Past Projects

Project Mingde collaborated with the Faculty of Social Sciences and World Vision, to start up our first overseas project, to build sanitation facilities for a secondary school in Vietnam. This experiential learning project is funded by the Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Centre, which involved 16 undergraduates (eight from the Department of Civil Engineering and eight from  the Faculty of Social Sciences) bringing an innovation small-scale construction project to completion under the supervision of World Vision Vietnam (WVV) over the course of eight weeks. Students worked as a team to first carry out a needs analysis of the community, then created a design while utilizing their academic training as well as local constraints in capacity, resources and time. The project honed a wide range of skills, which helped develop global leaders with an awareness and passion in global issues.

The program began with core workshops in early June 2015, which enabled students from both disciplines to understand cross-cultural differences and learn about the various development models used to support local communities in rural areas. The seven-week experiential learning took place in the Tien Lu district of Hung Yen Province, Vietnam, under the supervision of the local project management office of WVV. The project comprised two important components: a needs analysis of two local communes and the small-scale construction of sanitation facilities for a secondary school. Some teaching classes were arranged for our students to interact with local secondary school children to enable inter-cultural learning.

Students under the guidance of WVV staff went to two communes in the Tien Lu district to study child injury problem, malnutrition of children under five, early childhood care development, and water, sanitation, and hygiene situation. Students interviewed the local stakeholders to understand their needs in the studied aspects. The students also worked alongside a local professional construction team on a small construction project, building sanitation facilities for a secondary school in the Tien Lu District. A one-storey lavatory had been constructed during their seven-week training. The students had been deeply involved with the project, acting as Assistant Resident Engineers to monitor and record the construction process. They also helped the local workers to complete part of the construction work on site. An inauguration and handover ceremony was held on 28 July 2015. About 300 schoolchildren benefit from this new lavatory and thereby have improved their basic hygienic standard.

  

Summary of the project:

Sponsor (for travelling and lodging expenses of the project team)	:	Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Centre
Building	:	A one-storey lavatory (Site area: 64m2 )
Start date of construction	:	June 2015
End date of construction	:	July 2015
Total number of students involved	:	16 students