Work in Progress - A Service-Learning Collaboration between Engineering and Human Ecology

In Winter 2006, engineering and human ecology students from Ohio State University (OSU) completed a 10-week service learning course as a prerequisite to a week-long service trip to rural Honduras during Spring Break (March 18-25, 2006). The community partner, known as Montana de Luz, is based in Columbus, OH, and operates a home for children with HIV/AIDS in Honduras. The overall goal was to build upon engineering projects initiated the previous year and to assess educational needs for the establishment of a preschool. The educational opportunities for OSU students consisted of pre-trip planning, fundraising, materials acquisition, project implementation, cultural exchange, student reflection, post-trip assessment, and documentation. On-site challenges consisted of water supply and quality (agricultural and health concern), electrical safety and equipment function, communications (due to remoteness and mountainous conditions), computing needs (administrative and educational), as well as the cultural and communications challenges of implementing projects in another country