As our journey to Rwanda draws closer, our excitement grows. Our collaborators, supporters and friends (new and old of course) gathered at our launch event last Wednesday, 22nd March 2017, to cheer us on as we explored our vision and goals for the project.

It was indeed a good evening of canapés, drinks and networking with good representation from the University of Glasgow, industry and lovers of engineering.

After a few minutes of meeting people, looking at posters from #FemEnginRwanda2016 and rehydrating, John Briggs, the international Dean for Africa at the University of Glasgow opened the event with some insight into Glasgow University’s collaborations and projects in Africa and the strength of FemEnginRwanda as a student-led programme .

Nina Richards, the outgoing president of FemEng shared the overall focus of the society and provided highlights and outcomes from the #FemEnginRwanda 2016 outreach. It was indeed great to hear about the journeys the girls on team from the 2016 project, from Rwanda and Glasgow, have taken since then.

Ellen Simmons, project manager for #FemEnginRwanda2017 proceeded by expounding on the exciting additions to the programme for this year. First is the enhancement of student development through a partnership with an African-based organisation, initiative for advancement of education in Africa (iaeAfrica); collaboration with AfriPads, a social business based in Uganda, to provide reusable sanitary pads to address practical problems menstruation poses to education; and a career-building alliance with Zipline, a company that uses drones to deliver medical supplies across Rwanda.

Ellen also explained that unlike last year, boys will be admitted into the workshops to allow for inclusive access. She covered some practical needs and options for funding and supporting the project and the team this year ranging from financial resources. If this is an option you’re exploring, get in touch and let’s get planning!

Written by Jumai Aboye (pictured, above right), PhD in Biomedical Engineering at University of Glasgow and FIR Team Member 2017

(Remember you can always get in contact with the team by emailing femengrwanda@gmail.com.)

With a new team and planning well underway for the year, FemEng Rwanda are set to launch their project in 2017. We would love to see our supporters and collaborators on Wednesday 22nd March, 5-7pm in the Wolfson Medical Building so please see the invite below for details on how to come along!

 

 

This year we have a number of exciting additions to our project and a wider range of disciplines and backgrounds to work with, and we are looking forward to showing how we plan to improve FemEng Rwanda equipped with the knowledge and experience taken from our previous year.

Keep an eye on the Facebook and Twitter for updates as well, otherwise we hope to see you on the 22nd.

 

FemEng Rwanda Team 2017