...  

Thought I'd share just a few pictures the team took...

these are the guys that hand-dug the 65' deep well

water storage tank for the gravity-fed distribution system

Village Chief and Queen Mother

The children wanted to learn a "real American game" so they taught them duck, duck goose!

A few members of the team with their Ghanaian hosts