NSBE - Convention 2014 - (Page 26)

INTERNATIONALNEWS WORK & CELEBRATION WITH NSBE GHANA Sossena Wood, NSBE national chair, greets the chief of Nerebihi and Weosi Village, in the Bekwai District, Kumasi, Ghana. M PHOTOS BY CHRIS ALVAREZ arkell Baldwin's first trip to Africa was, he admits, "mind-blowing." The senior electrical engineering major at Purdue University was part of a group of NSBE members who visited Ghana in December on a trip sponsored jointly by the National Society of Black Engineers and the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program at Purdue. At the top of the agenda for the seven-member U.S. delegation was the continuation of an engineering community service project in the rural villages of Weosi and Nerebihi, in Kumasi. But pleasure was also part of the plan and was just as relevant to NSBE's mission. The U.S. group got to join NSBE students and professionals from the entire region in the 15th anniversary celebration of NSBE Ghana, the Society's first chapter in Africa. "It was (excellent). It was historical," says NSBE National Chair Sossena Wood, who led the U.S. team. "...I think I got the most (from) hearing people speak about the promise of NSBE and what it can do to inspire the people who were there to impact their community and not to let outsiders do it for 26 * NSBE MAGAZINE * C ONVENTION 2014 them. The promise and the solutions for Africans will be African." On the surface, it seems like a simple thing: taking NSBE members from Purdue to Ghana for community work and an anniversary event. But as with many engineering activities, a lot of thought and preparation went into the apparent simplicity of design. NSBE Interim Executive Director Virginia Booth Gleghorn tells how the trip came about. "While at Purdue (as director of the university's Minority Engineering Program), I was given the opportunity to teach a class as part of Purdue's EPICS program, which was launched in 1995. EPICS gives students experiential knowledge by requiring them to complete an engineering project in a community as part of their curriculum exercise prior to graduation.... Typically those projects were in the community surrounding the university. But over time, they began to expand and do projects outside of the general area. And now, they're actually doing global-based projects. "So I was approached about engaging Student officers from All Nations University NSBE Chapter meet with NSBE National Vice Chair Lacie Pierre and NSBE National Chair Sossena Wood (front row, left and second from left) www.nsbe.org http://www.nsbe.org

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NSBE - Convention 2014