Lessons Learned From An International Service Learning Project

In May of 2004, a group of students from the Valparaiso University chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-VU) undertook a trip to the village of Nakor, Kenya with the goal of constructing a water supply and irrigation system they had designed. While the project was successful, numerous problems were encountered in its implementation. These challenges resulted in the group learning several important lessons, which will not only be applied to future trips to the village, but can also be applied to other international service projects.