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In June 2012, Marty Walker, Director of Administrative Services for MU’s College of Engineering, and J.R. Swanegan, Jr., the College’s study abroad director, took eight MU engineering students to South Africa on a trip of a lifetime. The students went to Kruger National Park and then to the Kusile power plant being built outside of Johannesburg. This plant, a project of Black & Veatch, an engineering firm based in Kansas City will be one of the largest coal fired power plants in the world. The students were hosted at the plant by two MU educated engineers. 

But for the students, the most memorable part of the trip was the three day science camp that the MU students put on for high school students in one of Cape Town’s poorest townships, Mitchells Plain. The MU students introduced the South African high schoolers to basic engineering concepts by showing them how to dismantle a disposable camera, testing boats made of water bottles and engaging the students in entertaining activities. The goal was to stimulate interest in science and to show the students what engineers do. The MU students’ journals reflect what an invaluable experience it was for them. Without the assistance of Dr.. Firdouza Waggie, Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Unit in UWC’s Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, and her colleague, Gerard Fillies, Service Learning Sites Coordinator of UWC’s Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Unit, Walker and Swanegan would not have been able to offer their students this incredible experience.