Mikumi Solar Project in Tanzania – Being a member of the 2015 Tanzania solar project has been an incredible experience from a teaching and learning opportunity to experiencing different cultures. The moment we arrived to our departure has shown why these kind of relationships that NSCC International have started and continue to help evolve will make such an important contribution and difference on so many levels. You could see it with the VETA students the moment we arrived on campus and started unpacking. They were so interested in what our project was about, what material we brought and how we were attempting to accomplish our goals. By speaking with them and helping explain through simple sketches, we started to develop relationships and communication lines without always being able to speak each other’s language.

From our initial scope we found other issues to be addressed such as water quality to WIFI install that we found time to help address and identify. To say the Tanzanian people are friendly, willing to help and learn is a huge understatement. They may not have our resources but we were always able to find what we needed and/or we worked with what they had to make a solution that worked. You couldn’t meet more accommodating people. Our group represented NSCC extremely well by working together as a tight knit team and we are very proud of that.

There are many opportunities and needs for further collaboration. By passing along our safety knowledge also benefitted this venture but we should expand on this in the future. This project is now being used by VETA Mikumi, ensuring this type of project can and will be sustained. By also installing many sensors such as ongoing water depth of the 3 wells, measuring daily rainfall, intensity of solar power from the sun 365 days/per year, and other power measurements which is available to Mikumi as well as NSCC from a device we installed. This data can be used as teaching tools for many programs throughout the college and industry. This type of install can be rolled out to other areas of need. There are numerous opportunities to help enhance NSCC programs, Facility Management of the campuses and to expand our horizons. Thank you to NSCC for providing leadership for NSCC’s international activities to create a global outlook in curriculum, student learning and employee experiences.

Darrell Stevens

Manager, Facilities Department

NSCC Waterfront Campus